New ! Short Courses in CA - Autumn 2016 and Spring 2017

Developing Conversation Analytic Skills: Turn-taking (3 days)

Tutors to include: Clare Jackson, Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger

Dates: 29 November - 1 December 2016 

Pre-requisites: An introductory CA course (preferably at York)

This course is one of two – on turn-taking and on sequence organisation - designed to provide core foundational training in conversation analysis (CA).  It will provide a systematic grounding in the CA domain of turn-taking.  The course will be taught via mini-lectures, practical activities and exercises, with an emphasis on hands-on work with data.  It will be an intensive course, limited to a maximum of 12 participants.  The course is intended for those with some prior familiarity with CA who now want to acquire key skills for working with conversational data.  It is not necessary for participants to have their own data set.

Location: University of York: Research Centre for Social Sciences

Cost: £360 (to include course materials, lunches, tea & coffee)

Suggested accommodation

Register here

For further information, and/or to register for one or more of the courses, please contact Sarah Shrive-Morrison: sarah.shrive-morrison@york.ac.uk

Developing Conversation Analytic Skills: Sequence Organisation (3 days) 

Tutors to include: Sue Wilkinson, Merran Toerien and Celia Kitzinger

Date: 13 December - 15 December 2016

Pre-requisites: An introductory CA course (preferably at York)

This course is one of two – on sequence organisation and on turn-taking - designed to provide core foundational training in conversation analysis (CA).

It will provide a systematic grounding in the CA domain of sequence organisation.  It will be an intensive course, limited to a maximum of 12 participants.  The course will be taught via mini-lectures, practical activities and exercises, with an emphasis on hands-on work with data.  It is intended for those with some prior familiarity with CA who now want to acquire key skills for working with conversational data.  It is not necessary for participants to have their own data set.

Location: University of York: Research Centre for Social Sciences

Cost: £360 (to include course materials, lunches, tea & coffee)

Suggested accommodation

Register here 

For further information, and/or to register for one or more of the courses, please contact Sarah Shrive-Morrison: sarah.shrive-morrison@york.ac.uk

2017 Short courses (further information to follow)

Developing Conversation Analytic Skills: Repair 18-20 April 2017 (3 days)

Word Selection Short Course 25 May 2017

Sociology wins Bronze for Green Impact

We're delighted to announce that the Sociology Department won Bronze Award for our Green Impact actions for 2015-16.  This is the third consecutive year that we've achieved Bronze and we're very proud to be one of the longest serving Green Impact teams at York!  

Well done to all who contributed and let's finally get that much coveted Silver award next year...

Dr Merran Toerien receiving the award on behalf of Sociology from Professor Saul Tendler, Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of York.

Conversation Analysis, Merran Toerien and Visiting Fellow At Rhodes University

It's with great pleasure that Merran Toerien has accepted an honorary appointment as Visiting Fellow in the Department of Psychology at Rhodes University, South Africa (from 5 May 2016 to 31 December 2018).  

This follows on from extensive collaboration between colleagues in Sociology at York and Psychology at Rhodes and formally recognises the dynamic and productive exchange that has occurred over several years - relating both to research and teaching.   

Catriona Macleod says that Merran 'has contributed significantly to developing capacity in conversation analysis at Rhodes, and has been a wonderful collaborator on our abortion counselling project'

We look forward to many more years of collaborative adventures in the study of Reproductive Justice!

Merran Toerien with Catriona Macleod outside the Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction offices at Rhodes University, South Africa

Conversation Analysis Workshop in London

Sue Wilkinson, Merran Toerien and Celia Kitzinger (University of York) will be running 'An Introduction to Conversation Analysis' on 24 May 2016 in London.

The one-day workshop is designed for those with little or no previous knowledge of conversation analysis, who would like to find out more about it, and/or are interested in assessing whether the approach may be useful in their own research or practice. The workshop will cover how conversation analytic research is done, some of its key empirical findings, and some of its key applications.

