Surviving Field Research: Working in Violent and Difficult Situations

The seminar will start at 12.15, room D/104. Each speaker will present for about 30 mins, and there will be 30 minutes for questions/discussion afterwards. 

Refreshments will be provided!

Chandra Lekha Sriram is Professor in Law at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. Her areas of teaching expertise include war and human rights, public international law, international criminal law, human rights and conflict prevention and post-conflict peacebuilding. She has published widely on these topics, she also co-authored Surviving field research: working in violent and difficult situations (Routledge 2009). Professor Sriram is currently the principal investigator on an ESRC-funded research project on The Impact of Transitional Justice Mechanisms on Democratic Institution-Building, in partnership with the University of Utrecht School of Law. She was previously founder and director of the Centre on Human Rights in Conflict at the University of East London, an interdisciplinary centre promoting policy-relevant research and events aimed at developing greater knowledge about the relationship between human rights and conflict, and is now chair of the centre's international advisory group. 

Alexandra Lewis is a doctoral student at the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) of the University of York who has submitted her thesis for examination. Her principle research interests lie in violence, state fragility, authoritarian governance processes and youth integration in society. Her doctoral research is in violent young offending in fragile states. For the past six years, Miss Lewis' primary area of geographic focus has been the Middle East, where she specialises on Yemen. She has assisted on a number of consultancy projects while working at the PRDU and has worked in Jordan, Lebanon, Russia, Yemen and elsewhere. She is currently based at the University of York and is working as an editorial assistant for Stability: The International Journal of Security and Development. Miss Lewis has also taught on an Introduction to International Politics and on the MA in Post-war Recovery Studies at York.