ABSTRACT
We are scholars who use ethnographic methods to work with vulnerable populations and topics. We believe that ethnographic research is an endeavour that poses considerable risks to the researcher, as well as to the participants. In our work, we have found the arts-based method of collage making to be a particularly effective tool for exposing, reflecting on, understanding and working through the risks that we and our participants take. Identifying, juxtaposing and manipulating images to create a visual representation provides us opportunities to turn vulnerabilities into sharable objects. This collage work fosters a process of growth, new understandings, and a recognition that the images and beliefs we hold are always changing and unfolding. We believe this process of becoming can help us think more deeply about issues of representation and inclusion, and to work with our students and colleagues in opening new possibilities in our classrooms and institutions.
