EASST - Lausanne, Switzerland

Group photo following the student presenation at EASST

27 August, 2006.

See the final research projects on our research wiki,
the Amsterdam daily diary here,
and some Flickr photo sets here,
subscribe to our podcasts (audio & video) here.

Project Wikis & Research Symposium

Paradox and Progress: UW Research Projects

Urban Planning: Space and Place in Amsterdam

Dutch Health Care: Seattle and Amsterdam Comparative Case Study

Immigrant Identities in Amsterdam

Fact and Fiction: Exploring Information Politics, Submission, and the Dutch Muslim Community

Nederhop and Youth Culture

Prostitution, Drugs, and Crime: For Better or for Worse?

Virtual 3rd Place: Collaborative International Research

UW Research Symposium

Presentation (large AVI files)

Chris
Lisa
Demi
Shilpa
Belinda 1
Belinda 2
Lacy

Poster

Research Proposal--Basic Structure

Paradox and Progress || Spring Seminar H A&S 397A || due 12 june 2006
-- revised 18 May 2006 --

1. Revised abstract (200 words max)—the abstract will be close to its final draft, but does not need to be THE final version.

2. Background (~1000 words) – an overview that synthesizes project for all group members This should include:

• Literature review (from your readings discuss what are the core issues, common concerns, and debates)
• Context (Why is the topic relevant. How will it advance yours and others understanding of the field? Remember to consider why it is of personal interest to you.)
• Problem(s) (what are the struggles you have encountered while beginning your research?)
  

3. Research Questions. This is where you set up your individual research as one component of the overall group research project. Spend one or two paragraphs developing your specific research question(s).

• researcher 1
• researcher 2
• researcher 3 (if applicable)
  

4. Research Methods (~1000 words/approximately 2 pages, plus bibliography)

• Discuss interdisciplinary and how it is or is not relevant to your project
• Affordances- how is each method appropriate for your research
• Limitations- what are the limitations of each method
• Reflexivity- what biases and what assumptions do you bring to the project
• Analysis- how will the data collected help answer/ask your research question)
• preliminary bibliography (basic sources that demonstrate the direction you are taking in investigating your topic)
  

5. Human Subjects: discuss 1) your methods for recruiting (interview) subjects, and 2) measures taken to guarantee confidentiality and anonymity.

6. Daily research schedule while in Amsterdam (1-2 pages). You should have one consolidated schedule for the group. The schedules should include resources you will use in Amsterdam, i.e.:

• People (names, titles, etc.)
• Places (address)
• Equipment
• Information

7) Reference List (bibliography)

8) Interview guidelines (for your reference):

9) All work to be submitted via group wiki by midnight 12 June 2006

Domain Analysis - Methods Assignment

Greetings all-

First, I want say that Julie and I are thrilled with the way ALL of your projects are progressing. You have all worked very hard and are producing amazing work. This is the last of the four methods exercises. Think of it as one more tool in your research toolbox and as an opportunity to have some fun.

1) Choose a site of social interaction and conduct a domain analysis. Your site of social interaction can be physical, textual, or virtual. The physical can be *any* location where people interact. Textual includes just about any medium, text (from policy to poetry), audio, video, etc. Virtual is anything online (reference Hine’s virtual ethnography). Think broadly—this can be anywhere you find social interaction or the representation of social interaction.

2) Use the structure provided in the Spradley reading. Feel free to interpret this structure liberally—and interpolate freely. This means let the structure inform your approach but take liberties to adapt it to your topic, site, and interests as well as to interpret your findings. Although it is not a requirement, consider a site that is related to your research project.

3) Blog the results from, and your experience with, the assignment. Note the affordances and limitations of the method.

4) Give a group presentation of your findings on Monday.

Our goal with these methods assignments is to equip you with skills that help you achieve success with your research AND to facilitate your exploration of Amsterdam.

We encourage you to work in your research groups for this assignment but it is not a requirement. The results from your last group activity were very exciting, however we recognize you are all busy so you can accomplish this assignment in your groups or individually.

References:

1) Clarke Speed’s Lecture (mp3):
2) Hine (2005) Virtual Methods, Chapters 1 & 2,
3) James P. Spradley, "Making a Domain Analysis" from the book Participant Observation

Urban Studies Methods Assignment

The goal of this assignment is to use the urban studies methods that you read about and the ideas presented by Professor Ryan, to explore possibilities related to your research topic. What I mean by possibilities is to explore and observe a setting in Seattle that will help you understand how to approach a similar setting in Amsterdam.

