Fieldwork in the Cloud: Training in Ethnographic Fieldwork with Global Technologies

(Note: The Prezi associated with this blog entry is from a collaborative brown bag lecture given by Barbara G. Hoffman, Ph.D. and me at Cleveland State University on October 24, 2013. The essay below is an adaptation of my part of the lecture and as such, it does not reflect the opinions of Dr. Hoffman or Cleveland State University.)

There is – indeed, there has been – a movement afoot in higher education to utilize emerging technologies in order to augment our ultimate goals. For me, this ultimate goal is to contribute to educating an informed electorate. The objectives that lead to that point include making knowledge available and accessible. In the pursuit of the goal, we have witnessed this movement take many forms:

• Educators use Twitter to engage their students about their subjects while academics and professionals use Twitter to live-tweet conferences and lectures.

• Instructors are employing stylish presentation software with which to present their lessons, not only in the classroom, but over the internet as well.

• Researchers are publishing in open-access journals, some publishers are beginning to meet that demand by considering new models, and still more open-access online journals are starting up.

• Prestigious universities are offering massive online open courses (MOOCs) for free, in which anyone can take part.

• Within my own field, mobile apps and social media are being used to deliver live fieldnotes to both colleagues and the lay public alike.

This past summer, my advisor and I began to develop our own contribution to this pedagogical shift with cloud-based fieldwork training. Rather than going into the field alone with little training, and unable to enroll in a cultural anthropology field school, I chose to return to the community where I had studied abroad last summer – Dakar, Senegal – to conduct ethnographic fieldwork under the mentorship of my advisor in Cleveland, using the cloud as a point of exchange ideas and advice.

#AAA2012: Whatever You Do, Don’t Call It “Frisco.”

First and foremost, Happy Veteran’s Day and thank you to all the servicewomen and men (my father and grandfather, included) who defend this country, even though we’re like a big dysfunctional family of 350,000,000 people. Despite the fact that our President (in general, not any specific one) does not always use you in the smartest ways, your willingness to join in the first place is admirable. It disgusts me that we only give you one day of the year and then think we’re even. You deserve more (and yet, you still fight).

Many of you might remember that last year’s American Anthropological Association meeting in Montreal was my first. What many of you don’t know is that I was high-as-a-kite on the tailpipe fumes of academia for weeks to come. I made many friends, many connections, and learned a lot about myself and what I want to do in my academic career. I anticipate very much of the same, this week in San Francisco. I am not presenting a paper or poster – my proposal was accepted, but the panel was cut – but if you want me to tell you about my research in Senegal, find me and I’ll be more than willing!

I will be live tweeting all week long with the tag #AAA2012, so follow me at @plazdiquehardt (or #FF me, preferably before Friday though). Unfortunately, there is no highly anticipated “Science in Anthropology” open discussion, but there are going to be some fantastic sessions in Medical Anthropology and Biological Anthropology. Hopefully, I’ll remember to post pictures. Like last year, I will be at the BAS business meeting and keynote on Friday night. If you’re there, and someone awkwardly says “Hi” as you stuff your face with egg rolls, it’s probably me.

Finally, I’d like to mention that I've been chosen as the Society for Medical Anthropology and National Association of Student Anthropologists’ Emerging Leader in Medical Anthropology. The program entails a professional mentorship which will hopefully lead to a “professional training paper” addressing the track of my choice – which was World Anthropologies. Unfortunately, I won’t be meeting my mentor at #AAA2012, because they won’t be chosen yet, but I will be attending some sessions on critical issues in anthropology, for which I am quite excited.

See you in San Francisco!