Pro­ject-ori­ented in­tern­ship/an­thro­po­lo­gic­al field study

Course content

Purpose of internship:
The purpose of internship is to offer students the possibility to obtain knowledge and experience in performing tangible tasks and projects. By being and contributing actively at a relevant workplace, students get the opportunity to make use of their professional and theoretical knowledge and to reflect theoretically on the execution of the work during the period of the internship.

Internship learning objectives: In the report, the student must:

• apply analytical skills and reflective thinking (i.e. use of theory) in problematisations of the organisational practice with relevance for the student’s internship/fieldwork

• discuss and apply the chosen academic literature in the analysis of specific research areas

• link practical experience/fieldwork observation and academic reflection with central, professional issues in the relevant MSc in Social Sciences programme

• critically reflect on how to combine analytical distance to with concrete involvement in organisational practices
   

Purpose of fieldwork:
The purpose of field work is to offer students the possibility to obtain knowledge and experience in conducting anthropologically or ethnographically oriented data generation in relation to professional practices in one or more organizations. By observing relevant workplaces, students get the opportunity to make use of their theoretical and methodological knowledge and to reflect theoretically on the organizational practices in question. A major distinction between an internship and fieldwork is that in the latter the student is not part of an organizational hierarchy and therefore the activities relating to the host/focus organization(s) are of an observatory character (even if the fieldwork might involve participatory observation and/or interviews). Fieldwork might be relevant for students aiming at generating a substantial element of primary data for their master theses, and thus engaging and experimenting with the methodological challenges of observing professional, organizational practices in the context of the requirements of their particular study program.

Fieldwork learning objectives: The report must demonstrate

• that the student is capable of theoretical as well as methodological reflection on his/her field work activities in the observed organization(s) in relation to the professional field of the program. This involves an ability to apply conceptual abstractions in a problematization of the observed organizational practices.
• that the student is capable of analyzing his/her observation activities in the host organization(s) in relation to central, professional issues in his/her education.
• that the student is able to employ business economics, organizational and/or managerial knowledge in order to analyze the correlation between field work data and the host organization(s)’ professional activities.
• the student’s capacity to reflect upon what it means to produce knowledge within ”own” organization, including how to combine analytical distance with concrete involvement, plus furthermore to reflect upon the ethical and practical consideration that ought to be a part of being involved in an internship.