qlrc logo v2

SPEAKERS

Dr. Virginia Braun

Dr. Virginia Braun

Keynote Speaker

Psychologist Professor Virginia Braun is a scholar of gender, sexuality and health. Her research questions the cultural drivers shaping gender, and in particular women and how those influences affect everything from what women do with their body hair to the rise of genital cosmetic surgery and the ‘designer vagina.’

“I see my role as a critical scholar as questioning accepted norms and challenging embedded expectations, particularly of women and the constant gendered messages women are bombarded with, such as they must look and act in a certain way,” she said in an interview when awarded the 2021 Marsden Medal for outstanding service to science.

“One of my roles is to disrupt those stories, through academic research and also through the media. In doing that, I aim to raise questions about what we understand as normal, and ideal and what we think is not, and how those can limit people’s lives and well-being.”

Dr. Victoria Clarke

Dr. Victoria Clarke

Keynote Speaker

I teach, supervise student research and conduct my own research in the intersecting areas of qualitative and critical psychology, sexuality and gender, and difference and social justice.

I am the recipient of the 2022 British Psychological Society President’s Award for my “outstanding contribution to psychological science”. My book Thematic Analysis also received the 2022 British Psychological Society Book Award. I have received three other book awards, a “citation for excellence” from the BPS Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section, and the inaugural postgraduate prize from the BPS Psychology of Sexualities Section.

My books include the market leading and award winning textbook Successful Qualitative Research.

My most recent book is Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide. The book has an extensive – free to access – companion website: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/thematic-analysis/book248481

I am particularly known for my work on qualitative methods and thematic analysis (TA) with Virginia Braun. According to an analysis by the journal Nature our original paper on TA – Using thematic analysis in psychology (Braun & Clarke, 2006) – is the third most cited academic paper of the 21st century and the nineth most cited academic paper of all time. You can read this paper here: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/11735/2/thematic_analysis_revised

You can read more about our approach on our TA website: www.thematicanalysis.net

With the Story Completion Research Group we are also exploring and developing story completion methods for qualitative research – you can read more about this on our website: www.storycompletion.net

I gave a public lecture on TA that maps out various approaches to TA, and how they differ in terms of procedure and underlying philosophy: https://youtu.be/4voVhTiVydc

Virginia and I have also given a public lecture providing an introduction to our TA approach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=kv7C53yvLqk

Please see www.thematicanalysis.net for links to the numerous other free resources we have created around thematic analysis and qualitative research methods.

Dr. Wanda Chesney

Dr. Wanda Chesney

Plenary Speaker

Dr. Wanda Chesney: I am a research methodologist and a Postcolonial Scholar. My work is grounded in decolonizing methodologies and strategies and serves to create a space for the marginalized, the invisible and the silenced to ‘talk back’ and to stand in their power through a process of Detranslation. My multidisciplinary background informs the lenses through which I problematize and interrogate phenomena and this allows me to negotiate and (re)present positions of difference. My academic experience spans leadership, administration and teaching at the Graduate and Undergraduate levels at the University of Guyana, the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, the University of Technology in Jamaica, the University of Sheffield in the UK and the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad. I have supervised graduate students in the areas of Social Media Trends and Media Management, Representations of Male Masculinity, Manifestations of Domestic Violence in the Arts, Perceptions of HIV Serodiscordant couples, Parenting Styles in the Caribbean, Clinical Supervision and Teacher Performance and Student Performance at SEA to name a few. Additionally, I have worked on a number of national and community-based projects with the various UN agencies, Government Organisations, NGOs and CBOs throughout the Caribbean in the area of education policy, gender-based violence, sustainable development, cultural development, promotion of indigenous cultures and women’s empowerment. I currently teach graduate courses in Research Methodology and Communication Studies at the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies in the School of Humanities and Education at the St. Augustine Campus.

Dr. Aurelio Vilbar

Dr. Aurelio Vilbar

Plenary Speaker

Dr. Aurelio Vilbar is a Full Professor of the UP Cebu where he serves as the Director of the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod (Volunteerism). He finished PhD in English Language Education at UP Diliman with further studies on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) from UNESCO Asia-Pacific Region.

With his interests on action research, ESD, service learning, and language and technology, he has published his research in local and international journals. He was a researcher for DepEd’s Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy and the curriculum guide author of DepEd’s Media and Information Literacy. He was a Visiting Professor in Otemae University, Japan. Dr. Vilbar received awards from the Teachers of Speakers from Other Languages in Chicago, USA in 2018 and in Philadelphia in 2012, USA for his research on development of courseware promoting sustainable development and World Englishes. He received the UP Cebu’s 2019 Most Outstanding Professor in Public Service and the 2019 UP System Professorial Chair Awardee for Teaching and Public Service.

Dr. Janet Salmons

Dr. Janet Salmons

Plenary Speaker

Dr. Janet Salmons is a qualitative scholar and methodologist. She is a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies and edits the newsletter, “When the Field is Online”.

Recent books include: Doing Qualitative Research Online 2nd edition (2022), What Kind of Researcher Are You? (2021), Reframing and Rethinking Collaboration in Higher Education and Beyond: A Practical Guide for Doctoral Students and Early Career Researchers with Narelle Lemon (2021), Publishing from your Doctoral Research: Create and Use a Publication Strategy with Helen Kara (2020), Learning to Collaborate, Collaborating to Learn (2019), Find the Theory in Your Research (2019), and Getting Data Online (2019). She previously managed the Sage Research Methods Community (formerly known as Methodspace).

Dr. Salmons received a B.S. in Adult and Community Education from Cornell University, an M.A. in Social Policy Studies from the SUNY Empire State College, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies and Educational Leadership at the Union Institute & University. She lives and works in Boulder, Colorado.

Dr. Safary Wa-Mbaleka

Dr. Safary Wa-Mbaleka

Plenary Speaker

Safary Wa-Mbaleka is a qualitative research scholar, mentor, and methodologist who has published several books, book chapters, and articles in this field. He has mentored many qualitative researchers in various countries. He has delivered hundreds of qualitative research trainings, seminars, webinars, and workshops, as well as qualitative research conference keynotes and plenary sessions in more than 20 countries. For more than 2 decades, he has served in various public and private universities and taught qualitative research in master’s and doctoral programs in the USA, Philippines, and Kenya. He is currently a research and evaluation manager of a global organization in Washington, DC area. He is a senior advisor of Qualitative Research Connect (QLRC), located in Maryland, USA.