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This outdoor laboratory is part of the EASA Anthropology conference 2018. It invites conference participants to take part in an anthropological exploration of bodies in motion in the outdoors; to acknowledge and challenge issues associated with movement; such as pace, rhythm, tempo, velocity and flow, surrounding their own practices, as well as the people, ‘things’ and contexts circulating around them, be it during fieldwork or while teaching. The laboratory will take place in the woods surrounding Stockholm University…

Pre-registration (EASA conference participants) is mandatory (30 max participants).

Convenors: Paolo S. H. Favero (University of Antwerp), Shireen Walton (University College London)

Chair: Noel Salazar (University of Leuven)

Discussant: Patrick Laviolette (Tallinn Univ / UCL)

Link to lab description on EASA website

Abstract:

Much of our methodological training seems to be axed on ‘sedentary’ fieldwork methods. Little attention is paid to how we move (our bodies) around ‘sites’. While mobility studies has made us aware of the importance of movement, both as an analytical lens and a subject of study in time as well as space, it is imperative to widen these insights in more practice-oriented ways. Taking our cues from contemporary anthropologies of mobility (including adventure, dance and walking), and of sensing (matters of presencing, awareness, perception) this laboratory shall provide experimental ground to reflect on our own bodies-in-motion.

Participants should wear comfortable clothes and shoes and need to pre-register here in advance (max. 30 participants). They will receive information about preparation before the session, including a recommended reading list before the session. During the lab, which will take place outside, they will be assigned various micro-tasks to be executed alone, in pairs, in small groups, or with everybody present.

The idea is to allow participants to acknowledge and challenge issues of pace, rhythm, tempo, velocity and flow surrounding their own movements as well as the people, ‘things’ and contexts circulating around us. They will also be invited to explore their own patterns of ‘being there’ through techniques of breathing, yoga, and mindfulness. This session shall thus help us address how we, as ethnographers, each experience – with distinction and similarly – the pace of ‘hyper-modern’ fieldwork. At the end of the laboratory, we want to discuss how these issues and experiences can be extrapolated to situations of fieldwork and teaching.