So it has begun for real and we’re flooded with readings. Had to take a break from my Japanese studies and other obligations and focus entirely on Digital Anthropology, which seems very promising and excites me a lot!
In addition, this week was a classless reading unit on Interviewing for Qualitative Methods. I had read Bernard’s texts on Unstructured and Semistructured Interviewing as well as Structured Interviewing – both very good and inspiring – in week 43, and now continued with two texts on sensitive questions.
We also had our first session of Ethnographic Film, which was about Robert Flaherty and Nanook of the North. I had read all mandatory and recommended readings for this unit (plus the one we got during class, see below), which I probably won’t manage for all the upcoming units, considering how the classes are aggregating and my focus lingers toward the classes on Digital Anthropology and Qualitative Methods.
Study
Qualitative Methods
- Unit 8: Interviewing. Module introduction.
- Gunaratnam, Y. (2003): Threatening topics and difference: Encounters in psycho-social space. Chapter 7 in Researching race and ethnicity. Methods, knowledge and power, pp. 157-177.
- Lee, Raymond E. (1993): Asking sensitive questions: Interviewing. Chapter 6 in Doing research on sensitive topics, pp. 97-118. (Really good overview of pros and cons of various interview techniques, surveys vs deep interviews, etc.)
- Online QDA: What is Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA)? (extra)
Ethnographic Film, Unit 1
- MacDougall, David (1978): Ethnographic Film: Failure and Promise. P. 405-425 in Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 7 (1978).
- Video: Cronofotografía – Félix Regnault
Digital Anthropology
- Boellstorff, Tom (2008): Chapter 1: The Subject and Scope of this Inquiry and Chapter 2: History. In Coming of Age in Second Life. An Anthropologist explores the Virtually Human, pp. 3-59. (A very geeky approach to background and terminology – I liked it!)
- Hine, Christine (2015). Chapter 1: Introduction and Chapter 2: The E3 Internet: Embedded, Embodied, Everyday Internet. In Ethnography for the Internet: Embodied, Embedded and Everyday, pp. 1-54. (A bit redundant in style, but with important points for the ethnographer.)
- Video: Christine Hine on Online Research Methods (extra)
- Pink, Sarah et al (2016): Chapter 1 (Introduction – What is Digital Ethnography – Digital Ethnography across Disciplines – Principles for a Digital Ethnography). In Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practices, pp. 22-53.
- Video: The coming transhuman era: Jason Sosa at TEDxGrandRapids (It’s a Ted talk and I didn’t see how it fit in to the syllabus.)
Japanese
- Memrise: 43,800
- 2136 Jōyō Kanji by Grade, still level 16 → 645 of 2136 kanji learned.
- Conversation: Two morning sessions with K (Wednesday and Thursday).
Other
Articles
- The Economist: Japan pampers its pets like nowhere else
- The Economist: The collapse of an American retail giant
- The Economist: Angela Merkel will step down as CDU party leader in December
- The Economist: The legalisation of gay marriage meets resistance in Taiwan
- Wired: The Brief History—and Uncertain Future—of Foldable Phones
Film and video
- Langfocus: How I Make a Langfocus Video!
- Quinn Benet: HALLUCINATING in a HOSPITAL: STORYTIME
- Marques Brownlee: Let’s Talk About the Foldable Smartphone!
Podcasts & radio
- Alexandre Enkerli: Rapport: The Informal Ethnographer Podcast 1: Inaugural Episode
Work
It was time for another podcast episode.
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