Graduate Workshop: Interdisciplinary approaches to ethnographic research (15th EthnoDoks 2023)

A workshop organised for and by PhD candidates in Social Anthropology and related disciplines

Since 2008, the EthnoDoks meetings facilitate encounters, exchange and networking between PhD students involved in ethnographic research projects in anthropology and related disciplines (such as sociology, religious studies, cultural and literature studies, education, etc). In line with the tradition of the EthnoDoks meetings, our main goal of the 2023 workshop will be connecting PhD students and other early stage researchers across institutions in a space designed to be free of hierarchies. Apart from PhD students, we also welcome undergraduate students in their final years and postdoctoral researchers at the beginning of their academic careers. In focus groups, different aspects and challenges of ethnographic work and academic careers will be discussed and experiences from individual research projects can be shared with peers. Therefore, we particularly value an open and spontaneous structuring of the focus groups to give all participants the opportunity to advance on what they currently are most in need concerning their research process. To include more students and researchers from abroad the main language during the meeting will be English.

The past decades saw ethnographic research undergo an astonishing transformation. Caught up in its colonial past and absorbed with its own idiosyncrasies, the ethnographic conception of ‘doing research’ looked dusty, old, and on its way out. Recent years, however, have seen a renewed interest in the methodology. The methodological revival can, in no small part, be attributed to scholars from outside disciplines’ nascent interest in the method. Unburdened by intra-disciplinary inhibitions, an eclectic mixture of research, making creative use of ethnographic methods, has emerged. The 15th Ethnodoks workshops are an opportunity to reflect on what constitutes ethnography, how interdisciplinarity has changed our understanding of the methods we deploy, and what opportunities and challenges emerge. It offers a series of practical workshops, which relate to methods of ethnography and the process of writing a dissertation, regardless of its disciplinary affiliation, by researchers from different European universities. Workshops will address commonly encountered issues such as research access, practice of ethnography, data analysis and writing. The 15^th EthnoDoks meeting will take place at the University of Basel (Switzerland) on September 22^nd and September 23^rd, and welcomes all doctoral and post-doctoral students interested in ethnography in order to establish a constructive exchange beyond the compartmentalization of the academic field. 

If you wish to participate please write to us by August 22^nd to ethnodoks@cluttergmail.com  indicating your name and affiliation, your dissertation’s broad topic, your current stage in your project, your experiences (theoretical and/or practical) with ethnographic research, as well as any challenges you are currently facing that you wish to discuss at the workshop (max. 1 page).  

When confirming your registration, we will ask for an attendance fee of 30 francs/euros to be paid by September, 1^st. This fee facilitates planning and covers the costs of lunch, snacks and a welcome dinner on Friday evening. The workshops shall be held in presence at the University of Basel.

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