Paper short abstract:

We report our development of and experiences with a prize-winning, structured virtual field course at Durham University that teaches online ethnography. Students interview educators and interpreters at Plimoth-Patuxet Museum in the USA as well as indigenous representatives from the Wampanog Tribe.

Paper long abstract:

We report our experience of teaching a Virtual Field School at Durham University to final year students. This was first constructed during Covid, and since gained momentum and a life of its own. Online ethnography is incorporated into the course structure with themes focusing on colonisation, decolonisation, museum studies, migration, historicity and authenticity. We collaborate with Plimoth-Patuxet Museum (PPM) in Massachusetts, USA, which is a “living museum”. Students interview educators and “interpreters” at the Museum, the latter dressed historically and enacting Mayflower Pilgrims. PPM also has an indigenous Wampanoag homesite allowing students to interview contemporary indigenous representatives. Over time, we have included more Wampanoag activists and scholars into the course as well as other anthropologists and historians who, again, are interviewed by the students to gain practice in ethnographic techniques and to learn more about the course topics. Guests invited to the course are paid an honorarium. The VFC is highly structured, with students preparing questions for their interlocuters in breakout rooms that we then screen as a group. The course is supplemented by videos, and discussions of readings. We won a teaching award from Durham University in 2022 for “Most Impactful Innovation in Teaching and Learning”. Student comments have frequently stated that the course changed their world view and is rated as one of the best courses they have taken. A virtual learning environment has also allowed greater participation by students with special needs who cannot go to a residential field site as well as addressing decolonisation issues.