Navigating Belonging and the Belonging Research Network
Project Description
The research question for the Navigating Belonging (NavBe) project is: What does it mean to belong, for people from South Asian backgrounds in Hong Kong? The project, funded by Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council and now half way completed, involves working with groups of people from South Asian backgrounds in Hong Kong. You will join a committed and enthusiastic research team led by the PI (Prof James Simpson, HUMA) and comprising two RAs (a photographer / film-maker and a web designer), and a small group of student RAs and other volunteers. We collaborate with a range of support organisations, principally Christian Action’s Centre for Refugees, based in Chungking Mansions, TST. We explore experiences of belonging through oral narrative and participatory photography, in three phases of workshop activity. The first two phases are complete, and Phase 3 will run in fall 2023.
The project aims to understand how people from across the generations in South Asian communities define, understand, find and negotiate their belonging in Hong Kong. This work addresses an urgent social need: at a time of change in contemporary Hong Kong, established ideas of belonging in terms of cultural and linguistic homogeneity are inadequate, are increasingly being challenged and require scrutiny. We ask how belonging emerges in and through narrative and photography, how (with participants and partners) we can develop innovative approaches to researching belonging, and how our new theoretically-grounded understandings of belonging can be used to critically examine policies and practices around social integration, and around language and arts practice.
The research team have also developed the Belonging Research Network and its NEXUS website (https://nexusbrn.hkust.edu.hk/). This is a space where we bring together researchers, students, support NGOs, creative practitioners and others interested in key issues concerning belonging in Hong Kong today. We do this through a series of events and seminars (face to face and online), and the Nexus of Thoughts podcasts and blog.
The project aims to understand how people from across the generations in South Asian communities define, understand, find and negotiate their belonging in Hong Kong. This work addresses an urgent social need: at a time of change in contemporary Hong Kong, established ideas of belonging in terms of cultural and linguistic homogeneity are inadequate, are increasingly being challenged and require scrutiny. We ask how belonging emerges in and through narrative and photography, how (with participants and partners) we can develop innovative approaches to researching belonging, and how our new theoretically-grounded understandings of belonging can be used to critically examine policies and practices around social integration, and around language and arts practice.
The research team have also developed the Belonging Research Network and its NEXUS website (https://nexusbrn.hkust.edu.hk/). This is a space where we bring together researchers, students, support NGOs, creative practitioners and others interested in key issues concerning belonging in Hong Kong today. We do this through a series of events and seminars (face to face and online), and the Nexus of Thoughts podcasts and blog.
Supervisor
SIMPSON James
Quota
1
Course type
UROP1100
UROP2100
Applicant's Roles
One student will be recruited under the UROP scheme, for work in the fall term of 2023 (UROP1100), with an opportunity for extending to spring 2024 (UROP2100). The student’s work will involve supporting the project in practical ways, with a particular emphasis on the development of its social media presence. All undergraduate students are welcome to apply, and the role would particularly suit students with a knowledge of Hong Kong’s South Asian communities. Applications from those with web development expertise are highly encouraged.
1. To heighten the social media presence of the project, in particular by developing a Facebook page, linking this to the Nexus website and the NavBe website, and supporting the ongoing development of the project’s Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/nexus.brn/)
2. To contribute to planning and running an end-of-project seminar in February/March 2023. This event will involve an invited group of collaborators, partners and stakeholders (academics, policy stakeholders, NGO organisations, creative practitioners) to disseminate key preliminary findings from the project.
3. To support the planning of an associated exhibition where the participants will display their photographs and stories in a public forum.
1. To heighten the social media presence of the project, in particular by developing a Facebook page, linking this to the Nexus website and the NavBe website, and supporting the ongoing development of the project’s Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/nexus.brn/)
2. To contribute to planning and running an end-of-project seminar in February/March 2023. This event will involve an invited group of collaborators, partners and stakeholders (academics, policy stakeholders, NGO organisations, creative practitioners) to disseminate key preliminary findings from the project.
3. To support the planning of an associated exhibition where the participants will display their photographs and stories in a public forum.
Applicant's Learning Objectives
By the end of the UROP period, the student will be able to do the following, relating to aspects of the role:
1. Support the development and management of the social media presence of a collaborative community-focused research project.
2. Contribute to the planning of outward-facing project events, a seminar and an exhibition.
3. Apply their own knowledge of Hong Kong to aid cultural understanding.
1. Support the development and management of the social media presence of a collaborative community-focused research project.
2. Contribute to the planning of outward-facing project events, a seminar and an exhibition.
3. Apply their own knowledge of Hong Kong to aid cultural understanding.
Complexity of the project
Moderate