Universität Wien

240532 SE Doing visual and sensory ethnography: dialogues between old and new techniques and tools (2020S)

A practice-based Seminar Series

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 15.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Tuesday 16.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 18.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 19.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Tuesday 23.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 24.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Friday 26.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Monday 29.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The present seminar series addresses techniques, tools and technologies for conducting visual and sensory ethnography. Paolo SH Favero will start off from his present work on matters of dying, ageing, separation and time and from his research on established and emerging methods and tools (from documentary film and photography, to life-logging cameras, 360 degree cameras, GPS trackers, etc.). He will promote an exploration of the various ways in which images, sounds and verbalised narratives concur in grasping and conveying sensory and affective experiences. A particular attention will be devoted to the role of the body in these exchanges; to the implications of the use of text (in the shape of keywords, notes, diaries and narratives) in these contexts; and to the dialogues between visual form and ethnographic content. Favero will reflect extensively on to the ongoing frictions between experience and meaning and explore the extent to which the use of visual and sensory tools and techniques can teach us to enter the experiences of others beyond our pre-assumptions. Images and the senses can teach us to learn to see the world with new eyes. The seminar series contains practice-based ethnographic exercises to be conducted by the participants and supervised by Favero.

SCHEDULE:
Unit 1: Introductory session: emerging and established visual and sensory methods
Unit 2: Favéro will present his research on dying, ageing, time and separation
Unit 3 - Workshop 1: finding and defining an ethnographic topic to explore visually and sensorially
Unit 4: Fieldwork: Conducting ethnographic research
Unit 5 - Workshop 2: analysing the materials produced
Unit 6: Dialogues between visual form and ethnographic content.
Unit 7 - Workshop 3: giving a visual form to ethnographic contents
Unit 8: Conclusion: Presenting the final results

Assessment and permitted materials

30% for oral presentation and written document (one page); 50% for final visual essay; 20% class participation: i.e. attendance and interaction in seminar discussion.
UPDATE DUE TO REMOTE TEACHING:
50% active participation, 50% final document (containing visual essay 25% and methodological reflection 25%).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

All parts of the assessment have to be completed in a satisfactory way.

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). From winter term 2019/20 the plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used for courses with continuous assessment.

Examination topics

Reading list

Reading list:
Banks, M. 1992. Which films are the ethnographic films?, In Film as Ethnography., P. I. Crawford and D. Turton, eds. Pp. 116-29. Manchester: Manchester University Press in association with the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology.

Banks, M. 2001. Visual Methods in Social Research. London: Sage.

Caldarola, V. 1985. Visual Contexts: A Photographic Research Method in Anthropology. In Studies in Visual Communication, 11(3):33-53.

Favero, Paolo S. H. 2019. Chapter 41: Visual Ethnography and Emerging Digital Technologies. In: The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods. Edited byLuc Pauwels - University of Antwerp, Belgium and Dawn Mannay - Cardiff University.

Favero, Paolo S. H. 2019. In Defence of Formal Experimentation: Reflections on the Dialogue Between Visual Aesthetics and Ethnographic Knowledge Through the Making of the Documentary Film Flyoverdelhi (2004). Anthrovisions 6.1.

Favero, Paolo S. H. 2017. In Defence of the "Thin": Reflections on the Intersections Between Interactive Documentaries and Ethnography. In Refiguring Techniques in Digital Visual Research, E. Gómez Cruz et al. (eds.), Palgrave.

Favero, P. 2017. Curating and exhibiting ethnographic images in a digital habitat. The Routledge Companion to Digital Ethnography (the Work) edited by Larissa Hjorth, Heather Horst, Anne Galloway, and Genevieve Bell. London: Routledge.

MacDougall, D. 1994. Whose Story Is It? In: Visualizing Theory. Taylor, L. ed. New York: Routledge. Pp. 27-36.

Minh Ha, T. T. 1990. Documentary Is/Not a Name. October 52 (Spring): 76-98
DOI : 10.2307/778886

Ruby, J. 1975. Is An Ethnographic Film A Filmic Ethnography? Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication 2 (2), Fall. DOI : 10.1525/var.1975.2.2.104

Sanjek, R. 1991. The Ethnographic Present, Man 26(4).

Wright, C. 1998. The Third Subject: Perspectives on Visual Anthropology, Anthropology Today
14(4): 1622 [E-journal].

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:21