Anthropological Fieldwork and Experiences in Argentina: The Relevance of Context and Place

January 2-23, 2009

ANTH 493/ 693, HONR 348E, CPSP 379, LASC 468Q, CORE Human Cultural Diversity [D] (3 credits)

Learn to move anthropology out of the classroom and into your everyday experience by developing a set of tools for understanding culture in Argentina and everywhere else your life's journey may take you!

Anthropological Fieldwork

Open to graduates and undergraduates, this course will allow the student to learn about culture from multiple perspectives and in different regions.

Join us as we mingle with native people working, celebrating, and going about their daily lives. Learn to draw similarities and differences in ways of doing things from an intellectual, cultural, and social perspective. Come visit places where anthropologists work, and learn to understand how and why people think about their living conditions and how they attempt to improve them.

This fieldwork will expose students to work developed by anthropologists in Argentina. Using ethnographic methods, students will participate and observe culture from the perspective of native people and attempt to understand how knowledge of culture can help change living conditions. Through the instructor Dr. Judith Freidenberg’s own experiences as an Argentine native and anthropologist, students will learn how to contextualize the production and dissemination of knowledge within Argentina’s political-economic, historical, socio-cultural and policy realms.

Anthropological Experiences

Our academic journey will take us to a local market, on a tour of the countryside, for a visit to a world-renowned waterfall and for a turn (or two) on the dance floor with tango enthusiasts. The instructor will be your guide to the study of culture. We will visit three provincias in Argentina, where she has professional experience and collegial contacts: Misiones, Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires. Weekend outings and travel by land will be planned to give students the opportunity to be immersed in local culture and experience authentic traditions.

Misiones

The Province of Misiones is located in the northeast corner of Argentina bordering Paraguay and Brazil. Our visit to this provincia will help us understand how development projects affect the livelihood, health and heritage of people. We will talk to people who were relocated as a result of the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the border with Paraguay; understand how planting tobacco for major companies has affected the health of workers in the border with Brazil; and learn about preservation programs of Jesuit ruins.

Entre Ríos

The Province of Entre Ríos is located just north of Buenos Aires near the border with Uruguay. Our visit to this provincia will focus on how heritage continues to be preserved today. We will visit three museums that document the immigrant experience to understand their role in preserving the past. We will also learn how the stories told by present-day populations narrate the past and present of the nation.

Buenos Aires

The capital of Argentina is rich in resources for the study of culture. We will learn about development, health care and cultural representation from anthropologists on staff at the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Universidad de Buenos Aires, and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team. We will observe how people commemorate recent events in the country’s history (such as the Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo), listen to workers in factories recently closed, and learn how anthropologists help indigenous artisans market their products.

Accommodations

We will stay with families who will provide rooms and meals in Misiones and Entre Ríos. In Buenos Aires, students will share accommodations at a student bed and breakfast.

Faculty and Staff

Judith Freidenberg is a faculty member in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her interest in understanding populations in neighborhoods, service providers and policy makers led her to develop The Anthropology of the Immigrant Life Course Research Program for the Department to examine social issues affecting local immigrant populations. She has conducted fieldwork in the province of Entre Ríos, and taught as a Fulbright Scholar in her hometown of Buenos Aires.

Teaching Assistant Maria Eugenia Mendizabal is earning a Masters in Social Anthropology based on her fieldwork on gaucho traditions in the province of Buenos Aires.

For questions about the application, registration and pre-departure logistics, please contact Shoshana Griffith, a Program Assistant in the Study Abroad Office.