21 November 2025, 13.30-17.00, Utrecht University Library, Drift 27, Room 1.25 (Tielezaal)

How do we study memory in societies marked by displacement, conflict, and loss? Please come join David Mwambari in a workshop that will explore creative and collaborative approaches drawing on orature, arts-based practices, and qualitative research to reimagine how we gather and understand life narratives.

The workshop will begin with a talk on how to diversify methodological approaches in memory studies, using examples from David’s ERC-funded TMSS project, which documents the experiences of displaced communities in six countries across Europe, the US, and Africa. The second part will then shift into a participatory workshop, where participants will co-create conversations around practices that can deepen and expand the ways in which we listen to, learn from, and document stories of the past that have multiple meanings today.

Seating is limited, so please register via this link.

David Mwambari is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at KU Leuven and principal investigator of the European Research Council–funded Life Narratives of Violence Among Refugees from Africa’s Great Lakes Region (AGLR). The multidisciplinary team is conducting research in six countries in Europe, the USA, and East and Southern Africa. Mwambari has led collaborative workshops across Africa, Europe, Australia, and Latin America, and has published widely on the politics of memory, gendered peace and security, and qualitative research in conflict settings. His publications include Navigating Cultural Memory: Commemoration and Narrative in Postgenocide Rwanda (Oxford University Press, 2023), which won the APCG Best Book Award at the African Studies Association conference in Chicago (2024) and the MSA First Book Award at the Memory Studies Association conference in Prague (2025).