Introduction
My name is Amelia Abercrombie and I am
currently in the final year of my PhD in Social Anthropology. My research is
about multilingualism among Roma in Kosovo. I aim to understand the way they
speak four languages (Albanian, Serbian, Turkish and Romani), and how this is
influenced by their ideas about these different languages.
How I got here
I studied Serbian & Croatian studies
at UCL for BA. This is a language degree, which also included modules in
literature, history and other areas, and as part of the course I studied in
Belgrade for one year. This sparked my interest not just in learning languages
and cultures, but also in travelling to places to learn first-hand how people
live. I went on to study East European studies with Romanian language for
Masters, and attended a summer school in Transylvania. This course focused on
area studies research and methods. After
that I spent some time working as a support worker for people with severe
learning disabilities before coming to Manchester to start my PhD in Manchester
in 2012. I decided to research ideas about language among Roma in Kosovo as
this group speak several languages from childhood, and I was already familiar
with some of the languages from my previous studies.
In Depth
My research is an ethnography, which means that I
spent an extended period (18 months) living with the people I am studying. My
method involved living and working with these people, and also learning to
speak Romani language. As a result my work focuses on a wide variety of issues
ranging from the language used in drama, to language standardisation in schools
and media. I also look at other issues which affect Roma in Kosovo, such as
poverty, ethnicity and multiculturalism.
Going Further
Farrah Jarral
has made a series of short radio programmes about anthropology. They provide a
good background to the discipline with interesting examples. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06zjhfx
The RAI (Royal
Anthropological Society) has website with Lots of details about the discipline
of anthropology, and various academic resources. https://www.therai.org.uk/
The RAI also
have a film on YouTube which introduces anthropology, and has been made by
lecturers from Manchester, as well as other universities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF51Ma1Voo4
INTRODUCTION
My name is Alice Stefanelli and I am a third-year PhD
student in Social Anthropology. I received my Bachelor degree in
Ethno-Anthropological Sciences from the University of Bologna, Italy, which is
my country of origin. In my third year I came to Britain as an exchange student
and I studied for a year at Brunel University, in West London. I loved the
experience and I highly recommend it! Spending a term or a full year abroad is
a very valuable and enriching experience that you will not regret. Later I was
accepted into Goldmiths College, University of London, to do a Master in Social
Anthropology, which I did part-time while I worked in a bookshop. Three years
ago, I joined the University of Manchester to research the connections between
civil society and pro-public space campaigning in Beirut, Lebanon. What I ask
myself is: what kind of change do people in Beirut seek? How are they trying to
achieve it?
IN DEPTH
In my thesis I try to explore social change in Beirut. I
have chosen to look at a group of civil society organisations that campaign
against the privatisation of public parks and beaches in the city. These are
associations of citizens who do not want their few green public spaces to be
sold to real estate developers and turned into expensive resorts that the
majority of the population will never be able to afford.
As all anthropologists do, I spent a year in Beirut
conducting fieldwork and collecting first-hand data. This meant that I spent
time with campaigners: I went to their meetings, I joined them at the protests
and other events that they organised, trying to help them out but also
listening carefully to what they had to say and trying to understand what kind
of social change they desired. In anthropology, this is called “participant
observation”. I also conducted a number of interviews with them in order to ask
them direct questions about their work and clarify some of my doubts.
To complement my thesis, I am collecting material such as
newspaper articles from the local press that discusses these campaigns as well
as the history of civil society campaigning in Lebanon, so that I can have a
better idea of how things have changed in time.
My thesis is that citizens in Beirut disagree with the local
authorities over what the future of the city and its population should be. The
local council, backed by the government, seems to give priority to the private
interests of big businesses and real estate companies. Campaigners seem to
rather think that the interest of the majority of the citizenry of Beirut
should be rather privileged. For this reason, they are fighting against the
closure of public beaches and parks.
GOING FURTHER
You can watch this great video made by some campaigners on
how the Beirut seafront has changed over the decades: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwu49DxVsZk
For a general introduction to anthropology, visit the
Anthropology Day’s website: https://londonanthropologyday.co.uk/
And as for Social Anthropology in Manchester: http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/social-anthropology/