Summer School in Urban Ethnography

The Fifth edition of the Summer School in Ethnography builds on the collaborative working environment established in the previous editions. The School’s core mission is to provide participants with an inside view on the practice and the skills of ethnography. As such, the School represents a forum where adepts, students, cadets and scholars may familiarize themselves with the status of the discipline, absorbing the tools as well as the tricks of the trade directly from long-time practitioners. A sustained theoretical reflection is, in our view, an essential companion rather than an alternative to fieldwork. This means that discussion on key social-theoretical notions and theories is encouraged. Much space will also be given to the opportunities, pitfalls and dilemmas which emerge in the everyday field practice of ethnography.

The Summer School draws on the expertise of the Department of Sociology at the University of Trento in the field of migration and ethnic studies, urban studies, and qualitative research methods. The fifth edition of the School pivots around home cultures and home making, at the crossroads of migration and urban studies. Our core aims include:

• theorising global processes in order to develop rich interpretations of local and translocal social practices; 
• clarifying the concepts that connect cultural practice to social theory; 
• understanding the relations between cultural, social and economical phenomena and spatial transformations of dwellings and home-making; 
• thinking through contemporary cultural practices in the context of urban spaces. 

Teaching methods will be based on lectures, as well as on interactive formats such as workshops, data sessions and roundtables. Participants will have a chance to present their current research projects, receive feedback and recommendations from the guest professors. 

There will be four extended lectures by established international scholars. Presentation of case studies and on-going research will occupy a large share of the allotted time. Reading materials will be circulated well in advance among participants, ensuring that they arrive at the meeting with a strong shared background.