‘Encountering Emotions in Academia’ Event
13 July 2018
Manchester Metropolitan University.

You are warmly invited to participate in a day of exploring and engaging emotionally and bodily with the effects of researching and teaching of sensitive issues. Despite the growth in publications focusing on the role of emotions in different contexts including academia, this research is underdeveloped across a range of disciplines. More importantly, there is a lack of practical consistent responses to the impacts of researching and teaching of sensitive issues which we aim to address as a collective.

This is an opportunity to co-create and shape approaches and responses to the opportunities and challenges that researching and teaching sensitive issues present. Our aim is to offer a safe space and a different atmosphere in which to share our experiences and where emotions can be encountered, discussed and shared, while recognising the difficulties around debating the personal impact of engaging in emotional work.

In order to try and achieve our aims, this event will move away from more traditional academic formats. Providing different experiences throughout the day is central to the aim of disrupting ‘traditional’ academic practices and spaces in order to create a different kind of safe space for discussion and interaction.Therefore, the day will feature a mixture of talks intended to provoke reflection, activities to capture and develop experiences, and appropriate responses.

Lunch will be provided by the student-led social enterprise ManMetMunch supporting the co-creation of meaning around food, eating, people and emotions through themes of health, balance and nutrition led by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) academic Haleh Moravej. Lunch will also be organised around a ‘mushaira-style’ event, to be led by Anjum Malik who will read her food-related poetry to facilitate this interaction.The day will end with activities to ensure our well-being and feelings of being nurtured and nourished. We would encourage you to join our after event activities details of which will be confirmed shortly (but likely to include gong bath, badge making, poetry, and yoga).

Key contributions will be lead by invited speakers to provoke group discussion:

• Dr Donna Poade (Management, University of Exeter) – Dark tourism research experience and emotions
• Dr Yasmin Gunaratnam (Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London) –  Empirical performance and emotions
• Dr Claire Moon (Sociology, London School of Economics) – Praxis and the need for resources and what form they might take
• Zivarna Murphy (Hull York Medical School) –Encountering the dead body in anatomy units in PhD research: Ethics and practicalities.
• Dr Thomas Wimark (Human Geography, Stockholm University) – emotions in research on LGBTQ+ migrants into Sweden, emotions in research and the life course, and discussant

Full details can be seen here.You can book tickets here. Tickets are limited to 40 places only (£25 waged/£5 student/concessions – plus please sign up for £5 for after-event well-being activities).

This event is convened jointly by Dr Donna Poade (d.poade2@exeter.ac.uk) of the University of Exeter and Professor Craig Young (c.young@mmu.ac.uk) of MMU. Please contact if you have any queries not answered on the booking pages above. The event is supported by MMU’s Research Centre for Applied Social Sciences (RCASS) and School of Science and the Environment.