SOSANT9510 ¨C Ethnographic tracing: engaging afterlives of 20th century modernity, progress and development in Kisumu, Kenya

Course content

Contemporary social life is entangled with pasts, through the concrete remains of the latter that endure in the present. We propose making these traces of the recent past - in people¡¯s everyday social lives, and during our own fieldwork - an integral part of ethnographic research in the 21st century present. We will focus on the remains of "modernity" - broadly conceived, from colonial domination and destruction to nation-building and developmentalism.

The course will introduce different theoretical and methodological approaches - from anthropology, archaeology, STS and heritage studies - to materials that were produced or shaped by past human actions, projects and processes, and that remain in the present. We will learn to consider these as evidence of past occurrences, and, more importantly, as the material substrate upon which today¡¯s people live and generate their futures from.

In addition to lectures and discussions, we will undertake field-excursions to exemplary sites of modern traces in the city of Kisumu and around, to engage theoretical ideas with concrete material, to discuss methodological possibilities and challenges, to compare our diverse positions towards particular traces, and to jointly develop the idea of fieldwork as "tracing", or rather, of material engagements with traces as an important part of ethnography.

Learning outcome

• Familiarity with anthropological and kindred work (e.g., history, archaeology, STS) on remains of the recent past, or ¡®traces of modernity¡¯, and their present afterlives.

• Awareness of the vital role of traces in contemporary social lives and processes, after modernism, attendant accelerated change and aspirations, and irrecuperable loss.

• Exposure to ethnographic and experimental methods that focus on, or incorporate, the study of material remains of the past in the pursuit of ethnographic field research.

• Experience, through field-excursions, with concrete ethnographic cases of material traces in urban and peri-urban landscapes, architectures and infrastructures.

• Ability to collectively engage and interrogate specific modern traces, and to describe and share experiences and observations.

Admission to the course

This workshop is open to PhD candidates and postdocs with a background in social anthropology and related disciplines. PhD students from eastern and southern Africa and others whose work engages with material remains will be given preference.

The application must include:

• 1 page CV

• ? page project abstract

• ? page why the course and the topic of modern traces interests you

Application deadline: August 31st 2024.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

All participants are expected to be familiar with ethnographic method. Previous experience with experimental and interdisciplinary methodologies is welcome.

Teaching

17th October, 9am-1pm: Online seminar, where we will introduce teachers, participants and the course, and discuss readings and workplan.

18-19th ?November: Lectures and seminars on ethnographic engagements with material "traces" and different theoretical and disciplinary approaches to them.

20-22nd November: Field excursions and subsequent discussions about observations.

Compulsory activities

• Attendance in lectures, seminars and field excursions.

• 1 page briefly explaining why you are interested in material traces of past events in the present, and what kind of remains you are interested in. If you have experience with particular methods (e.g., photography, interviews, archival work, drawing, inventories, reenactment¡­) these can be indicated. Submit your 1 page after the introductory online seminar and before the workshop.

The compulsory activities must be approved in order to submit the final exam.

Examination

Essay about a particular trace (or assemblage of traces) from the Kisumu field excursions, exploring the object(s), their past, present and future (?), and considering your methodological approach to them, and what you learned from it. The essay may be illustrated or experimental, but must contain a text of no less than 1500 words.*

You may part take in the course without submitting an essay without being awarded the 5 credits. Please inform the Department when you apply if you wish to participate in the course without submitting an essay.

* The text regarding the examination was changed on 25.11.2024 in accordance with new information given in the course.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about?the grading system.

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