Lecture Series on Humanitarianism and Data
The Data and Displacement Project team members are pleased to announce our lecture series produced for the Institute of Peace, Development and Security Studies (IPDSS) at the University of Juba. This series introduces students and scholars to the ideas of humanitarian protection, displacement, data, and ethics. Comprising lectures on the ethics of displacement research, humanitarianism and big data, decolonising geospatial methods, the politics of knowledge and the case studies of Nigeria and South Sudan, our diverse team draw on the Data and Displacement project findings to share knowledge, experience and critical reflections.
Lecture 1: The Data and Displacement Project Overview
This introductory lecture provides an overview of the Data and Displacement project, on which the series draws. It summarises the project aims and objectives, outlines its core research questions and methodological approach, while specifying the settings within which the research was conducted. The lecture situates Data and Displacement within a wider research environment and practical context, while relating its findings to wider literatures across the broad fields of humanitarianism and displacement. The aim is to provide context for the wider series and to provide insight into the broader debates that will be covered in subsequent lectures.
Lecture 2: The Ethics of Displacement Research, Humanitarian Data Production and Dissemination
This lecture will introduce students to some of the ethical issues surrounding research in the area of displacement. It will trace some ethical questions and concerns that can be raised from the first stages of research project design to final dissemination. Students will be asked to reflect on their own understanding of terminology and good practice. A particular focus in this lecture will be to develop an understanding of ‘ethics’, ‘humanitarian ethics’, ‘data ethics’ and ‘data responsibility’. It will address current guidelines provided to humanitarian organisations on data ethics and responsibility and explore the extent to which the Data and Displacement project has identified gaps in current practice and where improvements can be made.
Lecture 3: A Critical Introduction to Humanitarian Data: Fundamental Concepts, New Trends and Persistent Challenges
Lecture 5: Epistemic Communities, Violence, and the Politics of Knowledge
This lecture will provide an overview of the key debates around knowledge politics in international studies generally and particularly with regards to research in post conflict or ongoing violence contexts. It will engage with questions around the nature of expertise, the boundaries of epistemic communities, and how global south-north research projects grapple with inherent knowledge politics. This will be related to the way we produce knowledge in the humanitarian field and how claims to knowledge shape concrete policies and practices.