Thinking Through Crisis: Researchers reflect on scholarship amid upheaval

Newnham College Research Fellow, Dr Ekaterina Mizrokhi, hosted a workshop titled, Thinking Through Crisis, on 24 April 2026.

The one-day event provided a forum for researchers working under conditions of crisis (such as war, social upheaval, ecological collapse, genocide, displacement, and natural disaster) to consider how such events affect the nature of their research and ongoing projects, and how they might respond and reimagine their work in light of upheaval and change.

The morning was spent with introductions and reflections on the theme of research encounters with unexpected, world-altering crises. The participants shared examples of how their work has been affected and how they have adapted or pivoted their research.

After lunch Prof Yael Navaro FBA, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, presented the featured lecture on, Fieldnotes, Library Scans and the Ethnographic Narrative After Catastrophe. In this lecture Prof Navaro presented an account of her return to her field notebooks and library materials on Antakya, Turkey, after the city’s complete destruction with the earthquakes of 6 and 20 February 2023.

Prof Navaro spoke about the people and stories of the region, which is close to the border with Syria and has many Arabic and Armenian connections and influences, as shaped by its varied and changing history. She spoke about her own relationship with Antakya, the importance of solidarity and how research changes post-catastrophe.

The rest of the day was spent conducting creative exercises that allowed participants to reflect on their experience of research pivots and articulate the resources needed for institutions, colleagues, and wider communities to support researchers through crises in their professional and personal lives. The workshop prompted a collective appetite to carry the discussion forward into a collaborative output that distils participants' insights, best practices, and outstanding questions that could serve a wider academic audience.

Dr Ekaterina Mizrokhi is Associates’ Research Fellow in Architecture at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. The workshop was supported by the College and the Margaret Anstee Centre for Global Studies.