| Dozent/in |
Marlena Rycombel, MA |
| Veranstaltungsart |
Masterseminar |
| Code |
HS261654 |
| Semester |
Herbstsemester 2026 |
| Durchführender Fachbereich |
Soziologie |
| Studienstufe |
Master |
| Termin/e |
Di, 15.09.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 22.09.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 29.09.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 06.10.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 214
Di, 13.10.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 20.10.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 27.10.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 03.11.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 10.11.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 17.11.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 24.11.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 01.12.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220
Di, 15.12.2026, 14:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Inseliquai 10 INE 220 |
| Umfang |
2 Semesterwochenstunden |
| Inhalt |
The course will address not only observation, participant observation, and interviewing as core methods, but also the methodological and epistemological debates that shape contemporary anthropology. Particular attention will be paid to commonalities and tensions between different approaches to conducting and interpreting fieldwork, including classical ethnography, multi-sited ethnography, grounded theory, interpretive ethnography, autoethnography, and participatory action research.
The course will offer a sustained reflection on work relations in fieldwork, including the colonial history of ethnography and contemporary debates on decolonizing research. We will analyze the positionality of the anthropologist and the expectations, vulnerabilities, and forms of agency of fieldwork participants. This includes conflicts between roles (researcher, ally, advocate), questions of ethics and reciprocity, and the politics of giving voice. The tension between the public and private dimensions of fieldwork will be explored through a close reading of Bronislaw Malinowski’s published ethnography and his diary, using this contrast to discuss issues of disclosure, secrecy, intimacy, and the ethics of self-representation.
Fieldwork is grounded in the bodily, sensory, and affective experience of the ethnographer – being present in particular places, relationships, and power geometries – yet it is ultimately transformed into texts: fieldnotes, articles, theses, and books. The course will explore how this embodied–textual tension shapes what can be known, what can be shared, and what is silenced.
Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to link methodological reflection with their own or planned research projects. We will discuss how different ethnographic approaches imply different research designs (sampling strategies, temporalities of fieldwork, scales of analysis) and different forms of collaboration with participants (from extractive to participatory and activist modes). |
| Voraussetzungen |
The course and assignments will be in English, so a B2 level of English is required. |
| Sprache |
Englisch |
| Anmeldung |
***Important*** In order to earn credits, you must register for the course via the UniPortal. Registration is possible from two weeks before to two weeks after the start of the semester. Registration and deregistration are no longer possible after this period. You can find the exact registration details here: http://www.unilu.ch/ksf/semesterdaten |
| Leistungsnachweis |
Assignments will include weekly readings and seminar-style discussions, and a fieldnotes-based short essay in which students integrate empirical mini-fieldwork material with concise methodological reflection (2-4 pages). Students will be encouraged to consider how they can incorporate ethnographic methods into their master’s thesis research. Students are expected to engage critically with the required readings, to relate them to their own research interests, and to articulate how their positionality and embodied experience influence both their fieldwork practice and the texts they produce. |
| Abschlussform / Credits |
Aktive Teilnahme (Details siehe 'Leistungsnachweis') / 4 Credits
|
| Kontakt |
marlena.rycombel@unilu.ch |