Fieldwork at the Crossroad of Disciplines: Ethnography, Philology and Area Studies - AINDV1136

• Title: Fieldwork at the Crossroad of Disciplines: Ethnography, Philology and Area Studies
• Guaranteed by: Institute of Asian Studies (21-UAS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2019 to 2023
• Semester: winter
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 8
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Martin Hříbek, Ph.D.
• Class: A – Mezioborová nabídka VP: Sociální vědy

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Martin Hříbek, Ph.D. (26.09.2017)

What is fieldwork, and what do researchers do in the field? What problems do they confront, overcome, and at times fail to overcome? How do they generate, manage and analyse data? What questions do they bring to the field and how does their experience in the field transform those questions? How does fieldwork transform the fieldworker?
Fieldwork is an activity that legitimates much of our scientific knowledge concerning other cultures. It is essential for anthropologists, but also important in a number of other disciplines. In this course, we will take a broader look at what can constitute “the field”. Whoever is enrolled in any kind of area studies or in a programme centring on a particular language and culture eventually travels to certain destinations with some kind of professional interest, be it ethnography, visiting institutions, archives, conducting interviews, or for the purpose of practicing language skills. All those activities can profit from the depth of knowledge anthropologists have gained in the process of doing fieldwork.
The course is designed for one semester, i.e. twelve classes, each ninety minutes long. Four introductory classes will present core issues related to fieldwork including: reflexivity; methodology; data production and analysis; uses of language; power relations; ethics; safety, health and other practical issues.
Following this introductory phase, eight guest lectures will be presented by specialists from a variety of academic backgrounds, fieldwork experiences and research questions. They will provide their perspective and experience on those core issues. Geographically, the course will take as its focus South and Central Asia.

Core lecturers:
Veronika Zikmundová (Institutue of South and Central Asia, Faculty of Arts, CU)
Martin Hříbek (Institutue of South and Central Asia, Faculty of Arts, CU)
Luděk Brož (Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences)
Stephanie Rudwick (University of Leipzig)

Guest lecturers:
Michaela Budiman, Soňa Bendíková (Institutue of South and Central Asia, Faculty of Arts, CU)
Jarmila Ptáčková (Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences)
Radhika Borde (Metropolitan University in Prague)
Viktor Elšík (Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, CU)

Entry requirements

Last update: Mgr. Martin Hříbek, Ph.D. (03.10.2016)

Who is this course intended for?

There are no formal prerequisites for enrolment in the course, though some previous background in either anthropology or Asian studies is desirable. The course is designed for students who are planning a future career as either working in a culturally distant setting and having broadly defined research as part of their study; or who are planning a career that engages with cultural otherness in some other aspect, e.g., as translators, NGO workers, media practitioners, and so on. This course is intended for those students who want to learn best practises—as well as less than successful endeavours—from experienced researchers while doing fieldwork in diverse territories and settings, under varying conditions and from various disciplinary angles. This course, however, is not intended to serve as a substitute for fieldwork methodology courses usually taught at Anthropology and Sociology departments.  

The student should be prepared to attend regularly, to complete the readings every week, and to participate in discussions based on that reading.