The Ethnographic Media subject area combines theory and conceptual work in ethnography and aesthetics with production, and is organized around sustained student projects developed across multiple courses. Anthropology MA students are invited to encounter ethnographic media as an expansive field extending to practices such as art exhibitions and installations, sound walks, performance, and movement, as well as writing, and encompassing digital formations of various kinds. Graduate students across campus are invited to collaborate in this space and to develop adventurous ethnography on the basis of their interests and skills.
This subject area is structured to allow students to develop competencies according to their interests. They also participate in an innovative additional component: a parallel collaborative Ethnographic Media Lab in which they workshop their projects and support one another by sharing creative input and production skills, and where they present their ongoing work to lab members and to the broader Anthropology and New School communities. The lab is an integral element of the subject area, providing a forum in which students can pursue and develop independent projects while cultivating a rigorous, experimental, and discipline-changing ethnographic practice.
Students are also strongly recommended to explore the following university resources:
- Making Center
- Equipment Center
- GIDEST (Graduate Institute for Design, Ethnography, and Social Thought) seminars
- Documentary Studies Doc Talk Series
- The New School Archives and Special Collections
- Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Studies (on hiatus 2024–2025)
COURSES WITHIN THE TRACK
Students are recommended to take a course course, complete four relevant electives, and to collaborate with the Ethnographic Media Lab. Please consult the Anthropology MA’s website to find out the list of courses approved for the upcoming semester (check the section “Subject Area: Ethnographic Media”.)
This subject area is an informal path in the Anthropology program and does not appear on students’ transcripts or diplomas.
More Information
During the 2024–2025 academic year, Hugh Raffles, professor of anthropology, will be available to advise students on coursework, fieldwork, and other learning opportunities. Other Anthropology faculty are also available to help students develop their ethnographic practice.