Call for Participation (apologies for any cross-posting): Digital Media and Ethnographic Methods 2-day Seminar Series
(Graduate Students & Early Career Researchers)
29 NOVEMBER - 30 NOVEMBER 2017
RMIT Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City
The Digital Media and Ethnographic Methods Seminar brings together leading qualitative games and media studies scholars from SE Asia and Oceania to engage with students and early career researchers in the processes and research practices of qualitative games and digital media research. Participants will have an opportunity to engage with a core set of digital ethnographic research skills, specifically engaging in qualitative fieldwork exploring networked media through casework on games and public play in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Regional games research, and the notion of region (over nation) as Liboriussen and Martin observe, “… cannot be rigorously defined. This flexibility allows for the clustering of concepts, gaming practices, games and research networks that are national, supranational, transnational or subnational, and the fruitful relationships between regions existing at each of these scales” (2016). During the two-day seminar series, critical considerations on locality, situated play practices, research ethics, and field methods will be explored, with participants developing their own practice by engaging in a mini-exploration of public play in the city. Over 33 million people play games in Vietnam, with over 4,000 net cafes and a prevalent public mobile play scene. This seminar asks of its participants to engage with various locally situated practices of play, qualitative research methods, and consider their own position as researchers located in a specific field of networked leisure.
Hosted by games and digital ethnographers Dr Hanna Wirman (Hong Kong Poly University), Dist. Professor Larissa Hjorth (RMIT Melbourne) and Dr Emma Witkowski (RMIT Melbourne), this seminar looks to engage in critical dialogues which zoom in and out of international research on games and media cultures, digital ethnographic methods, and perspectives from regional game studies. Through a series of lectures, readings, practical modules, and fieldwork, seminar participants will engage in questions and practices of doing ethnography, researching emerging games and media cultures, and disseminating research
KEY DATES
29 NOVEMBER - 30 NOVEMBER 2017
LOCATION
RMIT University Vietnam,
Saigon South Campus 702 Nguyen Van Linh
District 7
PARTICIPANT CONTACT
Seminar capacity is limited. Please RSVP your place by 21 November.
RMIT Vietnam Methods Seminar contact, Dr. Brian McCauley: brian.mccauley@rmit.edu.vn
RMIT Australia Methods Seminar contact, Dr. Emma Witkowski: emma.witkowski@rmit.edu.au
Research Capability Office, RMIT Australia, Ekaterina Kologrivova: research.capability@rmit.edu.au
