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- Convenors:
-
Nikola Noelle
(University of Wuerzburg)
Inga Wilke (University of Freiburg)
Send message to Convenors
- Discussants:
-
Gergana Nenova
(Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski)
Rasa Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė (Vytautas Magnus University)
Filip Herza (Institute of Ethnology - Czech Academy of Sciences)
Inga Wilke (University of Freiburg)
Nikola Noelle (University of Wuerzburg)
- Format:
- Panel+Roundtable
- Stream:
- Knowledge Production
- Location:
- D32
- Sessions:
- Thursday 8 June, -
Time zone: Europe/Prague
Short Abstract:
Young people are affected by multiple disruptions. For these uncertain times ethnology offers insights that are highly relevant to society. The panel and roundtable will focus on ethnological knowledge transfer and formats of science communication to address young people through digital media.
Long Abstract:
Young people build their belief in the world and their ideas of how they want to live in it through school, friends and family – and increasingly through digital and social media. As their ways of appropriating the world are marked by transitions in educational and societal life, this can be an experience of uncertainty. In addition to that, current crises are having a huge impact on young people as the world is getting more differentiated and complex.
Cultural anthropologists and ethnographers analyse how actors experience differences, instabilities, and disruptions, and how they develop strategies to deal with these challenges in their everyday lives – also with a focus on practises of adopting digital media. But while offering multiple interpretations of dealing with uncertainty, the knowledge potential of the ethnological disciplines too often stays within institutions, and is mostly just shared in academic discourses.
In the panel and the following roundtable discussion we would like to address the question of how anthropological and ethnological ways of seeing and interpreting could be conveyed to young people. What are the benefits but also the problems of getting more involved in science communication about uncertainties from our disciplines’ perspective? Through which medial practises can we open the dialogue, and how can we dismantle academic and knowledge barriers? Drawing from our own experiences in a filming-project with students as target audience, we invite you to share ideas, methods and experiences from research projects and projects of science communication.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 8 June, 2023, -Gergana Nenova (Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski)
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores the possibilities for research of Eva Illouz’s concept “ontological uncertainty” in intimate relations which describes the vulnerabilities inherent in late-modern love relationships by applying it to young people. The aim is to propose methodological strategies for applying the concept to analysis of the practices of intimacy of young people.
Paper long abstract:
The paper explores the concept of “ontological uncertainty” in intimate relations as formulated by Eva Illouz in her book “The End of Love” (2019). Eva Illouz defines ontological uncertainty as “uncertainty about the worth, the value, and ultimately the nature of the self”. She claims that it is in the center of contemporary heterosexual relations and is deeply related to their instability and volatility. The paper explores the methodological possibilities of the concept “ontological uncertainty” by applying it to a small-scale pilot study of the intimate relations of young people in Bulgaria. The aim is threefold – first, to explore the young people’s experiences of uncertainty in their intimate relations, second, to outline the ways in which these experiences they are tied to the economic, social, digital and cultural realities in the lives of young people and third, to analyze how they relate to their identities and feelings of self-worth. The results show that ontological uncertainty is integrated in the intimate lives of young people and that they have developed strategies for navigating its multiple manifestations.
Rasa Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė (Vytautas Magnus University)
Paper short abstract:
The paper examines the academic youth’s everyday life in an uncertain and “overheated” world. The aim of this paper is to disclose the consequences of uncertainty in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and current environmental crises to everyday life of young people.
Paper long abstract:
The paper presents the results of ethnographic exploration in 2022 conducted in Lithuania, which draws on the questionnaire form “Everyday Life in the Changing World”. The research focuses on fifty Lithuanian students from Vytautas Magnus University.
The study addresses certain questions: How do young people manage to retain stability in contemporary “overheated” and indeterminate world? What challenges and issues did they face in the period of quarantine and the war in Ukraine? How did they cope with the situation? How did they manage to switch off from the quarantine reality to the former life? What lessons have they learnt during the unstable period?
The research revealed that young people were assisted by their parents and friends, they used to stay outdoors, got involved in sports, physical and cultural activities, reading, practicing religion or philosophical world outlook, used psychotherapy means, social media and got engaged in computer games, cooking, and other leisure activities. The experience of insecurity and uncertainty enabled young people to learn something new thus becoming more positive and resistant psychologically, more responsible choosing social media sites and filtering information in news sites. They have learnt new life strategies: "to live here and now", to manage their time and plan activities, to foresee the problems and ways to escape them. A number of respondents started cherishing the time, discovered new ways of relaxation, learnt to save their finances, observe their daily routine, constantly strive for certain aims, also, nurture a positive attitude.
Inga Wilke (University of Freiburg) Nikola Noelle (University of Wuerzburg)
Paper short abstract:
The films produced in "überalltag" convey a cultural anthropological way of looking at everyday life. We will explain the setup of the project and reflect on broader questions of science communication concerning YouTube-Videos as a way of sparking young people’s interest.
Paper long abstract:
What expertise and specific ways of looking at cultural and social phenomena can ethnological and cultural anthropological disciplines offer for young people? This is the main question behind our teaching/science communication project “überalltag”. Students produce short films for pupils (aged approx. 15 to 20 years) focusing on everyday topics such as social media or waste disposal. Unfamiliar ways of looking at everyday life from a cultural anthropological perspective will at best have an eureka effect on the viewers - or in other words, it will create an exciting and productive form of uncertainty. As a side effect, Cultural Anthropology is introduced as a discipline and possible subject of study.
As a first part of our presentation, we will explain the setup of the course and present its first results: From laying the conceptual groundwork to collaborating with graphic designers to getting practical insights into film production through different workshops. In a second step we will reflect on broader questions of science communication concerning this target group and YouTube-Videos as a way of sparking young people’s interest.
In the roundtable discussion we would like to share the finding that even though it is a discipline that is highly relevant and competent for addressing broader questions of how we live together and how to deal with uncertainties, Cultural Anthropology lacks communication strategies to convey this expertise to the public. While drawing from our own experiences with challenges and opportunities we hope to contribute some ideas in that matter.
Filip Herza (Institute of Ethnology - Czech Academy of Sciences)
Paper short abstract:
The presentation deals with the recent trends and digital tools available in Czech high-school education, focusing on colonialism, racism, and intercultural exchange from the perspective of both a high-school teacher and an ethnology scholar.
Paper long abstract:
History education in the Czech Republic underwent a significant transformation in the past decade. A shift to what education practitioners call “research-oriented work” has been motivated both by the new understanding of education and its goals, the rise of digital media, and increasing interdisciplinary collaboration. Simultaneously, as a significant number of ethnology/anthropology students find their job in education, ethnological knowledge is ever more present in Czech schools. The proposed presentation reflects on the recent trends from a dual vantage point of both a teacher and an ethnology scholar. The aim is to review two educational programmes that focus on the history of colonialism, racism, and intercultural exchange. 1) an online research tool (historylab.cz) created by a state-sponsored institution and 2) a critical ethnology museum visit as practised by individual teachers. A confrontation of both old and new media will provide a space to review limits as well as new promises of using digital technologies in teaching colonialism. The author would also like to use the opportunity to reflect on how ethnological knowledge benefits the education work in the classroom, and vice-versa, what an ethnologist learns from being engaged with young adults.