Local Leadership and Social Change in Brazil (course offered in English)

This three-week field research course brings students to Brazil’s Cacao Coast, in the northeastern state of Bahia, to understand the changes that are happening in the region. Students put anthropological research techniques into practice working with local leadership (lideranças) in five arenas: agroecology; race and gender; health; education; and migration and tourism. Each student pursues an individual research question, while contributing to the team’s task of documenting recent history, activities, and challenges, and returning the results to their interlocutors. Supported by tutor-translators who are also subject matter experts, in the first half of the course, the teams undertake participant observation and interviews at different sites. Time is reserved for daily fieldnotes, readings and classroom discussion. The second half of the course centers research analysis and presentation. Teams produce a video and posters, which are shared at a final community networking event for all participants and the public. Each student writes an essay based on their fieldwork material. Undergraduate and master’s students are welcome to apply.

This course is offered in English to undergraduate and graduate students from May 12 to June 4 2024.

Professor's contact information

Professor Meg Stalcup
School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies

Email: [email protected], Please put ‘Brazil course’ and your name in the subject heading
Telephone: 613-562-5800 ext. 7679
Room: FSS 10008
Office Hours : Tuesdays 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and by appointment

Here you will find a video, posters and assignments of the summer 2022 class: Brazil Summer 2022 Field Research Course 

Course outline

• Brazil 2024 (PDF, 1.4 MB) in English only
• Brazil 2023 (PDF, 1.4 MB) in English only

The migration of unaccompanied minors and young people in Morocco

This three-week field research course will examine the phenomenon of migration of sub-Saharan and Moroccan minors and young adults through the study of public action - local and international, institutional, and community - in Morocco. The Cherifian kingdom is a privileged place for the study of irregular migration of children and young people to Europe because it is not only a place of departure, but also a place of more or less constrained and durable settlement, and a place of voluntary or forced return, both for young sub-Saharans and for young Moroccans.

In addition to formal meetings and interviews with actors in the field in Casablanca and Rabat, the course will include seminars by the professor and other Moroccan and international researchers, as well as periods of observation in some public places. In addition to acquiring knowledge on the theme of the course, opportunities will be provided for students to produce their own knowledge. Through immersive and practical experiences, the course will enable students to develop collective research skills.

This course is offered in French to undergraduate students from May 4 to May 25, 2024.

Professor's contact information

Stéphanie Garneau
School of Social Work

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 613-562-5800 ext. 6811
Room: FSS 12002 C

Office hours: Tuesdays 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (preferably by appointment)
 

Course outline

• Morocco 2024 (PDF, 3 MB) in French only
• Morocco 2023 (PDF) in French only

Engaged research for multi-species justice: Changing representations of a so-called "invasive" plant in Dijon, France

The exceptionally poor air quality in Ottawa last June, caused by forest fires further north, was a powerful reminder of the urgent need to transform our relationships with the other life forms around us. The aim of this field research course is to teach you a few theoretical and methodological tools that will enable you to make an active contribution to this transformation. Taught by an anthropologist, an urban designer and an ecologist, it will introduce you to critical multispecies ethnography, as well as to engaged research-creation, through a collective field research on the interrelationships between a plant conventionally considered “invasive”, the Japanese knotweed, and the residents of Dijon, France. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which classifies the Japanese knotweed as one of the world's 100 species of greatest concern, defines an "invasive alien species" as one that has been introduced by humans outside its natural range, and whose establishment and spread threaten ecosystems, habitats or so-called "native" species (IUCN 2000). However, the Japanese knotweed is not without its qualities, including the ability to regenerate contaminated soil. Hence our research question: how does uprooting Japanese knotweeds contribute, or not, to cleaning up the environment in which the people of Dijon live? The first week will take place at the École nationale supérieure des arts de Dijon. Lecturers from a variety of disciplines will introduce you to the controversies surrounding the Japanese knotweed, critical multi-species ethnography and engaged research and creation. Then we'll move on to Au Maquis, Dijon's leading centre for the production and dissemination of engaged creative research, which is also surrounded by Japanese knotweeds. There, we'll deepen what we've learned in the first week through practical training workshops, carry out our fieldwork on the relationship between the people of Dijon and the Japanese knotweed, and present the results to the public in the form of a story, a video production, or any other form you would like to employ. Undergraduate and Graduate students are invited to apply.

