Unless specified, all seminars are at the University of Sussex, Tuesdays 12.30-1.50pm, in Russell Building room 32. (Wheelchair accessible)
26 January
Dr Jane Speedy
Centre for Narrative and Transformative Learning, University of Bristol
The poetic re-representation of life stories
Jane Speedy will discuss the work of the Centre for Narrative and
Transformative Learning at Bristol University, and using poetry to capture research participants’ personal narratives in therapeutic contexts. She will also debate the ethics that arise when therapists and client groups a) become conjoint inquirers and b) begin to publish their work, with reference to her work with young men who have considered suicide.
9 February
Professor Julie Rak
University of Alberta
Identity as a game: the Sims Life Stories and Sims 3 as life
narratives
The PC games Sims Life Stories and Sims 3 are the latest versions of one of the best-selling computer game concepts in the world, games which were designed for girls instead of boys. In this talk I explore the concept of the Sims as a celebration of ordinariness, extraordinary sexuality and an ambivalent critique of capitalism’s role in building a life story.
23 February
Linda Sandino
University of East London
Curators’ lives: Identity, narrative and oral history
The talk will draw on interviews conducted with curators at the V&A which explore the transformation of curatorial practice over the last 30 years at the Museum. It will explore how Ricoeur’s concept of ‘narrative identity’ illuminates what it means to be a curator in a historic institution embedded in a shifting ideology of public service.
9 March
Amy Clark, Frankie White, Frances Cornford
University of Sussex
The lives of objects
Top graduates from the MA in Life History Research will talk about their oral historical approaches to understanding the life histories of objects, including Mickey Mouse memorabilia; political badges from the Miners’ Strike and the strange world of Book Art.
For more information, email s.j.carroll@sussex.ac.uk or m.jolly@sussex.ac.uk. Centre for Life History & Life Writing Research, 01273-873585, http://www.sussex.ac.uk/clhr/