For further details and bookings, see: 

https://www.bps.org.uk/events/introduction-conversation-analysis

Conversation Analysis Short Courses: How long are they and how much do they cost?

The new series of short Continuing Professional Development courses in Conversation Analysis launching in 2016 are proving hugely popular. See below for outlines of the courses and the costs:

Conversation Analysis: An Introduction (1 day: £75)

Wed 20 January 2016; Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger

Find out more about conversation analysis (CA) and the kinds of issues it can be used to address.  No prior experience needed.

An Introduction to Conversation Analysis and its use in Medical Settings (1 day £75)

Fri 26 February 2016; Merran Toerien and Robin Wooffitt

For health services researchers, and others with an interest in communication in health care, who wish to find out more about conversation analysis (CA) as applied to medical interaction. No prior experience needed.

Developing Conversation Analytic Skills 1: Turn-taking (3 days £360)

Tues 26 – Thu 28 April 2016; Clare Jackson, Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger

Core foundational training in conversation analysis (CA).  Intensive course, limited to a maximum of 12 participants, offering a systematic grounding in the domain of turn-taking.  Intended for those with some prior familiarity with CA. 

Developing Conversation Analytic Skills 2: Sequence Organisation (3 days £360)

Tues 3 – Thurs 5 May 2016; Sue Wilkinson and Merran Toerien

Core foundational training in conversation analysis (CA).  Intensive course, limited to a maximum of 12 participants, offering a systematic grounding in the domain of sequence organisation.  Intended for those with some prior familiarity with CA.

For further info/registration please contact: sarah.shrive-morrison@york.ac.uk

New Short Courses in Conversation Analysis

The Department of Sociology is delighted to be launching a series of short Continuing Professional Development courses in Conversation Analysis in spring 2016.  Four courses are on offer:

Conversation Analysis: An Introduction (1 day £75)

Wed 20 January 2016; Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger

Find out more about conversation analysis (CA) and the kinds of issues it can be used to address.  No prior experience needed.

An Introduction to Conversation Analysis and its use in Medical Settings (1 day £75)

Fri 26 February 2016; Merran Toerien and Robin Wooffitt

For health services researchers, and others with an interest in communication in health care, who wish to find out more about conversation analysis (CA) as applied to medical interaction. No prior experience needed.

Developing Conversation Analytic Skills 1: Turn-taking (3 days £360)

Tues 26 – Thu 28 April 2016; Clare Jackson, Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger

Core foundational training in conversation analysis (CA).  Intensive course, limited to a maximum of 12 participants, offering a systematic grounding in the domain of turn-taking.  Intended for those with some prior familiarity with CA. 

Developing Conversation Analytic Skills 2: Sequence Organisation (3 days £360)

Tues 3 – Thurs 5 May 2016; Sue Wilkinson and Merran Toerien

Core foundational training in conversation analysis (CA).  Intensive course, limited to a maximum of 12 participants, offering a systematic grounding in the domain of sequence organisation.  Intended for those with some prior familiarity with CA.

For further info/registration, contact: sarah.shrive-morrison@york.ac.uk

Presenting Conversation Analysis in LA

Merran delivering her presentation

Merran Toerien was delighted to get a chance to visit the University of California at Los Angeles last week - not only because they have sunshine, palm trees and blue sky in LA (just as the clocks were going back in York!) but because it was a fabulous opportunity to work with scholars who have pioneered the application of conversation analysis to the study of medical interaction.  

Merran was invited to give presentations to CLIC (Center for Language, Interaction and Culture - see:http://clic.ss.ucla.edu/) and the CA Working Group (CAWG).  She also met for one-to-one discussions with 8 dynamic graduate students, participated in the CAWG weekly data session, and worked intensively with Professors John Heritage and Tanya Stivers on a collaborative study of treatment recommendations.  

She is immensely grateful for this opportunity and would like to thank Professors Elinor Ochs and Tanya Stivers for the invitation, Clara Bergen for all her hard work in organising the week's activities (ably assisted also by Alex Tate), and the large number of people at UCLA who made the week both intellectually rewarding and lots of fun.   

