I am looking forward to the upcoming ReKnox conference in Rabat, Morocco. Having attended the inaugural ReKnox knowledge exchange conference in Cairo, Egypt. I know how rich these events can be. In Cairo, I had the opportunity to lead a workshop using string figuring to foster relational connections and understandings among the delegates.
Inspired by Donna Haraway (2016), string figuring honours how twine, string, and rope have been part of human experience for time immemorial. Almost everyone has a ball of string at home, waiting to be helpful. Humanity has used string for millennia—to weave, knot, and tell stories. Using string figures as a research pedagogical tool in a conference space enables intersections and commonalities to be illuminated through the stories we tie and knot into threads.
In Cairo, narrative focus was on the academic journeys that led us to the conference and was titled – All roads lead to Cairo. Each delegate, whether professor, student, administrator, or early-career researcher, worked on developing their own string figure, knotting the twine with the milestones of their academic path that had led them to this group in Cairo.
After constructing their string narratives, delegates shared their stories in small groups, discussing the hopes, fears, disappointments, challenges, and accomplishments that had shaped their academic trajectories. Adhering to ethical considerations, delegates were assured they did not have to share parts of their story that were too uncomfortable, and to know that the string would securely hold the whole story for them.
Having shared their stories, delegates were encouraged to find points of commonality they shared with others and link those points of their strings together with a separate thread. Eventually, a large stringy assemblage emerged, full of links and understandings—a beautiful, loose, messy tapestry of lives lived in and with academia.
The threads of commonality related to our academic experiences of finding places to thrive, securing funding, forming partnerships, and seeking mentors; being and becoming academics. The roads had similar pit stops interrupted by relationships, family, and friendships. Celebrations and sorrows intertwined with the lows of academia and the elation of accomplishments, qualifications, and employment security.
The knots of glory and pain were shared and linked, forming a large web of determination and belief in the transformative nature of education. We were left to contemplate the knowledge and understanding we had produced together. Who did this webby tapestry of academia belong to? It didn’t belong to me—I had only facilitated the process. It didn’t belong to any solo delegate. It was a collaboration formed by all of us and belonged to us all and it lives on in all of us as a wonderful and fond memory.
References
Haraway, D. J. (2016). Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press.
