Paper short abstract:

This paper is a reflection about of the intersections between the classical academic fieldwork and practicing applied anthropology in East Timor. We describe this convergence through the analysis of our participation in different projects addressed to different segments of Timorese society.

Paper long abstract:

During our stay in East Timor, from 2006 to 2009, while we were doing our academic research and, perhaps because of it, we contacted Timorese government agencies and NGOs that provide us information of certain needs and limitations arising from the process of building a modern State and reinforcing a Timorese national identity.

One of the strategies of forming this national identity was the adoption of both Portuguese and Tetum as official languages. This decision brought about material and organizational changes in several areas for which neither the institutions nor general society were prepared. One of the most affected areas was education. And this precisely, one of our field research interest objectives. Thus, we considered the possibility of using the scientific knowledge, taking it out of purely academic environment opening it to a less specialized public. We plan and carry out different projects focused in education trying to address certain identified needs working as Applied Anthropologist.

In this paper we discuss how these projects were carried out by remodeling the academic knowledge into resources more accessible to different sectors of society. At the same time, we were able to help to attenuate some of the needs identified in this new national context. Mean while we contributed to the revitalization of some aspects of Timorese culture. From this experience, we could examine how to generate new specific tools to be used in Applied Anthropology projects.