Abstract:
In recent years, I have had the opportunity to lead and participate in cross-disciplinary projects that bring together researchers from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to address global challenges in food, health, and sustainability. In this talk, I will reflect on my own experience of working with colleagues across fields such as environmental science, linguistics, aquaculture, nutrition, computer science, and political ecology in a project on aquatic food perceptions in Vietnam. Leading such a diverse team taught me the importance of building trust, negotiating different disciplinary languages, and creating a shared framework where cultural perspectives are valued alongside quantitative evidence. Through this process, I came to appreciate how humanities-led approaches can illuminate aspects of food, identity, and health that numbers alone cannot capture. My reflections will highlight both the challenges and the rewards of cross-disciplinary collaboration (e.g. publications and further project collaborations), and how culturally informed leadership can shape research agendas that strengthen sustainable food practices, ecological resilience, and public health.

Biography:

Dr. Saihong Li (University of Stirling, UK) is a co-editor of Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice and a book series editor for Routledge Studies in Global Food Translation. Her publications include monographs and refereed journal articles on themes ranging from menu translation to bi/trilingualism. Her current research spans four interlinked areas: food and tourism translation; translation and cultural perspectives on One Health; translators’ and interpreters’ mental health using multimodal experimental methods; and political and cultural discourse translation. Widely published and an active editor, Dr. Li has secured major funding, received multiple awards, and regularly delivers invited lectures and keynotes at international conferences.