Fieldwork: Ethnography and Analysis

Course content

Students carry out fieldwork taking a point of departure in their project proposal from 2. semester. Fieldwork can take place in all kinds of socio-cultural contexts on the condition that it is realistic to carry it through within the given time frame and that the safety of students is not at stake. Apart from this the choice of place and theme are limited by research ethics only.

Fieldwork can be carried out individually or in smaller groups, it can be part of a larger research project, or as an internship.

During fieldwork students write portfolios which are uploaded on Absalon to the teacher as well as to group members. Students can be excepted from participating in the netbased dialogue - also known as "Etivities" - only if they work in areas with no or insufficient access to the net. However, all students must write portfolios during their fieldwork. During the last part of the semester students participate in a number of workshops with focus on the collected ethnographic material and analysis. Participation in these workshops is mandatory. The duration of fieldwork is maximum 14 weeks, and the students must return in time for the workshops.

Education

Board of Studies, Department of Anthropology

Mandatory MA course 3. Semester

Credit students and Exchange students cannot sign up for this course.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

- demonstrate familiarity with different ethnographic metods for fieldwork and be able to differentiate between the types of knowledge they can produce

- demonstrate knowledge of theories and analytical concepts, which can illuminate relevant anthropological problems in an empirical material. 

- demonstrate thematic and regional knowledge relevant to a chosen field

 

Skills

- complete a fieldwork based on an individual problem statement

- collect relevant empirical material

- evaluate the problem statement and research questions in relation to collected empirical material

 

Competences

- organize an empirical material properly with due consideration to relevant methodological and ethical issues

- reflect critically on the methological and analytical process of the fieldwork

- give qualified feedback on others’ work

Fieldwork, either individually or in groups, plus post fieldwork workshops.

The course Anthropological Project Design must be approved before the beginning of fieldwork.

For the sake of the students' safety, we cannot approve projects to countries to which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has advised against travelling. See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' travel advisories (Rejsevejledninger), which are posted in Danish here: http:/​/​um.dk/​da/​rejse-og-ophold/​rejse-til-udlandet/​rejsevejledninger/​.

At the beginning of Fieldwork you will be allocated an e-tivities cluster supervisor who will coordinate feedback and online-dialogue between a cluster of students who are carrying out fieldwork on the basis of submitted portfolio exercises. The goal is to continue in the same cluster that you were a part of during Anthropological Project Design, albeit, this may not always be possible. At the end of Fieldwork, students attend a series of post-fieldwork workshops, where you continue working with your empirical material through a series of further portfolio exercises. Portfolio exercises that have been prepared and fine-tuned during fieldwork as well as during post-fieldwork workshops are submitted for the final exam in December.

Continuous feedback during the course
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
ECTS
30 ECTS
Type of assessment
Portfolio, exam period
Type of assessment details
Portfolio-assignments

Individual or groups submissions

Contents of the portfolio:

•All the portfolio assignments handed in during the course, revised and collected as one portfolio.

•2 pages overview of the ethnographic material. Length: min. 4320 keystrokes, max. 5280 keystrokes. Does not vary depending on whether the exam was done individual or as a group.

•2 pages Master’s Thesis synopsis, including motivations for choice of Master’s thesis model. Length: min. 4320 keystrokes, max. 5280 keystrokes. Does not vary depending on whether the exam was done individual or as a group.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
passed/not passed
Censorship form
No external censorship
Criteria for exam assessment

See Learning Outcome

  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 12
  • Preparation
  • 96
  • Project work
  • 696
  • Exam
  • 24
  • English
  • 828

Kursusinformation

Language
English
Partially in Danish
Course number
AANK16013U
ECTS
30 ECTS
Programme level
Full Degree Master
Duration

1 semester

Placement
Autumn
Schedulegroup
NA
Studyboard
Department of Anthropology, Study Council
Contracting department
  • Department of Anthropology
Contracting faculty
  • Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinator
  • Kasper Tang Vangkilde   (16-786e807d727f3b836e7b7478767971724d6e7b81757f7c3b78823b7178)
Teacher

Anja Simonsen, Class 1
Jens Sejrup, Class 2
Birgit Bräuchler, Class 3

Saved on the 01-03-2023

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