Attending a meeting at the beautiful Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana from April 19 – 21 were Case Study Research Working Group co-chairs Brian Noble and Larry Zimmerman; along with IPinCH team members Jane Anderson, Cathy Bell, Julie Hollowell (workshop organizer), Stephen Loring, George Nicholas, Claire Smith, and Martin Wobst; Bonnie Newsom and Julie Woods, who are working with the community-based study initiated with the Penobscot Nation; and IPinCH Advisory Board members Anne Pyburn and Rick Wilk.
The discussions focused on how to foster good, ethical processes and practices in community-based research relationships, given the very real (and sometimes frustrating) bureaucratic constraints of institutional and academic cultures. It was particularly useful to hear of the Penobscot team's experiences in getting their study underway. We all came away from the workshop with a greater sensitivity as to how our best intentions might be perceived by community collaborators and a better sense of how to make the process less burdensome, particularly by (a) working closely with applicants so they know what to expect and how to navigate the process, and (b) educating institutions and funders about the specific, ongoing needs of projects that are truly collaborative, reflective, and participatory. To that end, we are exploring how to best put together a guidebook with information helpful to those participating in the project’s community-based studies.
The workshop ended with a half-day public symposium on “Ethics and Community-Based Fieldwork: Sharing Lessons Learned and Good Practices,” which featured presentations by DePauw faculty, staff, and students, as well as by Cathy, Stephen, and Jane. We thank the Prindle Institute and the Nancy Schaenen Visiting Scholar Fund for their generous co-sponsorship of the workshop. Plans are to meet again in 2010, in a non-academic setting, ideally as guests of one of our community partners.
