This paper analyzes how knowledge is reproduced as "universal" in contemporary higher education and how this production of universality influences the application of knowledge. Using a case study of clinical psychology, it describes the results of over two years of ethnographic fieldwork in a university and professional settings in…

This article is a response to the methodological problems I experienced during fieldwork. It follows that the article is an experiment of creating alternative possibilities for thinking about ethnocentrism as a phenomenon in transformation in a contemporary, innovative, higher educational setting. Throughout the article, I argue for the…

As part of recent complex transformations, it seems that higher educational organisations are being forced to reorganise, standardise and streamline in order to survive in the new political and economic context. How are ethnographers in general going to approach these contemporary phenomena? By drawing on the conceptual history of anthropology,…

This is a unique and groundbreaking collection of questions and answers coming from higher education institutions on diverse fields and across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures. It creates routes for further innovation, collaboration amidst the Sciences (both Natural and Social), the Humanities, and the private and public sectors of…

Academic literacies research has been identified as an emerging but significant field in higher education. This article extends the discussions around methodology in academic literacies research by drawing on the current text and context debates in sociolinguistics and linguistic ethnography. It uses illustrations from a recent academic literacies…

Describes ethnographic field schools as successful strategies for improving methods training and contributing to the development of competent ethnographers and anthropologists. Introduces three essays that illustrate the value of field-school experience for undergraduates and graduate students. (SLD)

The essays in this section offer different possibilities and prospects for first-time fieldwork and make a strong case for directly supervised early fieldwork that includes peer collaboration and individual activity. (SLD)

Describes technical communicators' abilities to learn about software within organizational constraints and resources. Notes that these writers' tactics for learning software included using it themselves, talking to co-workers, studying program specifications, learning from comments on internal reviews, and studying old manuals. Evaluates each…

Describes a fieldwork training school for graduate students sponsored by the University of Georgia (UGA). Bringing graduate students to the summer program at the school gives school organizers new perspectives on their own work, surroundings, and relationships. (SLD)

Describes a course in ethnographic field methods/qualitative research methods. Discusses concepts and learning opportunities provided by the various texts utilized and by the experiences of several pioneers in field research. (GC)

Describes the structure of one anthropology field program and discusses some of the things students learn. The program, an ethnographic field school in Barbados, is offered during the academic year as a term abroad for undergraduates. (SLD)

The purpose of this research project was to identify ethnographers who had used computers in the field to record and analyze qualitative data. To locate such individuals a literature search was conducted, an announcement was placed in the "Anthropology Newsletter," anthropology computer specialists were contacted, a special symposium was…

This book aims to provide a foundational understanding of the writing processes associated with innovative forms of ethnographic writing. Interdisciplinary in approach, the book offers advice, examples, and exercises for every step in the ethnographic writing process, including field observation, field notes, narrative development, and editing. It…

This paper reports on methods of interweaving ethnography in undergraduate communication courses, based on the premise that ethnographic fieldwork facilitates students' awareness of the contexts of their own meaning-making practices. The basic approach in the paper is to ask students to reflect on basic concepts of organizational or interpersonal…

Describes a course designed principally for teachers enrolled in a graduate program in cross-cultural education. States that, although most of the individuals taking the course will not conduct field research, the skills acquired will better enable them to teach in a cross-cultural setting. (GC)