240508 PR MM2 Seestadt Aspern. Identities, living and working in a "new build city" (2025W)

The Feldpraktikum can only be taken in conjunction with the Methodenseminar (240507-1 SE) of the same title. The courses take place in joint sessions. For students whose admission to the Master’s program is subject to conditions (“Ergänzungsprüfungen”): Enrollment in these courses requires that any supplementary requirements in methods (BM8) have already been fulfilled.

Building on appropriate basic methodological knowledge in ethnographic fieldwork, the Feldpraktikum and the Methodenseminar aim to acquire consolidated practical skills in the field of empirical social research. In particular, the reflective development and implementation of a research project based on ethnographic fieldwork is practiced.

Thematically, we focus on identities, living and working in Seestadt Aspern: A “new city” planned for 25.000 inhabitants and 15.00 workplaces in Vienna’s north is being developed. Part of it has already been built and populated, the rest is in planning or under construction. Various topics linked to housing and urban anthropology can be addressed in the context of field research: the relationship between generations, different forms of localized communities, the spatial dimension of identity constructions, the household as a socio-economic unit, various forms of mobility, aspects of informal urban development or work, the digitalization of social relations, etc. Current anthropological debates around housing, care, neighborhood, migration etc. may serve as possible theoretical and thematic points of reference.

On the basis of relevant literature and under the guidance of the course instructor, students develop a research concept, establish access to the relevant ethnographic field, collect ethnographic data, carry out initial data analysis and present the research findings in the form of interim presentations and a final research report. At the end of the seminar and field course, students should be able to ask, empirically operationalize and answer an anthropological question through a combination of a literature review and the application of methodological skills. First and foremost those skills of ethnographic fieldwork (observations, interviews, document analysis, … ).

Ethnographic fieldwork including participant observation is a central part of the Feldpraktikum/Methodenseminar and will take place in and around Seestadt Aspern.