Qualitative Inquiry: Illinois 2012

It was great that my Supervisor  - Liz Hoult - suggested that I attend the QI conference. Without her enthusiasm for it, I simply wouldn't have thought it was possible to have had an academic conference that was... well more like a religious retreat! It was definitely a very memorable four days.

It was genuinely a gathering of 1600+ academics (including a surprisingly high number of PhD students like me), who shared a 'faith' in a particular type of qualitative research. An holistic, anti-positivist approach. One which I'm still not entirely sure I wholly agree with, but which the philosophy of which I am absolutely behind. Of which more in a bit....

It was a bit of a marathon to get there - but I was very glad to have taken the flight option rather than the train or bus  - which would have put many hours onto the journey. Above is my little plane that only took 30 mins from Chicago O'Hare to Champagne. Can you imagine what it would be like for somewhere like the University of Warwick to have its own airport? There is money in academia out here - that's for sure.

This was the area directly outside the University of Illinois at Champagne. Just like any other soul-less - American town. But the Campus itself was lovely, very scenic and architectural. The only thing I couldn't get used to was that bloody constant whurring noise of the air-conditioning units everywhere - but it was hot. Very hot. About 28degrees on some days....so it was nice to have the big, airy, cool conference rooms.

This was a central study area of the Illini Union Hotel on the central campus. It was used quite alot by the students. Brilliant as a conference centre. Lots of space to chill out inbetween sessions. There was so much going on. Some sessions started at 8am!

On the first and last evenings we had a 'traditional cook-out'. What the Americans mean by this is a 'BBQ' - although of course their paranoid health and safety social consciousness prevents them from actually authentically COOKING any of the food outside (! ) LOL! Sadly it was just cooked in some kitchen somewhere nearby and then brought-out in those horrible stainless-steel drums for people to pile their plates high with stuff. The food was good though. Mainly. Fried chicken and kale (did they cook it in vinegar?) and bread rolls that went stale between the table and when you sat down to eat. But the beer was cold. It is the same food every year apparently - so at least I'll know what to expect if I go again next year (mental note to bring my picnic blanket and mozzy spray).

However, of course it wasn't about the food - it was the people. The atmosphere was great and the music was brilliant too (a local student bank I think). It was a really useful informal getting to know each other opportunity. I met some wonderful people from all over the world who I definitely hope to keep in touch with. So many different 'disciplines' so many people who articulate how alienated they feel from their institutions. Coming together to agree with each other about how they feel about their research. Erm...yes. Exactly, and that's where my problem was. It was a bit too self-congratulatory. It was a bit too 'wonderful' and a bit...well, I hate to say this - American!?!

This was the fountain outside the main campus building.

This was the central corridor of the Illini Union Hotel. Lovely panelling!

The famous statues stating encouraging words for future students.

The Library building opposite the Illini Hotel Union Building.

Even the poster presentations were ....um....unusual! Here was one of the more interesting ones about women in academia...

This was the area directly below where my bedroom was at the Illini Union.

But what about the conference itself I hear you ask? Well there were surprising things about it. Like we didn't have any technology in many of the rooms. I had a last minute panic to find a powerpoint projector to present my paper using the Prezi  programme. Luckily, one of the other presenters lived near-by and had a projector that we could set-up, otherwise I would have struggled to have shown people the visuals that were integral to my research (well, for me anyway).

But I felt particularly sorry for the people in the 'Technology' Stream. That the conference organisers didn't make provision for them - or even TELL them - about the lack of technology, was unforgivable. I can't imagine it would happen in any European conference....?

Having said that, and thankfully in stark contrast to the many other academic conference I'd attended over the years - there was a distinct lack of any kind of didactic talks. No boredom here. Absolutely none. People had really used their imaginations. We had researchers acting out a fictionalised script (sometimes using height to explore the inherent power relationships between players). We saw people using card-board cut-outs so that they could explain different perspectives, there were dance performances, symbolic structures like sculptures and even a music event from the (in)famous Ethnogs.

 

The 'Ethnogs' after their performance.

There was one element of criticality - in the keynote speach by Paul Atkinson from the University of Cardiff. Strange how a British person was chosen to speak to the crowd about how 'too sentimental' some of this research was, and how we all needed to be 'more robust' (whatever that means). As you can imagine, that didn't go down well in a hall full of nearly 2000 QI 'believers'. Even his formal style was a bit cringe-making when I looked around at everyone in their shorts and Birkenstock sandals.... And maybe it was a blessing in disguise that there was no time for discussion afterwards. It may have turned-out like the BSA conference last year when we had an (anti) 'Cosmopolitanisation' turn. There was an air of anger and defensiveness in the air - but it didn't last long -  out in the sunshine, the beer started flowing soon afterwards....



Part of the beautiful campus grounds where the conference took place.

All in all, it was a very inspiring, very exhausting, thoroughly confusing but above all FUN conference. Full of interesting characters (I got to meet Prof Denzin himself - amongst many others) and lots of radical stuff that went well beyond 'testing the boundaries' to actually trampling over them completely and starting again. It felt like a different planet at times - but in a really good way. A planet that I (almost) belonged on... Perhaps a slightly too charismatic, evangelical planet, but definitely one that I can enjoy having a holiday on. A 'holiday conference' once a year. I like that idea....