Category Workshop

#hNL24 Exploring Lived Experience with Professor Cathy Adams

Dr Felicity Healey-Benson 1 Comment

We are delighted to report on Friday’s much-anticipated #hNL24 Phenomenology of Practice workshop in Cardiff with Professor Cathy Adams. It was an enriching and thought-provoking experience for the wide range of participants from various backgrounds and stages of scholarship and professional practice. Enthusiastically sharing her extensive expertise and passion for phenomenological inquiry, Cathy guided the group through the philosophical underpinnings of van Manen’s Phenomenology of Practice, drawing from the works of influential thinkers like Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, and Heidegger. Her nuanced explanations elucidated core phenomenological concepts such as the phenomenological attitude, the phenomenological reduction, and a wondering attentiveness to lived experience.

With clarity and wisdom, Cathy demonstrated phenomenological research techniques like developing phenomenological research questions, gathering rich lived experience descriptions through interviewing, and reflecting on the data to uncover experiential meanings and structures. The interactive activities allowed participants to practice these methods hands-on.

The diverse perspectives and experiences represented by attendees from fields like health sciences, education, philosophy, and more enabled engaging discussions. The day was awash with open exchange and an atmosphere of curiosity and respect for the complexities of human experiences.

Overall, this workshop provided participants with philosophical depth and practical phenomenological methodologies to pursue insightful qualitative inquiries into the meanings of lived experiences across disciplines. Mike and I are so very grateful for the support of the Network Learning Consortium, and for the ongoing contribution of Cathy, hanfod.NL’s Phenomenologist in Residence, who has invested so heartily of her time during her sabbatical period in the UK.

We look forward to continuing our journey together at NLC24 in Malta this week.

Felicity and Mike, handfod.NL

A celebration on Welsh Sands

Dr Felicity Healey-Benson 1 Comment
Mike, Felicity & Cathy – pre-workshop planning

As the sun bathed Swansea Bay in a golden glow today, Mike and I had the pleasure of welcoming the distinguished Professor Cathy Adams to our coastline, setting the stage for tomorrow’s highly anticipated Phenomenology of Practice Workshop in Cardiff.

After months of meticulous planning across various time zones, the opportunity to finally gather in person was nothing short of a phenomenological event in itself. While virtual meetings, email exchanges, and collaborative documents served as our initial platforms, there was an undeniable magic in engaging in face-to-face dialogue in the here and now.

Today’s meeting proved to be immensely fruitful, setting the tone not only for tomorrow but also for the ongoing development of hanfod.NL. The day concluded on a high note with the exciting reveal of the proof of our forthcoming Phenomenology in Action for Researching Networked Learning book’s cover, co-edited with Professor Nina Bonderup Dohn.

We hope you have all had the chance to read our recent pre-workshop communications on email. We are looking forward to seeing you all in the morning!

hanfod.NL

Final countdown to hNL24 Cardiff begins

Dr Felicity Healey-Benson Leave a comment

Just a week away now until our highly anticipated phenomenology workshop with Professor Cathy Adams! The response has been absolutely overwhelming—we’re fully booked with a waiting list for entry. The enthusiasm surrounding this event is palpable. We couldn’t be more excited. Our event Padlet has been buzzing with activity, with attendees introducing themselves and sharing their backgrounds and interests. It’s adding another layer of anticipation as we countdown to our gathering.

Looking forward to seeing all our participants.

Excitement is brewing at hanfod.NL for a dynamic May!

Dr Felicity Healey-Benson Leave a comment

Kicking Off with a Phenomenology Workshop in Cardiff
hanfod.NL is buzzing with excitement as we gear up for an exhilarating May, starting with our fully booked special event at our Cardiff University location. On the 10th of May, we’re delighted to host Professor Cathy Adams, our esteemed Phenomenologist in Residence, for a half-day workshop on Phenomenology of Practice. This event promises to be an insightful gathering, welcoming scores of participants eager to delve into the depths of phenomenological research.

Crossing Over to Malta for NLC24
Our journey continues as we cross the sea to the sunny shores of Malta for the Networked Learning Conference 2024 (NLC24), 15-17 May. We’re so eager to dive into the conference’s rich themes, including digital futures, environmental sustainability, the transformative impact of AI and emerging technologies, and the vital need for ethical innovation education, as well as pick up on our phenomenological notes. This year’s event is set to challenge our current understandings and inspire new perspectives in the realms of networked learning and digital integration.

