Canadian Consortium on Human Security
Notes from the Field
CCHS Human Security Fellow Field Work Locations, 2007-08
March 2008 I Vol. 6, Issue 4
Message from the Editors: The importance of field research in human security
Dear Reader:
This Bulletin presents selected field notes compiled by 2007-08 CCHS Human Security Fellows.
CCHS’ Human Security Fellowship (HSF) Program has over the years become the Consortium’s flagship program. Since its inception in 2001, the HSF Program has awarded over $1,000,000 in direct support of field research undertaken by doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers and NGO practitioners. The number of doctoral HSF applicants alone has increased from six to 18 in just five years. Moreover, the diversity in institutional affiliation of the applicants has shown a dramatic increase. In 2003-04, three universities were represented in the applicant pool, while in 2006-07, applicants from 12 different universities applied for Fellowships.
Over the course of the Fellowship program, doctoral applicants have represented 17 different institutions. Their geographic range extends across Canada, including universities in Atlantic Canada (Dalhousie), Western Canada (British Columbia, Calgary, Alberta and Manitoba) and Quebec (Laval, Montreal, Concordia and McGill).
For the first time, CCHS asked the Human Security Fellows to develop field notes that they could share with other human security field researchers through the Bulletin and our website.
In this issue, six of this year’s Human Security Fellows provide candid views on the challenges they confronted and the subsequent lessons learned while conducting field research in support of their dissertation. From using interdisciplinary perspectives to demonstrate genocidal intent in Rwanda to examining the conception of human security in the Arctic, their diverse range of research topics and destinations presented Fellows with a variety of fieldwork dilemmas.
Erin Jessee discusses her difficultly obtaining information from convicted genocidaires in Rwanda, while Nevin Aiken encountered a different set of challenges in interviewing peacemakers in Northern Ireland. Providing a valuable account of his extensive fieldwork in Indonesia, Shane Barter discusses encountering gender discrimination in Aceh. Charmaine Stanley’s experiences in Israel and Palestine provide valuable reflections about working in conflict zones. In contrast, Heather Exner-Pirot concedes that researching in Scandinavia and Canada eliminated common fieldwork concerns about safety and logistics, but nevertheless presented its own set of obstacles related to scheduling and budgets, not to mention the unique challenge of being accompanied by her nine month old infant. Finally, writing about his experiences in securing interviews in Ghana, Edward Akuffo provides his recommendations for researchers operating within strict timelines.
More field notes will become available on our website in the coming days.
We hope you enjoy this edition of the Human Security Bulletin and welcome your feedback.
Mrinalini Menon Lindsay Mackenzie
Managing EditorAssistant Editor
