*PhD Course: 'Media Ethnography - Theory and Practice'
*
Co-directors: Dr. Debra Spitulnik Vidali (Emory University) and Dr.
Thomas Tufte (Roskilde University)
Date: 7-9 June 2011
The course will take place at Roskilde University, Denmark.
*Application deadline: 30 April (see details below)
*
Points given: 3 ECTS (with presentation). 2 ECTS without presentation.
Speakers:
Dr. Jo Helle Valle, Senior Researcher, Nat'l Institute for Consumer
Research, Oslo, Norway
Dr. John Postill, C3 Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Dr. Debra Spitulnik Vidali, Associate Professor, Emory University, USA
Dr. Thomas Tufte, Professor, Roskilde University, Denmark
Description: This short course is designed to introduce Ph.D. students
to the theory and practice of media ethnography. We explore how media
ethnography applies to both media production and media reception, and
how it is fundamentally both a theory and a method for investigating
everyday practices and lived experiences as they are shaped by
culturally-specific ways of being-in-the world. Media to be considered
include: television, film, radio, newspapers, and new media. The
course will begin with a brief overview of the history of ethnographic
approaches within media studies and cultural studies, which dates back
to the mid 1980s. We then engage more recent scholarship within media
anthropology, focusing specifically on three dimensions of
ethnography: (a) as fieldwork method; (b) as anthropological lens, and
(c) as a method of writing and re-presentation.
While all 4 speakers will speak, so will the participating Ph.D.
students. All students are encouraged to present a media ethnography
dimension of their Ph.D project reflecting on one or more of the three
above mentioned approaches to media ethnography. The students will
furthermore have the opportunity to conduct small exercises in which
they practice doing participant-observation fieldwork, field
note-taking, and working with the writing of ethnographic textures.
Participant Requirements:
A course package of required readings will be compiled and circulated
to participants 3-4 weeks prior to the course. The participants are
required to read the full package of scholarly texts and to take an
active part in discussing them, under the direction of the course
leaders. Participants who wish to present some of their work on the
seminar must hand in a 7-10 page essay and stating its relation to the
course area. The deadline for this is May 20^th .
Maximum number of participants will be 12.
Price: The tuition fee is 3000 DKK (this fee is waivered if you are a
member of RUC Doctoral School)
In addition you must budget for travel, food and accommodation.
Roskilde University will assist you in recommending accommodation. On
this issue or if you have other practical inquiries, please contact
Chris Holmsted ((holmsted /at/ ruc.dk) <mailto:(holmsted /at/ ruc.dk)>).
To Apply: Send a 1000 word application statement by April 30th to
Chris Holmsted ((holmsted /at/ ruc.dk) <mailto:(holmsted /at/ ruc.dk)>). In your
application statement, describe:
* your Ph.D. project, and its relation to media ethnography
* your current status in your Ph.D. program (e.g. before
fieldwork, after fieldwork)
* what you hope to gain from a course on the theory and practice
of media ethnography
* any previous work in ethnography or media studies
