ANTH 027B. Digital Ethnography (M)

An exploration of the trajectory and expansive potential for "virtuality" in anthropology along with examples of how ethnographers have been more recently engaging and experimenting with digital tools to do research remotely. The goal of the course is twofold. First, for students to learn the skills of virtual and digital ethnographic inquiry through the design of an individual ethnographic research project to be conducted over the course of the semester of the class. The course will provide students with the practical and critical skills to design, conduct, analyze, and write about ethnographic research through a series of weekly assignments, readings, and in-class discussions. Students will experiment and practice with different virtual ethnographic methods, including research at digital archives, data-gathering and analysis on social media, and online participant observation. Each student will choose the topic and format of their final project. Second, to reflect on and critically assess the dynamic character of ethnographic inquiry. We will pay special attention to the various ways in which digital ethnographic methods proved crucial to address the challenges of doing ethnographic research under changing global pandemic conditions.
Methods Course.
Social sciences.
1 credit.
Eligible for ESCH, FMST
Spring 2024. Azuero-Quijano.
Spring 2026. Azuero-Quijano.
Catalog chapter: Sociology and Anthropology
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/sociology-anthropology

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