Tag: fieldwork

Somewhere Between Here and There: Goldilocking Between Fieldwork and Academia

By Crystal Abidin | January 29, 2018

anthro{dendum} welcomes guest blogger Crystal Abidin, contributing the second post in the Private Messages from the Field series edited by Crystal Abidin and Gabriele de Seta. Somewhere Between Here and There: Goldilocking Between Fieldwork and Academia by Crystal Abidin One of my fondest memories from fieldwork is learning how to survive an eyelash curler. More specifically, I sat for two agonizing hours at a rather public and populated ice-cream parlour on a weekday night in Singapore, with three friends who took turns {+}

Private Messages from the Field: Confessions on Digital Ethnography and Its Discomforts

By Crystal Abidin | January 19, 2018

anthro{dendum} welcomes guest bloggers Crystal Abidin and Gabriele de Seta who will be editing a series of blogposts titled Private Messages from the Field. To kick off the series, today’s post features an introduction and backstory to this collection of essays. Private Messages from the Field: Confessions on Digital Ethnography and Its Discomforts by Crystal Abidin & Gabriele de Seta Here’s a first confession about ethnographic work: All professional things have personal beginnings. We are today writing this introduction as editors {+}

Hurry Up and Wait, Part 2: Arrival – #RoR2018

By Dick | January 8, 2018

After focusing my last couple weeks spending quality time with my loved ones, this week I have arrived in Dakar. This is my sixth time here and unquestionably my smoothest entry – the shiny new airport was easy to navigate, despite having just opened to great criticism in the middle of December. Seems like the kinks got worked out, or they were just having a good day. Passport control was fast, customs was nearly undetectable, and my host met me {+}

The Fieldnotes Ecosystem of #RoR2018

By Dick | December 18, 2017

Early on in college, I took a lot of inspiration from John Hawks’ article calling for researchers to be transparent and engaging with their research in combination with Tricia Wang’s article outlining “open ethnography.” To me, Wang’s methodology was an answer to Hawks’ call. Somehow, I would have to navigate ethics review boards which weren’t at all familiar with using social media to disseminate information – and I did (which is a blog post for another time). Later, Samuel Collins {+}

Strategies in Minimizing the Labor Intensive Process of Dissertation Research Proposal Writing and Some Tips on What to Keep in Mind – #RoR2018

By Dick | December 4, 2017

Before I get started, I want to point out that this article is aimed at pre-field graduate students and undergraduates, and that the context is working with American funding agencies. YMMV. As I mentioned in my previous blog, my dissertation research is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSFGRFP) and the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship (FHDDRA). The former provides three years of funding that must be used in five years of graduate school. I can use {+}

An Ethnographic Liminality: The Hurry Up and Wait of Dissertation Research Predeparture

By Dick | November 25, 2017

I am about to depart for Dakar, Senegal to begin twelve months of dissertation research. I’m not sure when I’ll be leaving – the slog of uncoordinated bureaucratic machines keeps me from knowing just yet. For now, I’m just in that all-too-familiar mode of “hurry up and wait”: I was packed and ready to leave November 1. I am packed and ready to leave December 1. And given a recent hiccup in the process, it looks like I’ll be packed {+}