This course is offered in French to undergraduate and graduate students from May 24 to June 14 2024.
 

Professor's contact information

Professor Karine Vanthuyne
School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 613-562-5800 ext. 1193
Room: FSS 10029

Office hours: by appointment

Food, Gender and Environmental Justice in Mexico

This three-week field research course in Mexico will offer students the opportunity to explore the complex and major issues of food politics, gender and environmental justice in Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca. Moving from urban to rural areas, you will be introduced to engaged research methodology, collective knowledge production and mutual learning. With SURCO, our Mexico-based partner, we will visit civil society organizations, meaningful sites and communities who are organizing around these important issues for their daily life. With SURCO’s long experience working with university groups in Mexico, we will make your security our priority.

In Mexico City, you will visit the Central de abastos, the mega-food market for food provisioning of one of the largest cities in the world, as well as small scale, agroecological food producers, a farmers’ market, and an urban community garden. You will also meet activist-researchers to learn about their research and various community initiatives. Together, we will learn about the different actors and responses that they are promoting to improve the agrifood systems, environmental conditions, and people’s quality of life across the mega-city.

We will then travel to Oaxaca where we will pursue our learning activities with various guest speakers and field visits, but this time in rural areas, including Indigenous (mining) communities, fair trade coffee, organic vegetable and artisanal mezcal producers. Gender, food, and environmental perspectives will contribute to deepen our understanding of the working conditions, the cultural riches, and the challenges that communities are facing. During our visits, you will have the opportunity to learn about and undertake (non)participant observation, note-taking, oral history, and interview technics. Class discussions and debriefing will help to prepare for community visits, and to think critically about the different topics for final research projects. In small groups, students will have the opportunity to lead an interview with one of the partners’ organizations. Translation services will be provided but Spanish speaking is an asset. Undergraduate and master’s students are welcome!

This course is offered in English to undergraduate and graduate students from May 1 to May 21, 2024.

Professor's contact information

Marie-Josée Massicotte
School of Political Studies

E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 613 562 5800 ext. 1273
Room: FSS 7041

Office hours : Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Preferably by appointment)

Course outline

• Mexico 2024 (PDF, 1.5 MB) in English only

The effects of plurilingualism on socio-educational pathways in Africa: the case of Senegal

This field research course is a follow-up of a series of journeys in Casamance, Senegal, on the topic of youth socio-educational trajectories and professional integration. In a country where over 60% of the population is less than 25 years-old, youth experience a huge pression as they carry the weight of the country’s hopes for future development.  The formal educational system (from elementary to post-secondary levels) is facing numerous challenges and those who end their schooling do not always have the skills expected to face the contemporary globalized context. The ethno-linguistic issues remain a dimension that is still poorly studied: Senegal, like many other African countries, is a mosaic of languages and most of its population grows up in a multilingual environment. However, as a heritage of the colonial period, the official language remains French and young pupils have to learn writing, reading and counting in that language although most of them hardly practice. How can boys and girls expect a good learning experience in such a context? What are the consequences on their further educational and professional training trajectories? Is it necessary to master French or is it possible to progress in one’s own path without speaking it?

Students will explore these complex issues in the city of Ziguinchor and in the village of Mlomp, sharing families’ as well as teachers’ and trainers’ daily lives and challenges. They will combine participant observations with in depth interviews conducted among a diversity of local actors and share their results with first line educational  leaders.

Both undergraduate and Master students are welcome in this course which mobilizes both research and “know how to be” skills.

This course is offered in French to undergraduate and graduate students from May 9 to May 31, 2024

Professor's contact information

Nathalie Mondain
Sociological and Anthropological Studies

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 613-562-5800 ext. 1269

Office hours : by appointment, please contact by email.  

For more information regarding the International Summer school in South Korea, please visit the following link: International Summer School | Faculty of Social Sciences (uOttawa.ca)