Seminar: On Fieldwork
Instructors: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Tobias BollShortname: S Wahlveranstaltung
Course No.: 02.149.16910
Course Type: Seminar
Requirements / organisational issues
The language of instruction will be German!Anwesenheitspflicht
Anyone who is absent in the first session without excuse gives up their place. A prior informal excuse to the teacher by e-mail is sufficient. No medical certificate is required.Recommended reading list
Introductory ReadingGoffman, E. (1989) ‘On Fieldwork’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 18(2), pp. 123–132. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124189018002001.
Contents
Course Description
On Fieldwork is an introductory course designed for Bachelor’s students to explore fieldwork as a foundational strategy in qualitative social research, with a particular emphasis on ethnography. The course aims to provide students not only with essential techniques but also with opportunities for critical reflection on key elements of field research.
“The field”, often taken for granted as the “place” where research happens, is both constructed through our methodological decisions and often mystified as a site to which only researchers have privileged access. This seminar will critically examine such assumptions and address the different methodological steps involved in construction, accessing and doing research in and with “the field”. We will engage with a range of interconnected topics, including:
- Constructing the Field: How researchers actively create and define the field through their methodological choices.
- Access and Relationships: Navigating entry into the field and reflecting on the relationships we form with the people who inhabit it.
- Ethics and Affect: Addressing the ethical responsibilities of researchers and the emotional impact of fieldwork, both on the researcher and on those being studied.
- Practical Techniques: Learning key methods, such as participant observation, writing ethnographic field notes, and other forms of data collection, including the use of alternative media.
Learning Objectives
This seminar equips students with foundational knowledge of ethnographic fieldwork while introducing skills broadly relevant to qualitative social research. Through a combination of theoretical engagement and hands-on exercises, students will leave the course with a deeper understanding of fieldwork as a methodological approach and as an embodied, relational process.
Structure and Activities
The course combines the discussion of seminal readings on fieldwork with practical exercises. Students will have the chance to leave the seminar room regularly to engage with field settings directly, applying the concepts and techniques introduced in class.
By the end of the seminar, students will have gained:
- A nuanced understanding of what "the field" entails in qualitative research.
- Practical experience with techniques like participant observation and writing ethnographic field notes.
- A critical awareness of the epistemological, methodological, ethical and affective dimensions of fieldwork.
Course language is German.
Additional information
In this seminar, the final assessment consists of two components: a research portfolio (40%), including field notes and analytical reflections, and a short paper (60%) that explores a methodological topic discussed in class, using an example from the student’s own field notes.Course language is German.
In modules 09 and 10 (core subject) and module 06 (minor subject), one “Vertiefungsseminar“ and one “Wahlveranstaltung“ must be taken.
A term paper must be written in one of the seminars per module. The topic of the term paper must be discussed in advance with the supervisor. Assignments whose topic has not been discussed in advance may be rejected. This does not replace registration for the examination in Jogustine.
Further information (in German) on those courses (“Vertiefungsseminare” and “Wahlveranstaltungen“) can be found here: https://www.soziologie.uni-mainz.de/studienverlauf-und-modulhandbuecher/
Further information on writing a term paper can be found here: https://www.soziologie.uni-mainz.de/files/2020/08/Handreichung-zur-Anfertigung-von-Hausarbeiten.pdf
Dates
| Date (Day of the week) | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 04/15/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 04/22/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 04/29/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 05/06/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 05/13/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 05/20/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 05/27/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 06/03/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 06/10/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 06/17/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 06/24/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 07/01/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 07/08/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
| 07/15/2025 (Tuesday) | 08:15 - 09:45 | 01 511 Seminarraum 1137 - Georg-Forster-Gebäude (Sowi) |
