Political Ethnography: Method, Sensibility, Writing

About

Get introduced to the core principles of political ethnography. You'll learn ethnographic methods and writing, research design, quality and ethics, and gain practical experience in studying politics and power in a range of contexts.

ECTS Credits
3 ECTS credits awarded for engaging fully in class activities.
1 additional ECTS credit awarded for completing a post-course assignment

Course leader

Kristin Anabel Eggeling is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen and a visiting researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies. Kristin researches, teaches, and writes about international politics, diplomacy, global tech policy and qualitative and ethnographic methods in international relations. Kristin has done ethnographic work in the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe and the US among a range of different actors, primarily political elites and diplomats. In 2023, Kristin was awarded the Anthony Deos Early Career Award for the emerging scholar in Diplomatic Studies from the International Studies Association (ISA). Her work has won other international awards and has been published in leading international relations and social science journals including the European Journal of International Relations, the Review of International Studies, Global Studies Quarterly, Millennium, Geopolitics, and Qualitative Research

Target group

Social science researchers

Course aim

Knowledge
- Describing and explaining the standards of ethnographic research
- Applying the key concepts and practices of ethnographic work
- Understanding the value and limits of ethnographic research
- Accounting for relevant debates in the field
Skills
- Designing and conducting ethnographic research
- Comparing ethnographic research to other forms of inquiry
- Evaluating ethnographic knowledge claims
- Producing and handling ethnographic data
- Writing ethnographic fieldnotes and texts
Competences
- Strengthening critical thinking by reading ethnographically
- Acknowledging and identifying the politics of knowledge claims
- Developing ethnographic sensibilities for the complexity of social and political life
- Evaluating and relating ethnographic studies to other social scientific traditions

Fee info