---------- Original Message ----------
From: Elise Ferrer <ef8388a@american.edu>
To:
Cc: Thurka Sangaramoorthy <thurkas@american.edu>, Eva Rey <er9421a@american.edu>, Elise Ferrer <ef8388a@american.edu>
Date: 07/08/2025 7:26 AM EDT
Subject: Listen now! New podcast from the Public Ethnography Lab, In the Thick of It
Introducing
In the Thick of It
The new podcast from the Public Ethnography Lab
Click here to listen to our first episode
Listen on: Lab Website • Apple Podcasts • Spotify • iHeartRadio • Amazon Music • Player FM
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What can ethnography look like outside of the academy?
How do ethnographic practitioners apply their qualitative
and anthropological expertise across different sectors and roles?
Ethnography is fundamentally the practice of seeing and thinking critically. While ethnography is conventionally imagined as a method confined to purely academic endeavors, ethnographic skills — understanding the impact of systems and structures on individual behavior, assessing cultural similarities and differences of people and places, and uncovering overlooked details — are not just useful but highly sought-after skills across industry, non-profit, advocacy, research, policy, and government roles. Yet for ethnographic practitioners, particularly students, it can be difficult to see and articulate the opportunities and uses of qualitative skills.
In the Thick of It — the newest project from the Public Ethnography Lab — seeks to fill this gap. We explore and highlight possible trajectories for anthropological, ethnographic, and qualitative work beyond purely academic roles. In each episode, our host sits down with one researcher to understand how they approach and deploy qualitative methods in their day-to-day work. Listeners will get a behind-the-scenes picture of applied anthropology and learn about the choices, challenges, and creativity that go into qualitative methods.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PODCAST
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Listen to our first episode - out now!
In this episode, our host, Eva Rey, sits down with Professor Manissa Maharawal, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at American University, to discuss: Can ethnography be a tool for activism? Dr. Maharawal is a cultural anthropologist and critical geographer. Her work focuses on eviction, race, displacement, and the spatial and temporal dynamics of contemporary urban social movements. She co-founded the Narratives of Displacement and Resistance Project within the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
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Tune in for the rest of Season 1
Over the upcoming episodes, Eva is sitting down with interesting guests to explore questions like:
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What does it take to keep a public anthropology lab alive?
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What does a playful anthropology look like?
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Can you do fieldwork on a roller coaster line?
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When time is short, can ethnography still go deep?
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And more!
New episodes are released every other Tuesday, so stay tuned!
Want to support this project?
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Listen to the episodes, and send us your thoughts and reflections
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Share episodes with your friends, colleagues, and on your social networks
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Subscribe to or follow the podcast on your listening service
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Give the podcast a rating
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Add our episodes to your course syllabi
