Paper short abstract:

Today, the definition of the term “fieldwork” varies among different fields, from natural sciences to economic engineering. While doing my own fieldwork and teaching students, I have participated in several colleagues’ fieldworks in Japan. I will discuss fieldwork studies (FWS).

Paper long abstract:

Today, the meaning of "fieldwork" has been expanded by various disciplines, from natural sciences to entrepreneurship. Consequently, the term fieldwork has become a buzzword. However, the reconstruction of the humanities and social sciences in Japan questioned effectiveness of institutionalized fieldwork but can help empower other field-oriented disciplines.

In order to grasp the concept of fieldwork in different disciplines, I started my anthropological fieldwork of different fieldworks at Kyusyu University, Japan. These field sites varied from urban design in architecture to hydrology, marine biology, ecology, livestock science, and business anthropology. I tried to develop comprehensive programs of Project or Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for our university.

According my investigation, in any fieldwork, the teacher and the students seem to have different goals and motivations at the initial stage. This is because teachers mainly teach students to seek the objective of each fieldwork, but students seem to have various other motivations. However, at the last stage, through their fieldwork experience, unintentional effects of the activities of both sides seem to foster development in not only the teachers and students but also the field-site residents. This may be because of the nature of the fieldwork. However, we have to prevent unintentional risks like natural disasters and human errors in fieldwork. Otherwise, fieldwork will become unsustainable. At times, the risk can become invisible because of a teacher's naturalized recognition and a student's amateur recognition. In my presentation, I discuss how to intervene in this kind of double-blinded setting.