Visiting Researcher and Reproductive Justice in Britain and South Africa

We're delighted to have Ryan du Toit visiting the department from South Africa for this term.  Ryan is a PhD student and Researcher from the Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction (CSSR) programme at Rhodes University.  He forms part of a collaborative research team involving Merran Toerien, Sian Beynon-Jones and researchers from Rhodes University, headed by Professor Macleod, who also visited York earlier this year. 

The overarching aim of the research project, which is funded by the British Academy, is to critically examine how pre-abortion consultations are conducted in the public health sector in both South Africa and in Great Britain. It is envisioned that the findings from both contexts can be used to develop a ‘reproductive justice’ framework for thinking about abortion practices. 

During his visit he will be attending courses in conversation analysis and engaging in data sessions held by the department of Sociology. You can read more about the CSSR @ https://www.ru.ac.za/criticalstudies/about. Ryan will also be talking about the wider project as part of the department of Sociology's Unpolished Papers programme on November 18th from 3-4pm.  

Workshop in Conversation Analysis: Shanxi University, China

Clare Jackson and Merran Toerien joined Professor Paul Drew (Loughborough University) and Dr Chase Raymond (UCLA, in the USA) at Shanxi University in Taiyuan, China to deliver a Workshop in Conversation Analysis (10^th - 14^th August 2015).  

Prepping for the start of the workshop - Clare and Merran with participants at the opening plenary session

Aimed at graduate students and faculty with an interest in developing their analytic skills, the workshop involved an intensive programme of lectures and small-group hands-on practical sessions.  Over 60 participants took part, including locals (from Shanxi University) and many from a diverse range of universities around China.  The workshop generated much online discussion among participants on ‘we-chat’ (a social networking forum in China), giving us instant feedback, insight into some of the debates students were having about the data they were working on, and lots of pictures of us all hard at work (okay and sometimes not)!  We were absolutely delighted by the level of engagement and effort put in by all participants, with some groups staying up into the early hours to work on the presentations they gave towards the end of the week.  The standard of work was very high and indicates a growing body of CA expertise in China - very exciting indeed! 

We are very grateful to Professors Guodong Yu and Yaxin Wu (of Shanxi University), who invited us, hosted the workshop and ensured such a great turnout and such an exceptionally well-organised event.  They also arranged some wonderful sight-seeing and cultural opportunities for us, which will remain with us as highlights for many years to come.  We are also deeply endebted to Jody Zhou, whose organisational skills, attention to detail and general care for us ensured that we were always beautifully looked after, both in the classroom and out.

Some much needed relaxation - sight-seeing at the Forbidden City (Chase Raymond, Clare Jackson, Merran Toerien)

Critical Health Psychology in South Africa

Merran Toerien and Clare Jackson presented at the conference for the International Society for Critical Health Psychology, held in July at Rhodes University in South Africa.

Merran Toerien and Clare Jackson formed part of a symposium entitled 'Conversation analysis as critical analysis?', organised by Prof. Elizabeth Peel (University of Worcester) and chaired by Ryan du Toit (Rhodes University).  

The four papers broadly focussed on the use of conversation analysis (CA) to examine decision-making in clinical contexts, showing how CA can be used to illuminate the micro-social production of healthcare. Data from different clinical contexts formed the bases of the presentations.  

• Ryan showed the complex interplay between the lifeworld of a service user and the biomedical world in which she was interacting with staff in a diabetic clinic.  
• Clare explored the ways in which healthcare practitioners can open up or close down the interactional space for women to make decisions during childbirth.  
• Merran presented data from neurology clinics, showing the complicated nature and unintended consequences of enacting NHS policy for patient-led care in situated interactions between staff and service users.  
• Liz examined productions of diagnostic information about dementia in interactions between doctors and patients, showing how doctors are sensitive to the needs of patients and their families.