Distinguished Keynote Speakers at NLC24
Known for her critical and ethnographic approaches, Professor Felicitas Macgilchrist will explore the cultural politics of educational technology, with a focus on critical, ethnographic, and speculative approaches to the educational landscape, Professor Alexiei Dingli of the University of Malta will address the profound impacts of artificial intelligence in educational settings, and Dr. Jen Ross, co-director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, will share insights into the future of digital education.

Interactive Roundtable Discussion
Our own Nina, Cathy, Mike, and I are thrilled to be running an interactive roundtable that introduces our forthcoming ‘Phenomenology in Action for Researching Networked Learning Experiences’ edited collection, an addition to the Springer Book Series on Research in Networked Learning in 2024. We eagerly anticipate engaging with our esteemed discussants, meeting up with many of the book’s contributing authors, and furthering our phenomenological discussions.

A Week of Engaging Academic Exchange:
Throughout the week, the hanfod.NL team will be presenting our own papers. Yet this gathering is more than presentations and formal discussions; it’s a wonderful opportunity to connect, feed, and foster relationships while welcoming new voices into our lively community.

May we see you there and/or look forward to share!

Felicity and Mike

UPDATED: FULL! Cathy Adams’ workshop 10th May 2024 in Cardiff

Mike Johnson Leave a comment

We seem to have attracted some attention for the workshop! The form below is now operating as a waiting list. Apologies if you miss out 🙏 The event is fully subscribed and we have more than enough on a waiting list (we’ll be informing these good people at the end of the month) so the sign-up form is now closed to new responses. We hope to run more events/workshops in future so please subscribe to the blog for updates or get in touch using the contact page. For more information on the approach Cathy is leading on, see:

  • Adams, C., & van Manen, M. A. 2017. Teaching Phenomenological Research and Writing. Qualitative Health Research, 27(6), 780–791. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317698960
  • Errasti-Ibarrondo, B., Jordán, J.A., Díez-Del-Corral, M.P. and Arantzamendi, M. 2018. Conducting phenomenological research: Rationalizing the methods and rigour of the phenomenology of practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing 74(7), pp. 1723–1734. doi: 10.1111/jan.13569

We have been seeing this coming for a while and so are suitably delighted to announce an in-person phenomenology workshop led by our Ffenomenolegydd Preswyl (Phenomenologist in Residence) Professor Cathy Adams! Cathy has a sabbatical which will take in many stops on this side of the Atlantic, including at the Networked Learning Conference in Malta. 

Please do share widely and book your place through this form which has all the details: https://forms.office.com/e/4EwpLP1H23

Re-purposing the time 12 & 14 September 2022 14.00-17.30 (BST)

Mike Johnson Leave a comment

We were planning a workshop to tide us over between the fact that we couldnt run with more than 90 minutes at the conference – it really needs longer than that! There has been little uptake and so we are planning to pitch the workshop off into next year. Meantime, we have some exciting work and plans for the slots, the Wednesday in particular with a special guest speaker webinar.

Just a quick post to invite anyone who would like to participate in another online-only phenomenology of practice workshop with us later in September, please email info@hanfod.NL to let us know and we can send you further details. As you might appreciate, there is a LOT of catching up to do after being away at the Networked Learning Conference so I may come back to doll this post up a bit when I get a chance.

These sessions are only introductory and yet the focus is so deep, many people, us included, appreciate returning time and again to the same matters so feel free to do so. Apologies to those who will struggle to make this timing because of time-zones. We have not forgotten you! We just needed to get something in the diary for after the conference where we could only do ‘Session 1’, see below:

Session 1 – 90 minutes – Online-only 12th September 14.00-17.30 BST

Introduction to phenomenological research (30 mins) and fundamental concepts (30 mins)

EXERCISE: crafting a phenomenological research question (30 mins)

Session 2 – 90 minutes – Online-only 14th September 14.00-17.30 BST

Doing phenomenological research: human science (e.g. gathering material through interviewing, observation) and philosophical methods (e.g., the reduction)

EXERCISE: writing lived experience descriptions

Reference

Adams, C., & van Manen, M. A. (2017). Teaching phenomenological research and writing. Qualitative Health Research, 27(6), 780-791. doi:10.1177/1049732317698960