King's College London

The workshop aimed to facilitate discussion on how researchers engage with marginalised communities and how they manage the personal and professional risks associated with conducting politically sensitive or justice-oriented research.

Researching Vulnerable Groups

The first roundtable, “Researching Vulnerable Groups,” chaired by Dr Munira Cheema, Lecturer in Culture, Media and Creative Industries, addressed the ethical, methodological, and emotional complexities of researching marginalised communities. Dr Jamie Hakim, Dr Xiang Fan, Dr Kate McMillan, Dr Trish Scott, Dr Aqeel Abdulla, and Dr Andrew White shared their experiences from projects working with queer communities, refugees and forced migrants, Indigenous groups and political activists.

Dr Jamie Hakim spoke about his recent book Digital Intimacies on queer men’s use of smartphones to negotiate intimacy and vulnerability, while Dr Xiang Fan presented a practice-based documentary project working with Hong Kong migrants in the UK. Dr Kate McMillan reflected on collaborative art workshops with forcibly displaced women in South London as part of her Never at Sea exhibition, raising the importance of mentoring early-career researchers working on similarly sensitive topics. Dr Aqeel Abdulla spoke about his participatory arts projects with refugee communities, discussing different approaches and ethical considerations involved in creating theatre with and about refugees.  Dr Andrew White discussed the risks faced by interviewees and collaborators when working on politically sensitive topics in Northern Ireland and China.

The roundtable explored understanding researchers’ responsibilities towards research participants, responsibly navigating their expectations, as well as highlighted potential limits to accessibility and impact posed by academic language.

Researcher Vulnerability

The second roundtable, “Researcher Vulnerability,” also chaired by Dr Munira Cheema, shifted focus to the often-unspoken risks and pressures faced by researchers themselves — especially those whose work directly challenges the state or establishment.

Speakers Dr Anna Khlusova, Dr Shelley Galpin, Dr Siao Yuong (Rong) Fong, and Dr Clare Carolin shared personal experiences of (self-)censorship, surveillance, and the emotional toll of conducting sensitive research.

The discussion underscored the urgent need for institutions to better support researchers navigating politically charged and emotionally challenging environments.

Vulnerability in academic life

The workshop also welcomed Dr Pauline Stoltz, Research Advisor at Kristianstad University, Sweden, as guest speaker. Drawing on her extensive academic career and advisory work across Sweden, Denmark, Taiwan, and the UK, Dr Stoltz delivered a keynote on how vulnerability is embedded not only in fieldwork but also in the systems that govern academic life — including funding structures, ethics legislation, and institutional hierarchies. She also spoke about ethical engagement with non-human subjects – including water, plants and ecosystems – in research.

Dr Stoltz’s reflected on two projects that directly engage with the theme of vulnerability: her 2020 book Gender, Resistance and Transnational Memories of Violent Conflict, and her recent collaboration with Dr Anna Khlusova on Russian LGBT activists and the memory politics of sexual citizenship.

Looking ahead

The event, attendees say, highlighted the Department's commitment to reflective, socially engaged and caring research practices and provided space for dialogue, collaboration and intellectual exchange. Building on the momentum, CMCI plans to establish these thematically focused workshops as a permanent feature of its research calendar.