Methodologists: Who Needs Them? Labels and the Power and Privilege to Teach Qualitative Research

In this panel we bring together faculty members with varying perspectives on questions about what qualifies someone to teach qualitative research. Unlike accrediting agencies, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and other neoliberal accountability systems that readily provide answers to these questions, we do not intend to offer any answers or solutions. Rather our aim is to open up these questions to dialogue and critique -- to unsettle them through exploration of our various experiences and perceptions of the label and work of ‘methodologists.’ In five individual and group papers, we engage in wonderings about the power and privilege of the label ‘methodologist,’ what being a qualitative methodologist (if we consider ourselves as such) enables and prevents us from thinking and doing (with students, faculty members, in our research agendas), the extent to which qualitative ‘methodologists’ are necessary or vital to teaching the next generation of qualitative researchers, and more. As faculty members who teach qualitative methods courses, supervise doctoral students to conduct qualitative dissertation research, and varyingly make use of the label ‘methodologist’ at our own institution, we will share our perspectives that arose (or were stifled and ignored) as we worked together to develop and offer a curriculum in qualitative research for our College. Our panel session will include ample time for audience discussion to further ongoing conversation and questions about the role of ‘methodologists’ in teaching qualitative research.