Making Waves: the aftermath and impact of ethnography
The Circle is a series of informal, multidisciplinary discussions which alternate presentations by leading ethnographers with group sessions where participants reflect on ethnographic research practices. The Circle will run in term 1 and 2 of the academic year 2016-17. Participation is open to all Warwick students/faculty and is extended to students from other DTCs. This is the third edition of the event which is organized by the IKON research group.
As hinted by the title "Making Waves: The Aftermath and ‘Impact’ of Ethnography," this year we will explore exactly what happens when fieldwork concludes. Ethnography takes place through a dialogue between the researcher and those who make up the field investigated in a relationship with unclear consequences.
This important yet often overlooked aspect of ethnography is what we plan to focus on. In five meetings we will discuss how ethnographers exit the field, present their findings to informants and the outside world, and what outcomes might ensue. We plan to draw on the experience of the audience, cases of ethnographers dealing with the (good and bad) outcomes of their work, and the expertise of guests whose work illustrates these issues.
In this third meeting Maria do Mar Pereira (Warwick) will lead a seminar entitled 'When You Cannot Leave the Field: Tales from an Ethnography of Academia'
In this third meeting, we will continue to discuss the theme of the aftermath of ethnography with a special guest from Warwick. Maria do Mar Pereira is a feminist ethnographer who has conducted research in a field in which she is part and invested in: academia. Her case is thus rather unique. It represents a situation in which the researcher ‘cannot’ leave the field, informants have full access to and understanding of research results, and the impact of the ethnography is intertwined with its very production.
Maria do Mar Pereira holds a PhD in Gender from the Gender Institute at LSE, and a BSc+MSc (Distinction) in Sociology from the Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL, Portugal). Alongside her academic work, she maintains an active involvement in feminist movements at local and international, grassroots and policy levels, having been a member of the executive committee of various Portuguese and European non-governmental organisations.