̽»¨¾«Ñ¡

Course content

This course takes as point of departure the relevance of fieldwork as a practice of anthropological knowledge making. The course includes reading discussions, methodological explorations, and writing work to study the ethics, politics, and practice of ethnographic fieldwork. This way, it aims at contributing to the development of each student's individual research proposal for the MA fieldwork and thesis.  

The key output of the course is twofold: a written individual research proposal and a creative methodological reflection. Students’ field projects are bases for both.

The course includes teaching on:

• participant observation

• conducting interviews

• data management

• library and data research and resources

• critical and ethical reflections on anthropological truth claim, scale, positionality, representation, and collaboration in ethnographic practice as it intersects with gender, class, ethnicity, and nationality

This enables students to formulate research questions, conduct literature review, and define the methodological aspects needed to conduct their own fieldwork. Students will learn to "deep read," develop their writing skills, and think critically to produce written proposals, in-class presentations, and a final creative project.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

• Advanced level overview of key methodological approaches in contemporary anthropology and their relevance for students’ own research.

• Appreciation of the ethical challenges raised by different methodological and theoretical approaches.

• Understanding of how ethnographic research can address the pressing questions of our age.

Skills

• Ability to design a qualitative research project based on the state of the art of a research field, with a relevant research question and an ethically feasible methodological design.

• Ability to use creative methods and forms of expression for communicating research designs.

• Ability to assess the methodological merit and ethical soundness of qualitative research projects.

General competence

• Capacity for critically engaging with the methodological and ethical challenges of ethnographic research within contemporary social science.

• Capacity for intellectual cooperation and teamwork through group discussions and group presentations.

• Ability to cultivate ethics, responsibility, and respect in the production of knowledge.

Admission to the course

Students must be enrolled in the master’s programme in Social Anthropology.

Students who are admitted to study programmes ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for .

If you are not already enrolled as a student ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, please see our information about .

Overlapping courses

• 7.5 credits overlap with ANTH4020 – Academic Writing and Project Development.
• 7.5 credits overlap with ANTH4030 – Advanced Anthropological Methods.
• 7.5 credits overlap with SANTH4020 – Academic Writing and Project Development, transitional course.
• 7.5 credits overlap with SANTH4030 – The Craft of Etnography: Advanced Research Methods, transitional course.

Teaching

Twelve 3-hour teaching blocks with a combination of lectures and seminars.  

Compulsory activities:

• 2-page draft research proposal.

• 6-page draft research proposal with oral presentation.

• Creative project that students will build throughout the course, and which will be part of a collective exhibit at the end of the semester.

Draft proposals and oral presentations will be assessed as Approved/Not approved. All compulsory activities must be approved in order to take the ANTH4125 exam.

In the event of illness or other valid reasons, you can apply for a valid absence or postponement of compulsory activity. Apply for valid absence from or need for postponement of compulsory activity

Examination

• A final submission in Inspera of a 3500 words research proposal.

• Short description (up to 300 words) in which students explain what inspired and guided their final creative project, including a picture of it, a file with it or a link to it. The creative project must be accepted by the lecturer beforehand.

All compulsory activities must be approved, and the exam passed in the same semester.

Examination support material

All exam support materials are allowed during this exam. Generating all or part of the exam answer using AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar is not allowed. If AI is used as part of the creative project, this will need to be clearly outlined.

Language of examination

You may submit your response in English, Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about .

Also see Grading guidelines in social anthropology

More about examinations ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡.