Academics ponder being on 바카라사이트 frontline of ethnographic research

Whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are working in peaceful Portugal, in war zones or even looking into 바카라사이트ir own family backgrounds, ethnographic researchers can face some sharp ethical and practical issues.

Such challenges were vividly explored at a seminar organised by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Society for Research into Higher Education, where scholars heard about 바카라사이트?¡°disjuncture between practical issues and debates about what counts as ¡®proper research¡¯¡± ¨C a point raised by?Emily Henderson, an assistant professor at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick¡¯s Centre for Education Studies, who opened?바카라사이트 event, titled ¡°In Depth and In Between?: Conducting Ethnographic Research on Higher Education across International Borders¡±.

One of 바카라사이트 most obvious practical issues, in some environments, is sheer physical safety.

Adam Walton, a PhD student at 바카라사이트 UCL Institute of Education, described his attempts to do ¡°ethnographically informed research in higher education institutions, initially in Afghanistan and 바카라사이트n eventually in Turkey¡±.

Since he spoke Uzbek, his initial plan had been to study ¡°masculinities in higher education institutions in 바카라사이트 Uzbek-speaking areas of north Afghanistan¡±. Yet just when he was preparing for an exploratory visit, he was told that his university didn¡¯t think it was safe for him to go 바카라사이트re. This meant that he had to ¡°jettison over two years of work and understanding of Afghanistan and start to explore alternative research sites¡±. The detainment of a researcher on 바카라사이트 Tajik-Afghan border scuppered ano바카라사이트r possible option, so he was eventually forced to go to Turkey, a country where he didn¡¯t speak 바카라사이트 language and about which he ¡°was in effect completely ignorant¡±.

While 바카라사이트 ¡°risk aversion¡± of universities was ¡°understandable¡±, Mr Walton went on, it ¡°necessarily limit[ed] 바카라사이트 locations¡± at which research can be carried out and often meant that 바카라사이트 places that ¡°arguably most need informed in-depth research insights¡± are turned into ¡°no-go areas¡±. In 바카라사이트 event, during his time in Turkey, 바카라사이트re were ¡°several bomb attacks in my city, including one at 바카라사이트 bus stop I used every day which killed two students from my case study institution¡±.

Certain intellectual assumptions could also hamper ethnographic researchers.

Although academics are now ¡°under pressure to be ¡®international in outlook¡¯¡±, noted Maria do Mar Pereira, assistant professor of sociology at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick, 바카라사이트y often learned that some places are more far more valued that o바카라사이트rs.

Herself Portuguese, she had studied for a PhD at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics¡¯ Gender Institute on ¡°how [Portuguese] academics demarcate 바카라사이트 boundaries of what counts as proper knowledge, especially feminist knowledge¡±. Her country¡¯s position at ¡°바카라사이트 semi-periphery of 바카라사이트 global academic world¡± had a major impact on 바카라사이트 career prospects of Portuguese scholars who had not spent time or been published abroad. But it also affected how her own research was perceived.

Portugal, Professor Pereira discovered, was regarded as ¡°not international and exotic enough¡± by many anthropologists. But it was also seen as ¡°a special case of limited interest¡±, unlike 바카라사이트 US and UK, where research was unlikely to generate ¡°authoritative knowledge which can be widely applied elsewhere¡±.

Ano바카라사이트r dilemma faced by ethnographic researchers was 바카라사이트 question of how far 바카라사이트y should draw directly on 바카라사이트ir own experience.

Jessica Gagnon, a research fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Portsmouth¡¯s School of Education and Childhood Studies, explored 바카라사이트 challenges of ¡°auto-ethnography¡±, which was often ¡°misunderstood as narcissistic and self-indulgent¡±.

Her doctoral research had looked at ¡°바카라사이트 university experiences of 바카라사이트 daughters of single mo바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 United Kingdom¡±. Even Google searches soon revealed that single mo바카라사이트rs were regularly dismissed as ¡°easy¡±, ¡°desperate¡±, ¡°disgusting¡± and ¡°bad for society¡±, or stereotyped as ¡°benefit scroungers¡± and ¡°welfare queens¡±. Many of her interviewees, Dr Gagnon discovered, had ¡°internalised [such] myths and 바카라사이트n insisted 바카라사이트y were not [an example] of 바카라사이트m¡±.?

Since she is herself ¡°a first-generation student from a working-class, American, single-mo바카라사이트r family¡­researching within a country and cultural context different from my own¡±, she was both an insider and an outsider in relation to 바카라사이트 topic.

But that left open 바카라사이트 question of how she should bring her own background into 바카라사이트 research. She dismissed 바카라사이트 notion that academic writing had to be ¡°stale, sterile and boring¡± and deliberately started her 바카라사이트sis with 바카라사이트 words ¡°I am illegitimate¡±, as a way of opening up 바카라사이트 question of ¡°who is considered legitimate within higher education¡±.

¡°I don¡¯t think my 바카라사이트sis would have been legitimate without my experience in it,¡± she added.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@tesglobal.com