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Fieldwork Course

15 CREDITS | AUTUMN TERM

The Fieldwork course gives students an opportunity to spend eight to ten weeks “in the field” and gather data locally, nationally, or internationally (e.g. inside an organisation, within a community, or in a foreign country) in order to answer a research question of interest.

Overview

Course content

The choice of the field is relevant for and guided by the programme of studies (i.e., Global Studies, Development Studies, Middle Eastern Studies or Social Studies of Gender). During the course, the student is “immersed” in the field, continuously engaging in research activities related to the chosen research topic and question(s).

The primary objective of the course is to give an opportunity for the student to collect primary and/or secondary data for a research project, which cannot be otherwise accessed by doing desk research. It is therefore an experiential course, where the student does not acquire knowledge through lectures and seminars, but uses the knowledge acquired in previous courses in the “real” world, and gains new knowledge through this practical experience. The processes of data collection can include:

  • Participation observation
  • Semi-structured interviews
  • Structured interview (e.g. survey)
  • Focus-groups
  • Work in archives
  • Access to publicly unavailable material
  • Multi-sited data collection, etc.

Fieldwork can take place locally (e.g., Lund or Malmö), nationally (e.g., Kiruna), or internationally (e.g., anywhere, except where the Foreign Office recommends abstaining from travelling due to e.g., political or health concerns). Data collection can take place at a public or private organisation (e.g., a national or local archive, an academic department, a research centre or institute, a think-tank, an editorial office, school, a social incubator or start-up, hospital, a shelter, a camp, an asylum reception centre, an NGO, an embassy, a company, a business, a foundation, etc.) and/or in a particular community or several communities simultaneously (e.g., among indigenous people, refugees, aid workers, diplomats, business people, teachers, doctors or nurses, public officials, etc.) in Sweden or abroad.

Online course platform

This course uses Canvas as the online course platform. The course platform will be opened two weeks before the course begins to all students who were accepted. Here you will be able to access literature, assignments, announcements, as well as participate in discussions and communicate with teachers.