Vår 2025

SVF-3109 Project description with fieldwork - 20 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for samfunnsvitenskap

Type of course

The course is compulsory for students admitted to Master's program in Visual Anthropology. It may not be taken as a singular course.

Course contents

Your own anthropological master research project is a central part of your MA in Visual Anthropology. In this course you will develop your project description for the Master`s research project. In two seminars we will work on your initial ideas and transform them into a proper project design. You will develop research questions, conduct literature review of previous research in your field, and develop methodological tools that enable you to produce data that can answer your research questions.

Various approaches to camera-based research, the use of visual material in processes of elicitation of knowledge and the study of already existing visible culture will be presented and discussed in the lectures.

A Q-and-A session related to technical camera issues will be organized as part of the course.

An individual camera-based ethnographic fieldwork of 3-4 months duration will be conducted.

Admission requirements

Admission requires a Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) or equivalent qualification with a minimum of 80 ECTS in anthropology, sociology, ethnology, folklore, cultural studies, visual media/communication, visual culture or other closely related fields of study. Applicants must enclose a statement of purpose written in English (maximum of two pages). This statement must include the purpose for and interest in pursuing the master's degree programme, especially why you find visual anthropology interesting. It should also include a short description of a proposed master thesis project. Any experience from film making should also be mentioned in the motivation letter. An average grade equivalent to C or better within the Norwegian grading system is required for Bachelor's degree or equivalent issued in Europe, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand; And an average grade equivalent to B or better within the Norwegian grading system is required for Bachelor's degree or equivalent issued in all other countries.

Objective of the course

Students who successfully complete this course should have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge - the candidate:

knows how to prepare, present and conduct a camera-based social scientific research project
has solid knowledge of literature relevant to their Master’s project, thematically.

knows what differentiates a research problematic from everyday issues

Skills - the candidate:

is able to develop manageable research questions, and methodological and theoretical approaches for their Master’s project, and the chosen field of research.
is able to demonstrate how the camera is going to be used in the discovery of the cultural conventions of their research partners

is able to demonstrate how they are going to create a film narrative rooted in their overall project

General competence - the candidate:

is able to demonstrate how they are going to pursue their objectives and research questions through the choices of research partners and research settings.
is able to demonstrate how the textual and filmic representations are going to be related to each other.

is able to identify and discuss the relevance of their project to research partners, discussions of cultural diversity in a global context, and the development of methodological and theoretical refinement.

Language of instruction

English.

Teaching methods

The course consists of approximately 8 hours with lectures (4 lectures) and approximately 16 hours with seminars. Consists of two parts; the practical and theoretical preparations and the practical fieldwork. The course runs for 6 weeks and also includes the fieldwork for the Master's Thesis.