All posts tagged Academic

  • The Holy Well and Holy Wells

    While holy wells can be found across Ireland, each one as a unique character. The physical location, site features, number of visitors, votive offerings, origins, saintly or supernatural associations and numerous other elements all combine to make each spot distinct. To this we can add the context of the visit – the time (both in a day and seasonally), the purpose, whether we are alone or with others – and the meanings and emotions we, and others, bring to the site.

    Ronan Foley (2011, p. 470) outlines how holy wells “range from literal holes in the ground to substantial landscaped sites with a mix of natural and culturally introduced elements. In general, the sites contain the wells themselves, streams, stone crosses and covers, paths, trees and bushes, altars and statues, all of which have physical form but wider symbolic meanings as well”. His description captures some of the variety that one finds materially at holy wells, while also hinting at how features combine to create each one.

    A selection of holy wells (clockwise, from top left): Sunday’s Well, Raffeen, Cork, a simple well in the hillside that is frequented by a small number of locals; St Patrick’s Well Mam Éan, Connemara, a well on a mountain pass surrounded by a walled enclosure with a collection of votive offerings; St John’s Well, Newhall, Clare, an enclosed well with an altar, several statues and a shrine, the site is visited on June 23rd, St John’s Eve; ‘Tubrid’, Millstreet, Cork, an elaborate well-site with a Marion Grotto, an sheltered altar, railings and a landscaped environment, an annual mass is celebrated on a Friday in May.

    A selection of holy wells (clockwise, from top left): Sunday’s Well, Raffeen, Cork, a simple well in the hillside that is frequented by a small number of locals; St Patrick’s Well Mam Éan, Connemara, a well on a mountain pass surrounded by a walled enclosure with a collection of votive offerings; St John’s Well, Newhall, Clare, an enclosed well with an altar, several statues and a shrine, the site is visited on June 23rd, St John’s Eve; ‘Tubrid’, Millstreet, Cork, an elaborate well-site with a Marion Grotto, an sheltered altar, railings and a landscaped environment, an annual mass is celebrated on a Friday in May.

    While it makes sense for any study of holy wells to engage with them both collectively and individually, that process should remain conscious of the uniqueness of each site and how that affects and shapes our understandings.

    Reference:

    Foley, R. 2011. Performing Health in Place: The Holy Well as a Therapeutic Assemblage. Health & Place, 17, pp. 470-479.

  • Using Video in Research

    As part of my methodology, I am making video recordings of pilgrimage practices and events. These videos will be used alongside other records, such as my own notes and photos, to described and understand the activities I am researching. Similar to my previous comments on the use of audio recordings, I feel that video can capture a real sense of what is happening in a place, especially since my work includes a focus on the actual movements and corporealities of these performances.

    My readings on qualitative research methods and the use of video, within the social sciences and the discipline of geography, have revealed several prominent themes that emerge around video as a research technique. Following a common trope in academic writing, any purposeful discussion of video mentions that the topic has been given little proper scholarly attention. However, it is still possible to identify a number of key points within the discourses, which I have briefly summarised.

    The good

    • It allows for comprehensive documentation of an event, place or scene which can be edited and enhanced, and can be returned to time and time again for analysis
    • It combines focused visual and audio elements, giving a greater sense of events and place
    • It can be used to convey complexities than text or even photography may find difficult, if not impossible, to represent
    • When used in conjunction with other more established research methods, it can increase our potential to understand places, people and activities
    • It is highly suited to the study of action, movements and momentary encounters/events
    • Recording devices and editing software are becoming increasingly available, user-friendly and affordable

    The not as good

    • Despite its multimedia nature, the criticisms surrounding visual methods – such as the power dynamics, objectification, the masculine gaze – are in some relevant to the use of video
    • Recorders are technological objects which have the capacity to not function at key moments and can be fragile and awkward to carry around
    • There are certain ethical issues raised by the making of video recordings in public spaces, and even more in private spaces
    • There maybe issues around copyright, difficulties over distribution and control, and a reluctance in the academy and publishing companies to integrate video in scholarly publications

    Suggested reading:

    Crang, M. and Cook, I. 2007. Doing Ethnographies. London: Sage.

    Garrett, B.L., 2011. Videographic geographies: Using digital video for geographic research. Progress in Human Geography, 35(4), pp.521–541.

    Luff, P. & Heath, C., 2012. Some “technical challenges” of video analysis: social actions, objects, material realities and the problems of perspective. Qualitative Research, 12(3), pp.255–279.

    Pink, S., 2007. Walking with video. Visual Studies, 22(3), pp.240–252.

    Spinney, J., 2011. A Chance to Catch a Breath: Using Mobile Video Ethnography in Cycling Research. Mobilities, 6(2), pp.161–182.

  • Mobilities

    I have an interest in the study of mobility. The concept of mobility is a broad approach that incorporates movement, motion, flow, transition, fluidity and much more. It centres on an appreciation of movement, as a thing worthy of study in-and-of-itself, but also as a force that shapes, influences and adds meaning to the world around us.

    In academic-speak, my interest can be located in the ‘mobilities turn’ or the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ within the social sciences. The paradigm is a response to a world that is seen as being increasingly mobile. It includes a wide range of topics, from corporeal movement to mass migration, from transportation systems to tourism, and from cycling to communication technologies. Examples of mobilities research include, leisure walking, cycling to work, commuting, the increase in international students, immigration experiences and systems at European airports, the carbon-foot print and food miles of the components of our daily diet and the role of truly mobile computing and communication devices.  Furthermore, it acknowledges a greater role for approaches that centre on activity, performance and participation.

    The immobile and questions of the creation and treatment of immobility are raised in considerations of mobilities. By highlighting the importance of movement and flow, the role and consequences of barriers and frictions are equally emphasised. In many cases, these concerns raise some of the most profound and significant questions for study in the area. Questions concerning who is free to live a mobile life, and who isn’t; or, how can some materials and ideas can spread or be halted.

    However, if should also be noted that, as always, there are caveats and criticisms of the paradigm. It is relatively loosely defined (perhaps, intentionally so). On initial reading, the area can be seen to encompass all aspects of modern life and a globalised world! Also, as an emerging idea, its core concerns and approaches are still to be fully and clearly developed. The paradigm or turn needs to have an accepted body of abstract thought and a general outlook which will act as the foundation for research. In addition, mobilities literature needs to successfully incorporate differing and older perspectives if it is to gain widespread purchase.

    The key strength of the mobilities approach is its challenge to the social sciences to broaden its inquiries and the methodologies to adequately include movement, mobility and fluidity at all scales. This opens up a rich arena of study, which, when supported by the developments of work on the paradigm, will hopefully produce a rich body of scholarship that will enrich our insights into the world around us.

    Suggested reading:

    Adey, P. 2009. Mobility. London: Routledge.

    Cresswell, T., 2006. On The Move. London: Routledge.

    Hannam, K., Sheller, M. and Urry, J. 2006. Mobilities, immobilities and moorings. Mobilities, 1 (1), 1–22.

    Sheller, M., 2011. Mobility. Sociopedia.isa 1–12.

    Suggested sites: 

    mCenter, Drexel University’s Center for Mobilities Research and Policy

    Cosmobilities Network, linking research into mobilities