Feeling the Field: An Exploration of a Multisensory Positionality in Creative Migration Research

This intervention introduces the concept of multisensory positionality. Grounded in the theoretical discussions around intersectionality and positionality (Anthias 2002; 2008; Yuval Davis 2006) in migration research, and supported by the sensuous scholarship (Stoller 2010; Howes 2020), multisensory positionality is a wholistic, intersectional approach to the positionalities of the researcher and the research participants, which acknowledges the role of the body and senses as a meaningful dimension of positionality that actively participates in the negotiations of meaning between people and spaces relevant for the researched situation.

Multisensory positionality’s role in the research process is discussed in the context of research methodology, the negotiation of meaning in the field, and at the stage of data analysis. Karolina Nikielska-Sekuła, dr habil., is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Intercultural Studies at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Her current research lies at the intersection of migration, visual and sensory studies, and urban studies. Previously, her work focused on cultural heritage in multicultural contexts. She has held several international research positions, including Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw; Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of South-Eastern Norway; and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher jointly affiliated with the Migration Research Center (MiReKoc) at Koç University in Istanbul and the Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute at the University of Deusto in Bilbao.

Nikielska- Sekuła co-edited (with A. Desille) the award-winning volume Visual Methodology in Migration: New Possibilities, Theoretical Implications, and Ethical Questions, recognised by IMISCOE, as well as the special issue Multisensory Approaches in Migration Research published in Ethnic and Racial Studies. She currently serves as Coordinator of the IMISCOE DIVCULT Standing Committee and is a member of the INTEGRIM Lab.