On Being a Punk and a Scholar: A Reflexive Account of Researching a Punk Scene in Russia

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Gololobov

Ethnographic studies of youth subcultures, scenes and urban tribes often rely on insiders’ accounts, where researchers investigate a social environment of which they are presently or formerly members. This approach raises important questions about the positionality of the researcher, and the reflexivity, epistemology and ethics of an ethnographic investigation, as different roles and engagement with the field, as well as the very identity of the ‘field’ itself, no longer fit into the methodological framework of traditional ethnography. This article explores the difficulties that arise during ethnographic research on one's own social world. I was actively involved in the Russian punk scene before pursuing my academic career in England, and in the framework of a research project on post-socialist punk at the University of Warwick, I went back to study this milieu as a ‘field’ in two different sites in 2009 and in 2010. The article shows the complexity of researching one's own subculture and demonstrates that active discentring of the ‘knowing authority’ in studying one's own ‘tribe’ necessarily involves a transformation of its main research paradigms, where epistemological and ethical issues appear to be rearranged in a new way which radically affects the methodological foundations of such an investigation.

Author(s):  
Tserenkhand Gelegzhamtsin ◽  
◽  
Maralmaa Nagaanbuu ◽  

Goals. The article aims to highlight the main results of ethnographic research in Mongolia. The basis for ethnographic studies in Mongolia was laid by the emergence of professional scientists in the late 1950s, development of research methodologies, and the formation of the main research directions. Since the mid-1960s, a new approach to ethnographic research has prevailed, and studies in the evolution of traditional nomadic pastoral culture in Mongolia began. It can be noted that during this period there were works on cultural anthropology. At the same time, the nomadic culture and customs of that time were described formally, with an emphasis on the historical period. The study of works from this period allows us to conclude that the research methodology was based on the fact that the reality of life rested on the source material and remained an ethnocultural fact that never lost its value. During the following decades, the main focus of Mongolian ethnographic research was, firstly, the study of the way of life of Mongolian ethnic groups, and secondly, the identification of the causes of cultural and ethnic changes. Systematic ethnographic research was actively conducted on various issues, such as animal husbandry, nomadic customs, settlements and dwellings, food, dairy products, clothing, family and marriage, religion, crafts and folklore. Results. Currently, the following can be noted. There is a development of theoretical research based on previously achieved scientific results. Field research methods of ethnography, social and cultural anthropology are becoming more complex, and the field of studying the cultural heritage of the Mongolian people is becoming more important.


2020 ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Fabrizio d'Aniello

The pre-eminent motivation behind this contribution lies in the intention to offer students of three-year degree course in education and training sciences and master's degree in pedagogical sciences of the University of Macerata a further support than those already existing, aimed at expanding the educational meaningfulness of the internship experience. The main criticality of such experience is connected with the difficulty in translating knowledge, models, ideas into appropriate activities. This notably refers to the conceptual and educational core of the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship and, consistently, to the skill to act. Therefore, after a deepening of the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, followed by related pedagogical reflections based on the capability approach, the paper presents an operative proposal aimed at increasing young people's possibilities of action and supporting their personal and professional growth. With regard to this training proposal, the theoretical and methodological framework refers to the third generation cultural historical activity theory and to the tool of the boundary crossing laboratory, variant of the change laboratory


Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.


