Course Challenges in Fieldwork

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ECTS: 1

Course leader: Lotte Meinert

Language: English

Graduate school: Faculty of Arts

Course fee: 0.00 DKK

Status: Course is open for application

Semester: Fall 2025

Application deadline: 20/10/2025

Cancellation deadline: 20/10/2025

Course type: Classroom teaching

Start date: 11/11/2025

Administrator: Andreas Mølgaard Laursen

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Allocation of seats

You will automatically be placed on a waiting list. After the application deadline, seats will be allocated and all applicants will be notified whether or not they have been offered a seat.

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https://phd.arts.au.dk/phd-courses/courses/faq-phd-courses

 Course description

The course aims to support PhD students in handling challenges that long-term fieldwork and other aspects of PhD work can produce, discussing how to turn challenges into sources of insight. The workshop will be based on PhD students’ reflections on challenges experienced or anticipated during fieldwork/PhD work. Chief psychologist Jacob Vindbjerg Nissen will comment on PhD students’ reflections in light of current knowledge on psycho-traumatology and give concrete recommendations together with Anthropologists Lotte Meinert and Jeanette Lykkegaard for how to protect one’s mental health before, during, and after fieldwork.

Part of the course will focus on PhD students doing a risk assessment of their fieldwork and discussing with lecturers (and their supervisors) whether they need an additional HEAT course (High risk Environment Awareness Training)

Aim/Learning outcomes

The course aims to support Ph.D. students in handling the emotional, psychological and other challenges that long-term fieldwork (and PhD work) can produce, discussing how to turn personal challenges into manageable sources of insight. 

Target group/Participants

  • PhD students who do fieldwork / all levels

Workload

  • Course/ teaching hours: 1 day 9.30 – 16.00
  • Preparation hours: about 10 hours reading and writing
  • Written assignments etc.: writing 1 page

Language 

  • English

Lecturers

  • Jacob Vindbjerg Nissen, Chief psychologist Falck Healthcare
  • Lotte Meinert, Professor, Anthropology, Aarhus University
  • Jeanette Lykkegaard, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Aarhus University

Literature

  • 1: James Davies (2010): Emotions in the field (mandatory)
  • 2: Emily Yates-Doerr (2020): Antihero care: On fieldwork and anthropology (optional)
  • 3: Amy Pollard (2009): Field of screams (optional)
  • 4: Kimberly Theidon (2014): ‘How was your trip?’ (optional)
  • We also recommend that you take a look at the articles at this website: https://thenewethnographer.com/(“Helping make fieldwork safer, healthier, and more ethical”). 

Venue

  • Will be filled out by the administration

Course dates:

  • 11 November 2025 09:30 - 16:00