The entire third semester of the MSc in Anthropology consist in fieldwork. The fieldwork will last, at least three months (the process must be agreed-upon with the academic advisor), and the process ends with a field report equal to an exam paper. The paper must be 20 pages and it is recommended that it prepares the ground for the thesis the following semester.

It is recommended that you already early in the Master's programme obtain contacts in the place where you are going to do your fieldwork or practical training, because you in the second semester must create a project description of your project and test your theories and themes of the method procedure.

How to choose the place for your fieldwork/practical training

When selecting and planning the topic on which you want to do fieldwork, please remember that you develop many skills and compentecies during your fieldwork:

Regional competence: You gain a specific knowledge about the place where you do your fieldwork.

Thematic competence: the themes, you examine during your fieldwork, can be used in many other contexts than just the individual fieldwork. Therefore it is also important to consider what themes your fieldwork will cover.

Theoretical competence: Theories that you use during your fieldwork is like themes useful in many other contexts and gives you skills that go beyond your regional and thematic focus.

Requirements for the fieldwork/practical training

The academic regulations for the Master's programme explains the formal requirements that apply to fieldwork/practical training.

You should focus on 3 things about your fieldwork:

The anthropological: during the fieldwork it is expected that you independently can make use of the anthropological methods to collect anthropological material, which makes sense in an academic context and in relation to the anthropological problem that you have as focus of your project.

Reflection on the material: You must be able to discuss and reflect on your methodical approach and be able to communicate your anthropological material and assess the nature/quality of your collected material

The analytic: You must be able to identify the broad issues, the theoretical background and the key analytical concepts and be able to identify analytical themes in your material collected. 

Here are the forms, which you need to fill out before your fieldwork/internship:

• Fieldwork form
• Application for a supervisor during your fieldwork/internship

Fieldwork vs. practical training

Basically one should not distinguish between practical training and fieldwork. All the requirements that apply to fieldwork, is also valid if one chooses to take in practical training.

What distinguishes practical training from fieldwork is:

That you contact a company and conduct your survey based on the company's contacts and/or  already defined projects within the company.
The company, where you are a trainee, is working with you to help set the framework for your fieldwork.

You must have an approved supervisor, to sign an internship agreement, in the workplace. The agreement should clearly stipulate what you must do and that you can use the collected material in your field reports, your thesis and possibly subsequently in articles.

NOTE: Practical training is not meant as a general traineeship in which you are employed as an employee in the company, but merely as a more business-oriented way to make your fieldwork.