2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
Michael E. Harkin

This article examines the first decades of the field of ethnohistory as it developed in the United States. It participated in the general rapprochement between history and anthropology of mid-twentieth-century social science. However, unlike parallel developments in Europe and in other research areas, ethnohistory specifically arose out of the study of American Indian communities in the era of the Indian Claims Commission. Thus ethnohistory developed from a pragmatic rather than a theoretical orientation, with practitioners testifying both in favor of and against claims. Methodology was flexible, with both documentary sources and ethnographic methods employed to the degree that each was feasible. One way that ethnohistory was innovative was the degree to which women played prominent roles in its development. By the end of the first decade, the field was becoming broader and more willing to engage both theoretical and ethical issues raised by the foundational work. In particular, the geographic scope began to reach well beyond North America, especially to Latin America, where archival resources and the opportunities for ethnographic research were plentiful, but also to areas such as Melanesia, where recent European contact allowed researchers to observe the early postcontact period directly and to address the associated theoretical questions with greater authority. Ethnohistory is thus an important example of a field of study that grew organically without an overarching figure or conscious plan but that nevertheless came to engage central issues in cultural and historical analysis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2566
Author(s):  
Isabel Marques ◽  
João Leitão ◽  
Alba Carvalho ◽  
Dina Pereira

Values guide actions and judgements, form the basis of attitudinal and behavioral processes, and have an impact on leaders’ decision-making, contributing to more sustainable performance. Through a bibliometric study and content analysis, 2038 articles were selected from Scopus, from the period 1994–2021, presenting global research tendencies on the subject of values, public administration, and sustainability. The results indicate that Sustainability is the most productive journal, the main research category is in social sciences, the most productive institution is the University of Queensland, the location with the most publications and research collaborations is the USA, and the authors with the greatest number of articles are Chung, from Chung-Ang University; García-Sánchez, from the University of Salamanca; and Pérez, from the University of Cantabria. Analysis of keywords shows that the most relevant are “sustainability”, “CSR”, “sustainable development”, “innovation”, and “leadership”. Time analysis of keywords reveals a tendency for lines of research in the social and work area. The results also provide data about the framing of studies in sustainability pillars and the types of values referred to and indicate the main areas of public administration studied. Finally, a future research agenda is proposed.


Author(s):  
Joanne Pransky

Purpose – This article is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding the evolution, commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. Design/methodology/approach – The interviewee is Dr Yoky Matsuoka, the Vice President of Nest Labs. Matsuoka describes her career journey that led her from a semi-professional tennis player who wanted to build a robot tennis buddy, to a pioneer of neurobotics who then applied her multidisciplinary research in academia to the development of a mass-produced intelligent home automation device. Findings – Dr Matsuoka received a BS degree from the University of California, Berkeley and an MS and PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was also a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and in Mechanical Engineering at Harvard University. Dr Matsuoka was formerly the Torode Family Endowed Career Development Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), Director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering and Ana Loomis McCandless Professor of Robotics and Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2010, she joined Google X as one of its three founding members. She then joined Nest as VP of Technology. Originality/value – Dr Matsuoka built advanced robotic prosthetic devices and designed complementary rehabilitation strategies that enhanced the mobility of people with manipulation disabilities. Her novel work has made significant scientific and engineering contributions in the combined fields of mechanical engineering, neuroscience, bioengineering, robotics and computer science. Dr Matsuoka was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in which she used the Genius Award money to establish a nonprofit corporation, YokyWorks, to continue developing engineering solutions for humans with physical disabilities. Other awards include the Emerging Inventor of the Year, UW Medicine; IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Academic Career Award; Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; and numerous others. She leads the development of the learning and control technology for the Nest smoke detector and Thermostat, which has saved the USA hundreds of billions of dollars in energy expenses. Nest was sold to Google in 2013 for a record $3.2 billion dollars in cash.


2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Cerar ◽  
Miran Kondrič ◽  
Joško Sindik

Abstract Introduction The main research objective is the analysis of the grouping of the students of the University of Ljubljana, with respect to the intensity of different types of exercise participation motives, their gender, discipline and year of study, level of physical activity, status of physical education class, organization of physical activities during study, and place of residence. Methods Data were collected using personal data sheets during enrolling students at the University of Ljubljana. Students completed The Exercise Motivations Inventory (EMI-2), with additional data about sociodemographic parameters. Results The results reveal that the students could be grouped in three distinctive clusters, which can be very clearly explained in terms of the prevalence of exercise participation motives in general. The students grouped in the first cluster have the lowest average values (means) in all exercise participation motives. The students grouped in the second cluster have the profile with moderate means in all exercise participation motives, while the students grouped in the third cluster have the profile with the highest means in all exercise participation motives. Conclusions The results indicate overall higher motivation for physical activity in men. All the sub-samples are different in their relevant features used in clustering (e.g., male students are dominant in life sciences, etc.), which provide a guide both for the explanation of the results obtained and for practical implications.


