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Lecturer(s)
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Lavička Martin, Bc. M.A., Ph.D.
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Muhetaer Mukaidaisi, MA
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Course content
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unspecified
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Lecture, Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming)
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Learning outcomes
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How can we understand what is happening "inside" a "closed" society? This seminar teaches methods for "remote ethnography" studying on-the-ground conditions from a distance through the case of the Uyghur region of Xinjiang, China. In this course, we will explore China's ethnic policies and their implementation at the grassroots level. We will survey and critically assess methods used by journalists and social scientists, such as refugee interviews, open-source research, and digital survey tools. The course will focus on what can be learned from historians, political scientists, and anthropologists in situations where research must be done without access. This course teaches methods of close reading of primary, official texts produced in closed societies, for which detailed knowledge of context, ideology and history are essential. Students will learn to critically analyze government sources regarding Xinjiang and its people. We will read Chinese state documents at the grassroots level, officially published historical documents, videos from social media, official government websites, newspapers, etc. Students will have the unique opportunity to engage with ethnographic data the instructor collected in the field from 2014 to 2017 to see the changes and transformations in people's lives in rural southern Xinjiang. The course begins with theories of close reading and the politics of characterizing societies as "open" or "closed." It also looks at previous failures of methods for interpreting inaccessible societies, beginning with an anthropological discussion of the complexities of reading texts written by cadres within a socialist state. Students are expected by the end of the course to be able to assess whether productive lessons and usable methodologies can be derived from earlier, often flawed efforts to study closed societies from the outside. Overall, the course aims to provide a critical awareness of assumptions concerning fieldwork, access, interviews and other elements of research by foreigners abroad.
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Prerequisites
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This course will be taught in English.
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Student performance
This course will be taught in English. The course will consist of one session per week. Each session will begin with a 10-15-minute presentation by a student, who will lead a discussion lasting about one hour. The presenter can use a projector for PowerPoint presentations or distribute handouts. A brief lecture will follow the discussion. Images and videos will be shown. Students must attend classes regularly and should participate in class sessions. Grades will be based on assignments, attendance and participation. Non-attendance or repeated late attendance will affect grades. Students will be expected to complete all required readings before the classes and to read or look briefly at optional pieces wherever possible.
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Recommended literature
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Arthur S. Hulnick. The Downside of Open Source Intelligence. 2002.
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Edward Friedman. Learning About a Chinese Village in a Leninist-Party Authoritarian State. 2006.
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Margaret Mead, Rhoda Métraux, William O. Beeman. (2000). The Study of Culture at a Distance. New York: Berghahn Books.
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