Storying: A Workshop

Saturday, 5 March 2011, 9.30am-1pm
James Martin Seminar Room, Institute for Science, Innovation and Society
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, OX1 1HP
http://goo.gl/maps/Y8FM

What is it to tell a story in social science research? What techniques, strategies and narrative devices are available and how can we make the most of them? What audiences do we write for and how are they configured in the text? How can we approach the often daunting yet essential task of academic writing? In this three-hour workshop, we will explore different story-telling strategies while asking how we can make them productive for our research projects.

The workshop is organized as an interactive experience. Rather than listening to lectures and absorbing theory, we will engage in a number of hands-on exercises. These include discussions on stories and storying, in which we apply and experiment with concepts from the background readings, alongside short writing and editing exercises. The overall goal is to learn from each other and explore with different modes of storying.

The workshop is open to anyone with an interest in story-telling. Anthropology, sociology, STS, geography, management studies - everyone is welcome.

Background reading

Frank, A. (2010). Letting Stories Breathe: A Socio-Narratology. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Richardson, L. (1990). Writing Strategies: Reaching Diverse Audiences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Qualitative Methodology Series.

Preparation

This workshop involves (some) work. In addition to the background readings, you will be asked to read a set of stories and review one of them for the group. Please bring pencil and paper. There will be breakfast and snacks.

Registration

To keep the group manageable, we will limit it to eight. Please sign up early by e-mailing the organisers.

Convenors

• Fadhila Mazanderani, Durham University
• Malte Ziewitz, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

The workshop is generously supported by the STS group at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

If you missed the workshop, have a look at the summary on the Oxford STS Blog.

Updated: February 2, 2013