A Seven Day National Workshop on Feminist Research Methodology was organized by the Centre for Women’s Studies from 29th August, 2016 to 4th September, 2016. The Inaugural Session of the Workshop was held on 29th August, 2016 at 4.00 pm in the Conference Hall of the Centre for Women’s Studies. It was chaired by Professor Aparna Mahanta, former Director of the Centre for Women’s Studies, Dibrugarh University. The Chief Guest of the Inaugural Session was Professor Ajanta Rajkonwar, Dean, School of Commerce and Management Sciences, Dibrugarh University. Professor Maitrayee Chaudhuri of the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi was the Key Note Speaker in the session.
The event began with the felicitation of the guests with Singpho Gamosa, Workshop Kit and a sapling. The welcome speech was delivered by Dr. Nasmeem F. Akhtar, the Director i/c. of the Centre for Women’s Studies. She extended a warm welcome to the guests, resource persons and participants of the Workshop, faculty members and the students and gave an introduction about the feminist research methodology stressing the importance of women as Agents of Knowledge. She also pointed out the objective of the Workshop to rework on the techniques, the focus being on innovative ways of doing Oral History and Ethnology.
Professor Ajanta B. Rajkonwar inaugurated the session with her speech on feminist research methodology. She mentioned that feminist research should aim at constructing new knowledge and bringing about social changes. She also remarked that feminist research should be included in institutions and methodologies to be redefined and that there cannot be a structured methodology for feminist research. Professor Rajkonwar also talked about the importance of redefining the subjectivities.
Maitrayee Chaudhuri Professor, in her Key Note address delved into the history of feminist research methodology. She referred to the inter connection between theory and methods. Professor Chaudhuri pointed out the importance of conceptualizing the data in order to count it and that the data should not be collected without the understanding of the society. She had also pointed out that women cannot be seen in isolation from gender and that the relational dynamics needs to be explored. She emphasized primarily on history, defamiliarisation, the inter-link between method and theory while understanding feminist research methodology. She stressed upon the importance of incorporating the research findings into teaching materials.
Professor Aparna Mahanta, the Chairperson of the Inaugural Session, in her comments towards the close of the Inaugural Function lauded the efforts of the Centre for Women’s Studies in initiating a new beginning. She emphasized on the significance of self-analysis, thinking, and theorizing while doing research.
The session was concluded with the Vote of Thanks proposed by Priyanka Sharma, Assistant Professor, Centre for Women’s Studies, Dibrugarh University.