Module/Course Title: Fieldwork and Participant Observation

Code number : SA-139
Level of Module/Course (under-/postgraduate): Undergraduate
Type of Module/Course: Elective
Year of Study:  3rd-4th
Semester: 5th-7th
Number of ects allocated:: 3
Νumber of teaching units: 3
Name of lecturer / lecturers: Pinelopi Topali

Content outline : This course offers students the opportunity to practice anthropological fieldwork and participant observation. In order to acquire the skills necessary for participant observation students will first have to study several basic texts. Through these texts they will learn how social anthropologists select a research topic, choose a field site, design a research project, pose theoretical questions, carry out the research, analyze ethnographic data, and finally, write ethnography. We will also discuss the validity of the anthropological method and its contribution to the field of social studies. Students will have to fulfill a number of exercises in the field in order to understand how we do observation of our informants, how we keep record of our observations, and how we participate in our informant’s activities. They will learn to conduct structured and open-ended interviews and evaluate the usefulness and possible disadvantages of technological equipment during fieldwork. Students will also learn how to write fieldnotes and keep anthropological diaries. This course also offers undergraduate students the opportunity to design and conduct their own field-research project.

Learning outcomes: Students are expected to get familiar with the systematic way we conduct anthropological fieldwork and participant observation. More specifically, at the end of the course students will: Learn to use all their senses in order to record the multiple visual, auditory, and olfactory levels they deal with during fieldwork Be able to observe informants’ practices and record them Learn how to participate in their informants’ activities while preserving their ability to observe them Know how to conduct structured and un-structured interviews Know how to use technological equipment during their fieldwork and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of its use. Be able to keep and organize fieldnotes and diaries Get familiar with selecting research topics and posing theoretical questions Be able to design and conduct research projects Have the knowledge to evaluate the validity and contribution of anthropological fieldwork
Prerequisites : None
Recommended Reading: a) Basic Textbooks
Learning Activities and Teaching Methods : Lectures and discussions in class, exercises in the field and in class, observation in the field, interviews with informants
Assessment/Grading Methods: Participation in class, exercises in the field, short assignments.
Language of Instruction: Greek
Μode of delivery (face-to-face, distance learning): Face-to-face