UM Ethnography Group

We are ethnographers connected to Maastricht University. We meet on a monthly basis, usually in an online setting, to share ideas, work-in-progress, methods, and many more thoughts on ethnographic fieldwork, analysis, and writing.

The Group

Our ethnography group video gives you an impression who we are and what we do.

You also find a Dutch-language introduction to our group in the university newspaper The Observant:

We are open to welcome new members. Please reach out to us!

Our meetings take place every last Thursday of the month, 4:00–5:30pm (CET).

Future Meetings

DatePresenter(s)Title
28/03/2024Michelle VerheijdenMeta-ethnography: Using meta-ethnography to synthesize qualitative research
29/02/2024Anna Berti SumanLegal ethnography through slow, sensorial approaches
25/01/2024TBATBA
14/12/2023EveryonePlanning upcoming meetings
30/11/2023Emilie Munch GregersenEthNote: An open-source tool for fieldnote collection, sharing, and processing

Past Meetings

DatePresenter(s)Title   
26/10/2023Luca SoudantAutoethnography on sound experiences29/06/2023EveryonePeer-support session
25/05/2023Maud OostindieNavigating the field as a digital ethnographer   
20/04/2023Marie RickertChildhood ethnography   
30/03/2023Vivian van Saaze, Jessica Mesman, Lauren Wagner, Alexandra SupperEthnography in the Curriculum   
16/02/2023Luca VanelloCaring with matter: towards new artistic forms of togetherness   
26/01/2023Laura OgdenAudio-visual ethnography   
15/12/2022 9:00am CETMatt CampbellDisconcertment: Thoughts on Affects arising from Australian First Nation engagements   
24/11/2022Tullio ViolaHistorical Ethnography   
27/10/2022Lauren WagnerEthnomethodology   
29/09/2022EveryonePeer-support session   
30/06/2022Anna HarrisPodcasts and ethnographic storytelling   
19/05/2022Anouk van der Arend & Working Group Fieldworker SafetyFieldworker Safety vignettes   
28/04/2022EveryonePeer-support session   
31/03/22Leonie CornipsMultispecies Ethnography   
24/02/22Janosch PrinzFinancial Ethnography   
27/01/22Karin Wenz & Thomas FrissenHow to protect your privacy in digital ethnography   
16/12/2021Maarten Michielse & Emma FraserNegotiating the Terms and Conditions of (Online) Ethnography   
25/11/2021Anouk van der Arend, Jessica Mesman & Lotte ThissenInformed Consent: balancing acts of building trust and obeying ethic codes?   
28/10/2021Laura Barendregt and Peter LutzWhen ethnography meets its others. The case of design / ethnography   
23/09/2021Lotte ThissenThe anything goes peer-support meeting   
24/06/2021Mareike Opeña, Iona Goldie-Scot, Vivian van Saaze, Jessica MesmanStudying (in)visible practices   
27/05/2021John Nott, Bernike PasveerImploding a meal   
25/03/2021EveryoneShut up & write session   
25/02/2021Anna HarrisEthnography in a world of models   
28/01/2021Lotte Thissen and Anouk van der ArendFieldworker Safety   
17/12/2020Michael Erard, Anna van Bloois and Marie RickertLanguage(s) and the ethnographer   
26/11/2020Lotte ThissenA discussion on fieldwork safety   
29/10/2020Marie Rickert, Karlien Strijbosch, and Mareike SmolkaHow to do practice theory in practice? Getting lost and finding our ways in the praxiographic jungle   
24/09/2020Janosch PrinzPolitical Ethnography (with a focus on ethnographic methods in normative theorizing)   
28/05/2020Anna Harris and Lotte ThissenFieldwork in times of physical distancing   
30/04/2020Onallia Osei, Laura Ogden, Gladys Akom Ankobrey, and Sarah AnschützDeconstructing multifaceted positionalities in team ethnography   
27/02/2020Mareike Smolka and Alexandra SupperIntervention and Inquiry into Academic Conferences: Sharing Approaches to Conference Ethnography   
30/01/2020Anna Harris & Lotte ThissenFuture directions and ambitions of the UM Ethnography Group   
19/12/2019Sanne RaapThe use of narratives in ethnographic writing   
28/11/2019Anna HarrisDesign Ethnography   
31/10/2019Preeti SushamaParticipatory Action Research   
27/06/2019Karlien StrijboschDigital media in the field   
23/05/2019Cristian GherguPractices of informed consent   
25/04/2019Anna Harris, Rachel Allison and Andrea Wojcik, Dorit Biermann and Lotte ThissenTeam Ethnography   
28/03/2019EveryoneWriting stories with characters: giving our material a face   
28/02/2019Moon WaldenAuto-ethnography & Reflexivity   
31/01/2019Mareike SmolkaReporting back in Laboratory Engagement Studies   
05/12/2018Anna Harris and Rachel Vaden AllisonMoving from ethnographic material to text   
28/06/2018Bernike PasveeSad topics in STS   
29/03/2018Mareike SmolkaGenerative mode of critique   
22/02/2018Alexandra SupperTeaching Ethnography   
26/01/2018EveryoneMeeting with Lucy Suchman   
30/11/2017Anna Harris and Annika RichterichEthics & ethnography   
26/10/2017Jessica MesmanEthics & ethnography   
30/03/2017Anneke van der NietBodies in action. Towards an analysis of bodily practices in a medical (simulation) setting   
??Anna HarrisRecording the mundane   
26/01/2017Maarten MichielseChallenges and Opportunities of Rapport Building in an Online Context   
24/11/2016Bernike PasveerWriting and representation   
27/10/2016Annika RichterichDigital ethnography   
29/09/2016Ragna ZeissThe Classroom   
26/08/2016Anna HarrisForaging   
29/07/2016Annika RichterichThe Field   
12/05/2016Anna Harris and Annika RichterichReacquaintence meeting   
12/12/2014Aalok KhandekarFood and identity   
09/10/2014EveryoneWalking seminar   
22/05/2014Anna HarrisKnowing in practical activity   
24/04/2014Rafael BieniaImplementing ethnographic data   
27/03/2014Anna Harris and Jessica MesmanOntological turn in Anthropology and STS   
27/02/2014Annette de BruijnCombining Methods   
30/01/2014Aalok KhandekarWriting Culture, then and now   
25/11/2013Anna Harris, Aalok Khandekar and Lotte ThissenFieldwork Recording Practices II   
24/10/2013Ragna ZeissFieldwork Recording Practices I   
20/06/2013Rafael BieniaEveryday ethics and fieldwork relations   
16/05/2013Anna Harris and Lotte ThissenSetting up fieldwork   
11/04/2013Anna Harris and Lotte ThissenInaugral meeting   

