The Insiders’ Experience of an Undergraduate Level Ethnographic Fieldwork Training Program in India

Authors

Abhradip Banerjee, Government General Degree College, Singur, West Bengal, IndiaFollow
Krishnendu Polley, Bidhannagar College, Kolkata, IndiaFollow
Arun Makal, Cultural Research Institute, Backward Classes Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata, IndiaFollow
Bhubon Mohan Das, Haldia Government College, Haldia, IndiaFollow

Abstract

Research on fieldwork experiences is not something new to the discipline of Anthropology. However, undergraduate level ethnographic fieldwork training programs in India as a research area still remained unexplored. The purpose of the study described in this paper was to explore the proceedings of undergraduate level ethnographic fieldwork training programs in India. This article uses the authors’ own recollections regarding an undergraduate level ethnographic fieldwork training program carried out by a college affiliated with the University of Calcutta. All four authors along with their 21 fellow students have participated as trainees in this fieldwork training program. Through a qualitative analysis of these recapitulated events involving the acts of “preparation before the field trip,” “doing fieldwork” right up to “writing of field reports,” the study stresses one of the less emphasized and methodologically significant issues of education and the socialization process the trainee fieldworkers pass through while doing fieldwork. This article illuminates how the real-time field exposure guides naïve students to realize the utility of different research tools, techniques, methods, and some of the true requirements of an ethnographic fieldwork.

Keywords

Fieldwork Experiences, Undergraduate Level Ethnographic Fieldwork Training, Ethnographic Collaboration, Socialization, India

Author Bio(s)

Abhradip Banerjee work as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology (W.B.E.S.) under Higher Education Department, Government of West Bengal. Currently he is being posted at Government General Degree College, Singur, Hooghly, India. He has worked as a Research Investigator in the Cultural Research Institute, Backward Classes Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal. He was also worked as a UGC-NET Research Fellow at Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, from where he has pursued his Ph.D. research on three handloom weaver communities of West Bengal. He received his Ph.D. Degree in Anthropology of the University of Calcutta in the year 2015. His research interests include, Indian Handloom Industry, Economic Anthropology, Pharmaceutical Anthropology, Material Culture, Rock Art, History of Anthropology, and Sustainable Development. He has published a number of research articles in journals of both national and international repute. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: abhradipbanerjee@india.com/abhraanthro@gmail.com.

Krishnendu Polley is working as an Asssistant Professor of Anthropology in Bidhannager College of Saltlake City, Kolkata, India. Dr. Polley did his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta with specialization in Paleoanthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology. Dr. Polley has research interest in Typo-technological study of lithic tools, Experimental Archaeology and has also keen interest in the study and documentation of rock arts. He has already published 9 research articles in various reputed national and international journal and edited books. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: krishnendu.polley@gmail.com.

Arun Makal has received B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Anthropology from the University of Calcutta in 2003 and 2005 respectively. He is currently working as a Cultural Research Officer in Cultural Research Institute, Backward Classes Welfare Department. He has submitted his Ph.D. thesis on Agricultural Anthropology to the Calcutta University, West Bengal, India. He has worked in various aspects of farming systems and farming communities of different regions of Indian state of West Bengal. His current research interests focus on the food security, sustainable agricultural development, farmers’ local knowledge, culture and health. A related article entitled “A Comparative Study of Farming Systems in Two Regions of West Bengal, India” has been published by Eurasian Journal of Anthropology. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: arunmakal@gmail.com.

Bhubon Mohan Das is working as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in Haldia Government College, Haldia, India. Dr. Das did his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta with specialization in Physical Anthropology. Dr. Das has research interest in the areas of Reproductive and Sexual Health, Demographic studies, Anthropometric Body Composition, Health Status and Health Behaviour. He has already published 10 research articles in various reputed national and international journal and edited books. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: bmohan07@gmail.com.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all their respondents of Village Bindukata, who have provided their invaluable time during the time of fieldwork training program of 2002. Authors would also like to thank all their fellow students with whom they have shared all these important moments. And last but not the least the authors would like to thank their supervising teacher Sri Sabuj Sen for his mentorship and guidance during and after this fieldwork training program.

Publication Date

8-22-2017

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended APA Citation

Banerjee, A., Polley, K., Makal, A., & Das, B. M. (2017). The Insiders’ Experience of an Undergraduate Level Ethnographic Fieldwork Training Program in India. The Qualitative Report, 22(8), 2308-2330. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2501