Photo by qimono.

For our first round of Field Notes, we have asked our contributors to explore how they arrived at all the "first times" that pepper the training and fieldwork of an anthropologist. We may find stories about encountering new project ideas, field sites, and interlocutors, or the often hard process of making productive connections with informants and colleagues. Or, we may hear about tips and experiences to keep in mind when reaching out for the first time. What should I say or write? What do I need in my bag when I step off the plane or into a lab? Access can also be about access to resources: what is available to us as researchers and students to help support our studies or careers?

Posts in This Series

Contact/Access: Provocation

Contact/Access: Provocation

I regularly encounter questions from people contemplating research projects involving NGOs, or similarly dispersed phenomena. Where to begin? How to make contac... More

Contact/Access: Translation

Contact/Access: Translation

Peter Redfield’s insightful commentary on access has left us at a very powerful place, questioning what is at stake and for whom. I will circle back to this iss... More

Contact/Access: Deviation

Contact/Access: Deviation

If I went, I wouldn’t tell anyone that I was going to Morocco. Waiting for something to happen is nerve-wracking, and if you’re not careful, deviating from that... More

Contact/Access: Integration

Contact/Access: Integration

Integration would seem to invite summary reflection. I join here with Peter Redfield, Nicola Bulled, and Rachel Caesar to explore conditions and paradoxes of co... More