Methodological seminar - Bimbo Stanley Omopo

On the 17^th of July, Bimbo Stanley Omopo a doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of St Andrews, presented the methods he mobilizes to investigate, inter alia, the profound presence of religious identities on the University of Ibadan campus, particularly through the religious organizations that exist, which to a considerable extent, can influence who becomes what, when, and how, especially as it relates to politics and administration amongst students and staff at the university, as well as the influence of religion on the everyday lives of students. Youssef Bouri, research project manager at IFRA-Nigeria, was his discussant during this presentation.

Bimbo Stanley Omopo presented key aspects of his methodology encompassing various qualitative methods such as participant observation which he mobilized to immerse himself in religious group activities and events to observe firsthand how they ‘support’ students. This involved attending services, meetings, workshops, trainings, and seminars.

He discussed the lessons of humility and compassion thar he learned during his fieldwork and shared anecdotes about it. Bimbo also dwelved into some of the insights gleaned from his fieldwork such as the importance of moral communities, defined as groups of individuals bound together by shared ethical values, beliefs, and practices that guide their behavior and interactions, in his research. Other notions such as the concepts of confinement (stuckness) and moral exemplars which are central to his doctoral work were also discussed.