A translator signs to an activist for the deaf in Ghana during an ethnographic interview with anthropologist, Kathryn Linn Geurts. (Image courtesy of James E. O'Neal.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. Heather Paxson
MIT Course Number
21A.801J / EC.702J / STS.071J / EC.792J / 21A.839J / STS.481J
As Taught In
Fall 2012
Level
Undergraduate / Graduate
Course Description
Course Description
This course enhances cross-cultural understanding through the discussion of practical, ethical, and epistemological issues in conducting social science and applied research in foreign countries or unfamiliar communities. It includes a research practicum to help students develop interviewing, participant-observation, and other qualitative research skills, as well as critical discussion of case studies. The course is open to all interested students, but intended particularly for those planning to undertake exploratory research or applied work abroad. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.