Aloysius Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) As many of you know, I am in Belgium getting my master's degree in Anthropology. In between wasting all my time getting sucked into political debates on phatmass because all my neighbors speak dutch, I take a few classes and read a bit and try to write some papers... but the most interesting thing I am doing right now is deciding the WHERE and the WHAT of my master's thesis. And of course one isn't supposed to be motivated by going to the most exotic place to do one's fieldwork, but seriously, of course you'd want to go do it somewhere interesting if you could... so I pose this question: before I even decide my topic, I'm trying to come up with where I want to go. I have listed a few general places in this poll; I am motivated by a couple of factors:[list] [*]Places I think I might have some connections to people there to get me started... some because I know of people with connections to Catholic institutions there (Korea, Brazil) and some because I have made friends here at school with students from there (Iran, Peru, the Philippines) [*]Some of those places I have topic ideas for but not all [*]Places I think I could get funding for [*]Continents I have not traveled to yet (I've been to North America, Europe, and Australia), I have always wanted to hit all 7 and the only one I can't justify easily by anthropology is Antarctica. [/list] Anyway, so yeah, a poll and a thread to vote and discuss where I should aim to go to try to do my fieldwork over the summer. A couple of thoughts about some of the places:[list] [*]South Korea: my aunt's order has sisters over there so that could be a connection; I also know a marine who was stationed somewhere in the pacific region who could potentially help [*]The Philippines, Peru, and Iran are places where I have made friends with people from there who are currently students here as well [*]Brazil: My undergraduate school has a sister monastery there so maybe there'd be a connection to go there [*]Africa or South America: the school here has specific grants to promote study in one of those areas [*]With the Lakota Republic and the Mohawk nation I'd be particularly interested in those groups' movements towards independence, but obviously it wouldn't get me another continent haha. [/list] I think I might just throw darts at a map or something. Edited October 5, 2012 by Aloysius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfnol31 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Is language a factor for you? Or have you given thought to the written language on the topic you want to visit? I say this after many years of going through non-English stuff..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 Spanish, French, and English would be my strongest spoken languages. Doing fieldwork through a translator is possible though that is a hurdle to consider at it might be best to stick with Spanish-Speaking South America or the parts of Africa where French or English would be useful. But I think the connections to active religious communities in Korea and Brazil might be enough of a source to connect to someone who could translate for me. My Master's Thesis would be in English as the masters program I am in is an English Language Program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfnol31 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) I was thinking if you ever need to read articles in your location that having something like Spanish, French, or English might be helpful. For me I couldn't do work in Korea because I have no desire to learn the language, but if you have enough interest there (the religious community), that might still work. Oh, and many South Koreans do speak English too, I guess. Edited October 5, 2012 by qfnol31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Red Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 off-topic...my nephew & his wife were serious about getting together with you and showing you around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Red Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 i voted for the Philippines, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 oh yeah that's right, I have been pretty busy getting stuff together for school but that would definitely be cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomaly Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 My vote would be anywhere in South America. SA is relatively more stable than Africa and the Middle East, and Europeans have heavily trampled and destroyed the indingenous peoples and cultures. I think SA is poised to become more of a world player in the near future, and has been largely ignored by the rest of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I know it is not on your list, but what about Nigeria? Christianity in Nigeria is a hot topic at the moment, to say the least. I do not know if that is of interest to you academically, but it interests me on a personal level at least. Plus the FSSP are there, and that is a major win for everyone involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Africa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 [quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1349459861' post='2490377'] I know it is not on your list, but what about Nigeria? Christianity in Nigeria is a hot topic at the moment, to say the least. I do not know if that is of interest to you academically, but it interests me on a personal level at least. Plus the FSSP are there, and that is a major win for everyone involved. [/quote] It is on my list, it's called "other"; I had envisioned people who voted "other" suggesting places in the comments... it may all depend on where the dart lands lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyAnn Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 What sort of topic are you planning on studying? Because that could make a big difference as to where would then be most interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 yeah yeah I know.... right now I'm pretty open and I'm actually going to use the papers I'll be writing for all my classes to sort of explore a lot of different directions to help me decide which one I want to go in... but the first grant deadline is December so I'd like to have an application in so that if I get turned down for grants then I can have another shot in May Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Peru or Mexico. I've always been fascinated by "lost cities." They aren't lost to the locals. In fact they often do homage to their ancestors there and don't want them discovered. I was taken to such a place by my Godmother when I was a kid. It was "discovered" a few years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 [quote name='Aloysius' timestamp='1349461255' post='2490389'] It is on my list, it's called "other"; I had envisioned people who voted "other" suggesting places in the comments... it may all depend on where the dart lands lol. [/quote] Somehow managed to miss that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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