Meet the Jury: Trauma, memory, and care in contexts of displacement and recovery

Crossing Thresholds: Trauma, Memory, and Care in Contexts of Displacement and Recovery

A Symposium on the Ethical, Cultural, and Methodological Challenges in Researching Vulnerability and Resilience

This international gathering funded by the Flemish government/OJO Initiatives brings together young and senior scholars from Anthropology (KU Leuven), End-of-Life Care Research Group (VUB), Disability Studies (Ghent University), Institute of Development Policy (UAntwerp) and Political Science Research Unit (UNIBEN, Nigeria).

We explore the entangled dimensions of trauma, gender mobilization, memory, end of life experience, suicide prevention, and displacement, especially in contexts of ethical and methodological challenges. This event also marks the PhD defense of Emmanuel Chidozie, whose work offers deep ethnographic insight into trauma and resilience among survivors of Boko Haram violence in Nigeria.

📅 Date: 8 May 2025
📍 Location: KU Leuven – Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies (Maria-Theresia college), Sint-Michielsstraat 6, 3000 Leuven Lokaal 01.03

Morning Programme: Theoretical Reflections

09:00 – 09:20 | Welcome Coffee and Registration

09:30 – 09:45 | Opening Address – Prof. dr. Patrick Devlieger

09:45 – 10:30 | Talk: Walking the Tightrope in Researching Survivors of Human Smuggling and Trafficking – Prof. dr. Iro Aghedo (University of Benin, Nigeria)

10:30 – 10:45 | Q&A Session

11:00 – 11:45 | Panel: Trauma and Practices of Memory in the Latin American Context: Ethical and Methodological Challenges- Prof. dr. Silvana Mandolessi

11:45 – 12:00 | Q&A Session

Lunch

Afternoon Programme: Dialogues and Workshops

13:00 – 16:00 | Rotating Workshop Café Format (4 Tables / 40 Minutes Each + Short Breaks)

• Workshop 1: Anthropology and Field Methods – Emmanuel Chidozie (KU Leuven), Uchendu Uchechukwu (Ghent University), Bienvenu Matungulu & Olivier Mastaki (UAntwerp).
• Workshop 2: End-of-Life Ethics & Suicide Prevention – Emma Gobiet (VUB) & Collins Nwafor (KU Leuven)
• Workshop 3: Researching Violence and Displacement –Iro Aghedo & Silvana Mandolessi
• Workshop 4: Disability, Memory & Culture – Claret Okoye (Ghent), (represented by Boniface Omatta) Aya Tsuchiya & Yuhan Su (KU Leuven)

Registration is not needed.