This experience should inform 1) the kinds of things you can learn from an urban place, 2) the way you will approach urban places in Amsterdam, and 3) perhaps even how you think about your research question.

For Monday each group (this is a group project) will need to:

- Choose a place in the city; a building, a public space, a neighborhood, an historical site, a piece of public art, etc.

- Meet at this place and explore, observe, inquire, and document (take notes, photographs, etc.)


Deliverables:

1) blog your experience and how this way of data gathering might help you in Amsterdam

2) as a group, present what you found, what you learned, and how this approach informs your research in Amsterdam (or doesn’t).


A couple of things to note: An urban context can tell you things. Observing environmental behavior can tell you things. Places, built environments, are neutral about the questions you ask.

Professor Ryan provided a tremendous set of resourses for you. Along with an mp3 of his talk, you can find them on the course blog at “Guest Lecture Archives”. For those interested in people wrt your research, check out the link to “etic vs emic.”

And finally…

Get out now. Not just outside, but beyond the rap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people at the end of our century. Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, and look around. Do not jog. Do not run…Walk. Stroll. Saunter…Explore.

OUTSIDE LIES MAGIC -Stilgoe

Assignment 1 - Interent Research

Greetings All,

For monday each of you will need to analyze 3 internet sources related to your topics. You should look for sites with human interaction about your topic (not just informational sites). Explore the site for artifacts (discourse, contacts, information, experts, etc.) related to both the research topic and the kinds of people involved with your topic. Sites that you might find useful include: event/conference websites, portals, universities, not-for-profit organizations (.org), government institutions, blogs, social networks, etc.

For each site, identify at least one person (by name and email address) who is relevant to your topic and who you believe would reply to your email. It is often the case that the higher the person's position/title, the less likely they will reply to random emails. This is not always the case but you should factor this into your plan.

Deliverables:

1) Individual blog post: post the three sites you selected and provide a short description of how the sites and/or individuals would be useful to your research goals.

2) Group presentation: consider all of the sites collected by the members of your group and choose three to present to the class. In your presentation, discuss both the affordances and limitations of Internet research with regard to your research goals.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Research Abstracts

Greetings all,

As mentioned last week, your blog post for next Wednesday is a preliminary research abstract. It should be a maximum of 300 words and you should work together with your group to produce the abstract. It should be general enough to include your individual projects yet specific enough that it addresses some problem or situation in Amsterdam.

The abstracts should include 1) a short description of the topic (this can also be a problem statement), 2) the relevance/importance of the research, and 3) the planned research method(s). This is due (on your blogs) before class on Wednesday.

Research Groups:

1) Dutch hip hop: Building Youth Communities
Melissa Andrada
Lacy Cooper

2) Dutch Healthcare
Belinda Luk
Shilpa Coorg
Erika Reinitz

3) Jewish Identity
Chris Blair
Lisa Muhlum

4) Urban Planning in Amsterdam
Lindsey Britt
Colin O'Rourke
Tim Prouty

5) Prostitution, Drugs, and Crime: For Better or for Worse?
Shane Richards
Kathy Wei

6) Islam, Information, and Media
Demi Antzoulatos
Engy Fahmy
Rebecca Martin

7) Virtual Third Place
Aarron Kemp
Kathleen Walsh

EASST Abstract

TITLE: Paradox and Progress: Exploring Urban Culture in Amsterdam through Trans-disciplinary e-Research

SESSION (CLOSED)

PREFERRED THREAD: STS in practice (methods, research networks, computer tools)

3 KEYWORDS: e-research, urban culture, geo-tagging

AUTHOR 1
NAME: Paul Wouters
INSTITUTION: Virtual Knowledge Studio for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
ADDRESS: PO Box 95110
1090 HC Amsterdam
The Netherlands
TEL: 3120 4628654
FAX: 3120 6658013
EMAIL: paul.wouters@vks.knaw.nl

AUTHOR 2
NAME & INSTITUTION: Clifford Tatum, University of Washington

AUTHOR 3
NAME & INSTITUTION: Julie Villegas, University of Washington

ABSTRACT:
Chair: Paul Wouters
Research Leads: Clifford Tatum & Julie Villegas
Student Presenters: TBA

