Supported by the National Science Foundation
Through a grant to Brandeis University, the National Science Foundation supports two field schools for Ph.D. students in cultural anthropology from universities in the United States. One school is in the Bolivian Amazon, among the Tsimane' Amerindians, and is directed by Ricardo Godoy (Brandeis). The other school is in Zambia, among Citonga speaking peoples of Southern Province, and is directed by Lisa Cliggett (Kentucky). Training in both field schools focuses on methods to collect ecological, demographic, economic, cognitive, anthropometric, and health data.
In both sites, students will be responsible for all aspects of daily camp life – drawing water, sweeping camp/house, cooking, collecting firewood and water, etc. – as well as research. Students wishing to participate must LOVE "outback" camping. We will provide details of what to bring to the field and how to prepare for each of the sites once we have selected students.
Specific Program Information (click here for some photos)
BOLIVIA (June 12-July 22, 2006, six weeks; tentative):
Students in Bolivia will be exposed to a range of methods to assess changes in quality of life and the environment that occur as highly autarkic indigenous peoples gain a stronger foothold in the market economy and the modern world. Research and training will take place among Tsimane’ Amerindians, a society of horticulturalists and foragers who live at the foothills of the Andes, in the department of Beni, about 18 hours in bus from the capital city of La Paz. Training during the summer of 2006 will center on methods to collect information on the following topics: household economics, traditional knowledge, nutrition, health, and subjective well-being. Instructors include Ricardo Godoy (Cultural Anthropology), Victoria Reyes-García (Cultural Anthropology), Tomás Huanca (Cultural Anthropology), William Leonard (Physical Anthropology), Thomas McDade (Physical Anthropology), and Vincent Vadez (Agronomy). Leonard and McDade are at Northwestern; all the other instructors are affiliated with Brandeis University. Click here for more detailed information and a syllabus.
ZAMBIA (May 10-June 30, 2006, seven weeks; tentative):
Students will be exposed to methods related to a current interdisciplinary research program focused on two themes related to population mobility: Nutrition and Food Security and the Context of Migration and Migration and Environmental Change: Tenure insecurity in a Zambian frontier. Researchers on the project are Lisa Cliggett (Anthropology, U. Kentucky), Deborah L. Crooks (Anthropology, U. Kentucky) and Jon Unruh (Geography - Indiana U.). During the 2006 season the program will include short visits from other Zambian researchers working on related issues. The field site is about six hours by private vehicle (with limited space for luggage) from electricity, running water, telephones, a health clinic, and paved roads. The research team and field school participants camp in a Zambian "homestead" (cluster of houses). Click here for more detailed information and a syllabus.
BOLIVIA:
http://www.people.brandeis.edu/~rgodoy/papers.ltm
http://people.brandeis.edu/~rgodoy/NSfTraining/index.htm
or contact Ricardo Godoy: rgodoy@brandeis.edu
ZAMBIA:
http://www.uky.edu/AS/Anthropology/Bios/Cliggett.htm
or contact Lisa Cliggett: cligget@uky.edu