This course will begin by addressing what constitutes the field, and how ideas of the 'field' and 'fieldwork' have been historically constructed and developed; and the practice of fieldwork in the global development context. Fieldwork invariably involves making diverse and sometimes, difficult choices and, in this course, we seek to address these questions in an inter-disciplinary and inter-generational way by drawing on fieldwork experiences of leading thinkers in global development research with accounts from early development researchers; enabling you to better prepare for some of the challenges you may face; and to provide experiential guidance as to how you could approach these challenges.

Throughout the course, you will critically examine fieldwork as methodological approach; exploring a a range of methods enabling you to build relevant?and creative?skills?to being in the field, leaving the field, writing back from the field; and returning your research to the field. Fieldwork is not only about becoming practically aware of insider-outsider relations between the researcher and the researched; but also,?about how you can develop critical self-reflexivity that interrogates your own understanding, ethical engagement and representations, recognising often the case of unequal power relationships and access to resources and cultural differences.

The course will also facilitate your engagement with 'real-world' case studies and an experience-led discussion of each of the topics providing you with important insights and practical advice; whilst also contributing to a more in-depth understanding of fieldwork as a lived experience that ultimately shapes not only your research outputs, future research practice; but also, your understanding of global development in significant ways.