CEES Glasgow / BEAR Network Research Methods field trip
Published: 27 September 2019
An undergraduate field trip to the Baltic region, Narva, 14 February 2019
Kontinental League Ice Hockey game:
Riga Dynamo vs. Jokerit Helsinki
In Februrary, thirteen third-year undergraduate students studying Central & East European Studies at the University of Glasgow were joined by eight students from across the BEAR Network universities for a field trip to the Baltic region. The trip took place across three cities: Riga (Latvia), Narva and Tallinn (Estonia) where the students experienced a rich program of cultural and research-based activities. This field trip, designed for upper-level undergraduate students in the Social Sciences, provides students with an opportunity to consider how to conduct research ‘in the field’.
The research activities included reflexive observations of the spaces (focusing on public monuments and museums), meetings with local experts, and reflexive discussion on how the experience of being in the field challenges, or modifies, pre-conceived ideas.
The EU-Russia border
Participants were expected to compose short, reflexive research diaries based on their time on the field trip. Additionally, each student wrote a research proposal. This serves to set out a hypothetical (but feasible) research project that the student could conduct in the region.
Students were joined on this trip by Prof. David Smith (University of Glasgow), Prof. Benjamin Forest (McGill University) and Dr Ammon Cheskin (University of Glasgow).
Read more and view the "Baltic Memories" video and more pictures from the trip on the BEAR Nework website.
First published: 27 September 2019