Electronic networks and computer-mediated communication have been integrated into collaborative research across boundaries of space, time, and culture. These emerging e-research practices are potentially changing key aspects of the interaction and character of scholarly work. Presently, our understanding of their potential is quite limited. This international collaboration involves senior researchers and Master students in a collaborative Summer School of the Virtual Knowledge Studio (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), the Honours Programme of the University of Washington (Seattle), and the International School for the Humanities and Social Sciences (University of Amsterdam). Our aim is to develop innovative social science methods by employing digital technologies in a reflexive research design. Data collection and analysis techniques will include still image photography, sound and voice recordings, short video clips, and the use of geo-location tagging (eg. Google Earth and Geographical Information Systems software. We seek to examine a variety of socio-cultural topics in the urban context of Amsterdam, with a reflective eye on the process as well as the findings. Inspired by the Virtual Knowledge Studio, this study incorporates social science and humanities interdisciplinary research with methodological exploration of digital data-gathering devices and e-research techniques. The conceptual framework utilized in this study is based on the assumption that technologically mediated research influences not only the method of data collection and analysis but also the character and process of knowledge production. The Summer School will take place in August 2006.

This seminar will explore the city as a node of socio-cultural interaction through two intellectual streams; one is focused on the study of contemporary social issues in the Netherlands and the other is the development of a trans-disciplinary e-research designs that connect research to the people, places, and institutions of Amsterdam. There are about 174 ethnic groups in the city of Amsterdam.  Amsterdam, like many urban centers in Europe, is undergoing an identity shift as migration trends continue to change the ethnic make-up of the city. Data sources include the of use literature, Internet research, and the city itself as text to explore the interaction of individuals and society. Specific topics will include Amsterdam’s tradition of free thought and democracy, immigration policy, tradition of Dutch multiculturalism, urban youth culture, and human rights that has influenced Amsterdam’s humanist identity.

The nature of trans-disciplinary e-research requires that we pay particular attention to the way our questions about society are embedded in assumptions about reality. As such, we explore the epistemological connections between data gathering methods and knowledge production. The emergence of e-research as a collaborative practice in social science and humanities makes international and trans-disciplinary research all the more powerful as it removes barriers of time and space that once hindered similar collaborations. We will exploit research methods from three domains: international research, urban studies, and e-research practices.

Small-group research teams will begin their research in Seattle by seeking out primary nodes of online interaction related to their research topics. Each student researcher will develop an individual blog to use as a lab notebook documenting their research plan and progress as well as for sharing data resources. Planning elements include places to see, institutions to visit, and people to observe and/or interview. Accomplishment of the small-group research projects will result in a collection of digital content that is used to create multimedia presentations that are produced as video pod-casts. Additionally, the collective data repository and individual project findings will be the basis for a multimedia aggregation that reflects a meta-level synopsis of the overall program.

Guest Lecture Archives

05 June 2006
Tanya Matthews, Ph.D.
Human Subjects Review Administrator
University of Washington
Box 355752
Seattle, WA 98105-6613
Phone (206) 221-7918
Fax (206) 543-9218

listen to lecture (mp3)
human subjects website


17 May 2006
Reinier Voorwinde, grad student in the Jackson School of Intenational Studies, is from Amsterdam and is completing his MA thesis on immigration issues in the Netherlands




listen to lecture (mp3)



11 May 2006


Clarke Speed
Lecturer, Anthropology & Honors
Ethnography and Encounterology

listen to lecture (mp3)






23 May 2006

Dennis Ryan,
Assoc. Prof., UDP/Adj. - Arch, Dir. CEP
Research Methods in Urban Studies Research,
Reading the City

reading the city bibliography
books on reserve in library
lecture notes
etic vs emic
listen to lecture (mp3)


26 April 2006

Chandan Reddy, English
Topic: Humanities Interdisciplinary Research &
Cultural Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies

listen to lecture (mp3)

17 April 2006


Alan R. MichelsonHead Librarian, Architecture/Urban Planning Library
Honors in Amsterdam Librarian Resources
Contact information:206 543-4067
Box 355730
alanmich@u.washington.edu

Library Resource/Amsterdam Website



03 April 2006
Kathie Friedman, International Studies
co-program director, Honors Rome Program
Migration trends in Europe


29 March 2006

Dr. Ran Hennes, 29 March 2006
"Dutch Geography and History"

- mp3 audio file
- supplemental narrative (pdf)