2020 ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Olga Reznikova

The article explores the development of methodological principles in the field of strategic planning and management and the development of planning documents in the field of national security, taking into account the peculiarities of the current stage of global development, the variability of the security environment. The purpose of this article is to identify problematic issues in the field of national security planning in Ukraine and ways to improve the process of development and implementation of the National Security Strategy, taking into account the best world practices. The research is based on the analysis of publications by domestic and foreign researchers in the field of strategic planning, appropriate legal acts of Ukraine, as well as the author's experience gained from her involving in development of draft strategic documents of the state. This article is focusing on solving the following scientific and practical problems: identification of the main trends in the development of methodological framework of strategic planning in the field of national security; identification of problems in the field of strategic planning in the field of national security of Ukraine; identification of scientifically substantiated ways to improve the process of strategic planning in the field of national security in Ukraine, taking into account the best international practices. The main research methods are empirical (in particular, observations, descriptions, comparisons) and general scientific (primarily, analysis, synthesis, generalization, explanation, historical and logical methods, etc.). The main results of the study are, in particular, the following: It is determined that in accordance to the best world practices the development of national security strategies take into account the principles of national resilience and the wide expert involvement in the process of preparation of such a document is recommended. The growing role of strategic management and the need to ensure national resilience characterize current trends in the development of methodological framework of strategic planning in the field of national security. It is emphasized that the very fact that the state has a national security strategy based on the scientific ground is not a guarantee of achieving certain goals and results in practice. Therefore, the process of implementation of such a document should be under constant control by the public authorities. The new cycle of planning has been starting after the adoption in 2020 of the new National Security Strategy of Ukraine. The analysis conducted by the author revealed a number of problematic issues, the solution of which requires, in particular, the amendment to the Law of Ukraine "On National Security of Ukraine" in terms of strategic planning. The fundamental differences and innovations of the current National Security Strategy of Ukraine in comparison with its previous editions are determined. It is emphasized that lessons from the experience of implementing strategic planning documents in the field of national security should be learned in Ukraine. It is determined that the low level of implementation of previous national security strategies of Ukraine was caused by the declarative nature of some of their norms, lack and formality of control over the implementation of such documents, lack of reporting procedures, indicators and criteria for evaluating the results, including for their compliance with certain objectives. The lack of attention to the analysis of the security situation in appropriate field, risk assessment, forecasting, threat identification and vulnerability detection are identified as some of the most significant problems during the preparation of strategic planning documents in the field of national security. Based on the results of the study, recommendations for the state authorities of Ukraine were prepared.


Ethnography ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martín Sánchez-Jankowski

Introduction to Innovations in Ethnographic Methodology. From a conference hosted by the Center for Ethnographic Research at the University of California, Berkeley a number of original papers developing new methodologies in conducting ethnographic research were advanced. Each paper offers innovations to aid scholars in conducting research within both the phenomenological (Symbolic Interaction and Ethnomethodolgy) and scientific traditions.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Wroblewski ◽  
◽  
Victoria Englmaier

Despite some successes, however, there are still barriers for women at universities, which are reflected in the so-called "leaky pipeline", i.e. a decreasing proportion of women the higher their position in the science system. The University of Vienna is also characterised by a pronounced leaky pipeline. The mentoring programme of the University of Vienna - muv - was launched to counteract this development and to support women in entering an academic career. The programme has been continuously evaluated and further developed. This report continues this tradition and provides input for a discussion on the further development of the programme.


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