“Because questions are intrinsically related to action, they spark and direct attention, perception, energy and effort, and so are at the heart of the evolving forms that our lives assume … Creativity requires asking genuine questions, those to which an answer is not already known. Questions function as open-handed invitations to creativity, calling forth that which doesn’t yet exist.”
~ Marilee Adams

Book on World Cafe Research

Name of Project:
Book (working title): World Cafe as Inquiry: Method and Impact

Submitted by:
Niels Agger-Gupta

Email:

Short Description of Project
A group of us are developing a project to create a book on world café as an inquiry method. The 75 or so masters theses and doctoral dissertations that have used a World Café as a research method have tended to be action research projects, but each one has had to invent aspects in their Café that were not anticipated by the founders of the World Café approach in order to attend to elements required as a research method. This book, to be published by Fielding Graduate University Press, will include chapters/sections on questions of design, ethics, epistemology, power, integrity, standards, etc., as well as a summary of the work that has been done.

Our expectation is for this publication to be participatory, created in collaboration with World Café practitioners around the world. We hope it will serve as a “way in” for academics and evaluators interested in using the World Café for research purposes.

Academic Home:
Royal Roads University, Fielding Graduate University and The World Cafe Community

Where is the Project Taking Place?
This is an international project linking researchers and practitioners around the world. We meet and work collaboratively online, using Zoom and Google Docs.

Your Role:
Co-Facilitator

Who Else is Involved?
Amy Lenzo, World Cafe Community Foundation & Adjunct Faculty, Fielding Graduate University;
Rosa Zubizarreta, Doctoral Student, Fielding Graduate University;
Fred Steier, faculty member, Fielding Graduate University;
With participation from other key practitioner/researchers

Senior Editor: Jean-Pierre Isbouts, Senior Editor and faculty member, Fielding Graduate University and Fielding Graduate University Press;

Category(s) of Research:
Research about World Café, Research that uses World Café in some way, Evaluation using World Café

Status:
In-Process