Resources

This page is always under construction. We share our favorite readings, audios and other media on an ongoing basis.


Ethnography Summer Podcasts

International Friend of Mystery (Invisibilia)
35min
In 2007, American anthropologist Katherine Verdery found herself staring at almost 3,000 pages worth of Top Secret files... all about her. What Katherine found in that dossier turned her world upside-down and tested her most basic assumptions about trust, betrayal, friendship and power.

The Native Scholar who Wasn’t (The Daily)
65min
Andrea Smith had long been an outspoken activist and academic in the Native American community. Called an icon of “Native American feminism,” she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work and has aligned herself with prominent activists such as Angela Davis. Last fall, however, a number of academics, including Ms. Smith, were outed as masquerading as Black, Latino or Indigenous. While many of them explained themselves and the lies they told, Ms. Smith never did. Why?

David and the Wire (RadioLab)
30min
David Weinberg was stuck. He had been kicked out of college, was cleaning toilets by day, delivering pizzas by night and spending his weekends in jail. Then one night he heard a story on the radio and got it in his head that maybe he too could make a great radio story. He’d cast himself as the main character in a great documentary and he’d travel and live and steer his way out of his rut. So he bought a recorder and began to secretly record every last meaningful and mundane minute of his life and he found his great idea transformed into a troubling obsession. The very thing that gave him hope and purpose was also distancing him from those he loved the most. What if he’d created an archive of his life that had become his life?

Textual Feelings Podcast: Discussion of Testo Junkie
73min
In this episode, the textual feelings duo discusses Paul B. Preciado’s Testo Junkie: Sex, Drugs and Biopolitics in the Pharmacopornographic Era, a wild mixture of theory and self-experimentaion. Some talking points include queer sex writing, the disturbing and racialized history of the pill, and how we can come to understand the mechanisms of the Pharmacopornographic era.

The Science and Belief in Society Podcast: Measuring Mediation. The Study of Contemplative Science with Mareike Smolka
63min
In this episode, James and Will welcome Mareike Smolka, a PhD Researcher at Maastricht University in Science and Technology Studies and Fullbright Scholar at Arizona State University, who has ethnographically explored this community. Mareike’s work traces the development of Contemplative Science from fringe to mainstream interest, and demonstrates the tensions and trade-offs in play when exploring religious practices from within the boundaries of the neoliberal academy.

Events

You find more information about the event on this website.


The exhibition is part of the UM Making Clinical Sense project, a comparative ethnographic study on how doctors learn in digital times.


The documentary festival is co-organized by our ethnography group member Laura Ogden. The works presented at the festival draw on audio-visual ethnography.

Contact

The ethnography group is currently co-organized by Anna Harris, Candida Sanchez Burmester, and Mareike Smolka. You can reach out to them if you have questions, suggestions or would like to join the group.

Send an e-mail to: [email protected]