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Staff Profiles

Siobhan Warrington

PD Research Associate - Oral History

Background

I am a senior research associate with the Newcastle Oral History Until and Collective working with on the international and interdisciplinary Living Deltas Hub (www.livingdeltas.org).  My role focuses on designing and coordinating participatory oral history with women and men living in three delta regions of India, Bangladesh and Vietnam to co-produce understandings of the past, present and possible futures. Sustainable delta futures must be informed by delta dwellers and their experience, knowledge, and priorities

 

I am also involved as an advisor on the following projects:

RECLAMA – Reclaiming Afro-Ecuadorian women’s life histories (British Academy/GCRF 2019 – 2021) Universidad San Francisco de Quito and University of Northumbria (Professor Katy Jenkins) 

 

Volunteering together: blending knowledge and skills for development University of Northumbria for Volunteering Services Overseas (Professor Matt Baillie-Smith)


Sustainable Lives in Scarred Landscapes: Heritage, Environment, and Violence in the China-Myanmar Jade Trade (British Academy 2018-2020) University of Warwick (Associate Professor, Mandy Sadan)

 

I have over 25 years’ experience of collaborating with civil society organisations across the globe to record and communicate the memories and first-hand experiences of those living with poverty, displacement, environmental change, and HIV.  I specialise in participatory oral history, but have also worked with video, theatre, and photography, as research methods and as formats to communicate research results. I am committed to designing ethical and responsible initiatives which enable those who are most marginalised to safely and meaningfully participate in research.  I am interested in representation, the value of lived experience and ensuring that the knowledge, experiences and priorities of women and girls are taken into account.

 

I previously worked with Panos London and in 2013 established the community interest company, Oral Testimony Works to take forward Panos’ oral testimony work (1993-2013), and to manage its archive of 1300 first-hand accounts. I have undertaken research and evaluation for many international NGOs, including a substantial body of work on ethical image making.  I have also led a number of research projects on women and girls’ safety, health and rights.

 

I am the editor of the International Work section of the Oral History journal.

Research

My first oral history project was titled Life in Burnhope in the 1920s and completed as a 16-year old as part of my GCSE History coursework. I recorded my nana and her sister talking about their childhood in a Durham mining village and took them on a walking tour of their former village.  Five years later (and after a few summer jobs as a market researcher in the North East) I spent several months in Karimabad, Northern Pakistan, recording interviews with women about their relationship with tourism and cultural heritage as part of my anthropology degree at Edinburgh University.  Upon graduation I returned to Northern Pakistan as a gender research consultant, undertaking participatory rural appraisal for two international development agencies. Towards the end of my time in Northern Pakistan I tried (and failed) to get funding for Women on the Highway - a collaborative oral history project to record the memories and experiences of women of different ages, religious and linguistic groups who live along the Karakorum Highway.  I returned to the UK and found a job at Panos London working with civil society organisations around the world on collaborative, community-based, collaborative oral testimony projects. I worked with Panos London until its closure in 2013 when I established Oral Testimony Works a community interest company to take forward Panos’ oral testimony approach and to ensure longevity of its archive of 1300 first hand accounts of women and men sharing their experiences of environmental change, armed conflict, displacement, living with poverty and HIV stigma.

 

Since 2013 I have undertaken qualitative and participatory research and evaluation projects for a range of international NGOs, universities and also Turner prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing.  Many of these projects (for Womankind, Girl Effect, Christian Aid, Theatre for a Change and Plan International) have focused on women’s and girls’ safety, health, and voice.

 

Since 2010 I have built up a considerable body of research and policy work relating to visual representation and ethical image making. Most significantly the influential The People in the Pictures; vital perspectives on Save the Children’s image making (2017), which led to further research and policy work for Oxfam International and Bond - UK network of international development NGOs, a journal article and a book chapter.

 

I am currently engaged full-time with the www.livingdeltas.org project building on significant previous experience of designing and managing participatory research and communication projects across the globe with communities who have experienced environmental change and rural poverty.

Publications