Making Plans

Kicking off the next eight months of fieldwork...

Last week I attended a particularly useful seminar in the Department of Geography called ‘Methodologies in the Field’. A panel of PhD students working on a variety of topics within human geography reflected on their experiences in the field or their expected experiences for those about to embark on fieldwork. The discussions raised many research questions for my own project and got me thinking about methodology in a more practical manner: walk-along interviews, GPS route-mapping, language barriers within literature. It was also good to mix with other departments and get to know fellow students investigating related issues.

Following that seminar, I met with three other academics within the University, building on research from my pilot thesis which has expanded to a range of disciplines broader than just architecture. Prof. Peter Jones (below left) works in the Department of Psychiatry and, having written on migration and mental health, was able to point me in the direction of useful material on medical research and applied psychology; Dr. Thomas Jeffrey Miley (centre) of the Department of Sociology has worked on the integration of international migrants and was particularly helpful in terms of methodology as he lived and worked in Spain for several years; Anwar Jaber (right) is researching borders and conflicted spaces for her PhD here in the Department of Architecture and was able to advise me on potential cultural difficulties I might encounter throughout my project. These meetings have opened up several new streams of further reading and allowed me to flesh out my fieldwork plan considerably.

© University of Cambridge, Thomas Jeffrey Miley via Twitter & Churchill College

I have now booked a short study trip to Granada in June with the primary intention of getting to know the University of Granada (UGR). As well as several potential contacts in UGR's Migration Institute, I am hoping to meet a professor in the urban planning department who has worked on the Ceuta border and who might be able to provide some invaluable on-the-ground insight. I hope this visit will prepare me for a productive site trip to Ceuta later in the summer.