Unwriting Enquiries – Engagement, (Un)writing, Vulnerability

Chair: Dr Thomas McKean, Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen

Don Kulick and Amy Shuman have worked for decades with, and written books about, people who are often labelled as ‘vulnerable’: villagers in Papua New Guinea who have abandoned their traditions and language; trans sex workers in Brazil; asylum seekers in the US and UK; and people with disabilities in North America and Europe. Both write with a strong commitment to social justice and have explored themes such as doubt, stigma, responsibility, and witnessing. Their conversation invited reflection and participation on these themes in the context of ethnographic knowledge and scholarly authority.

Unwriting Hegemonies – Recentering Authority

Chair: Frances Wilkins, Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen.

Shawn Wilson is from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Canada and is Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. He has lived, taught, and conducted research across Canada, the US, Australia, Norway, and more. His research spans global Indigenous methodologies, and he serves on the Board of the Tapestry Institute and an advisory group for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Shawn has presented globally and cites his three children as his greatest joy.

Unwriting History – Making Space and Throwing Shapes in Archives of Tradition

Chair: Nicolas Le Bigre, Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen.

Clíona O’Carroll lectures in Folklore and Ethnology at University College Cork, Ireland, and is Research Director at the Cork Folklore Project. She has helped archive over 900 ethnographic interviews and co-ordinated media and public history projects exploring health, sustainability, and everyday life. Her recent work includes stimulating public dialogue through oral testimony. A member of the SIEF Working Group on Archives, she promotes tradition archives and ethnographic storytelling.

Performing Unwriting – Challenging Modal Habits

Chair: Sheila Young, Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen

Dr Si Poole is Associate Professor of Cultural Education at the University of Chester and a folklorist involved in the Mythstories museum and RECAP research center. As holder of the UK National Plant Collection of Mentha, he explores gardening as creative praxis. His research spans intercultural music, arts-based learning, songwriting, and walking methodologies. Si is also a poet, founder of Soil Records, and lead singer-songwriter with 'the loose kites'.