The Ethnographic Café is a place for ethnographers to meet across disciplines, generations, and countries. The EthnographicCafé gathers to talk about all things ethnographic, from history, design, and method to analysis, writing and dissemination. Meetings are monthly on Zoom to discuss a recently published ethnography with its author.

Next Event: Friday, April 18, 2025 12 PM PST / 9 AM EST

Randol Contreras will present his book The Marvelous Ones: Drugs, Gang Violence, and Resistance in East Los Angeles in conversation with Ranita Ray. The Marvelous Ones documents how aging Mexican gang members struggle to matter in the world as they deal with the traumas of violence, substance abuse, and homelessness. 

Zoom: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/99939108952?pwd=VTE1RXhDemVzbXkyVzdtbGVCVlM3UT09

Meeting ID: 999 3910 8952
Passcode: 1234

The Rutgers Digital Ethnography Working Group (DEWG) supports active digital ethnographers and researchers within the Rutgers community and beyond. It aims to support and promote member output and networking via meetings, writing groups, and public events.

Next Event: Friday, April 11, 2025
1-2:30 PM EST

Ethnography in Information Science

This panel seeks to explore decolonial perspectives and practices in digital ethnography by interrogating dominant frameworks, challenging entrenched hierarchies, and reimagining the possibilities of collaborative, inclusive, and contextually grounded research. The panel brings together scholars and researchers from different fields to discuss how they implement decolonial approaches to their practices of digital ethnography.

REGISTER HERE.

The event will be moderated by Dr. Alex Jiahong Lu, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Studies at Rutgers University and Dr. Kaitlin Montague.

Panelists: Dr. Jenna Hartel, Dr. Elizabeth Kaziunas, and Dr. Maggie Jack 

This panel explores the intersection of ethnographic research and information science as panelists share insights and stories from their fieldwork across different domains of information science. The moderated discussion will cover the application of ethnographic methods in information science research, highlighting the unique perspectives and sensibilities that information science brings to ethnographic inquiries. The event will feature a moderated discussion followed by an open Q&A, providing the audience with an opportunity to engage directly with the ethnographer panelists. 

The Contemporary Ethnography and Inequality Workshop showcases scholarship that employs ethnographic methods to address social, economic, and political inequality. The workshop offers a venue for leading scholars and graduate students to present ethnographic research and work-in-progress. Attendance is open to faculty and students from across Harvard, nearby universities, and throughout the country and globe. While regular attendance is the norm, visitors are welcome.

The CEI Workshop meets approximately six times each semester on Thursdays from 12-1:30 PM EST in William James Hall 450 (33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge) and via Zoom.

Next Event: Thursday, April 17, 2025 12-1:30 PM EST

Amber M. Henry, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University

All Zoom invites will be sent through the CEI Workshop mailing list, which can be joined here: https://web.lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/lists/cei.lists.fas.harvard.edu/.

To keep the community secure, when joining the mailing list, please use your university/college-affiliated email address. You can also email Woohee Kim (woohee_kim@g.harvard.edu) or Major Eason (majoreason@g.harvard.edu), Workshop Co-Coordinators, for Zoom links.

Since 1980, the Ethnography in Education Research Forum at the University of Pennsylvania has stood as a platform for scholars, students, and educators to converge, share insights, and contribute to the advancement of our field. Convenors of the Forum have embraced the notion that ethnography is not merely a research method; it is a profound way of unraveling complexities and engaging with the world. As stewards of this legacy, we will continue to promote the Forum as a powerful training ground for dedicated and ethically grounded ethnographers and qualitative researchers.

Next Conference: February 6-7, 2026

https://2026forum.dryfta.com

 #FACTS Constructing Knowledge and Truth in a Complex World

In an era marked by rapid changes in information technology, shifting political ideologies, and growing debates over the nature of truth, next year’s conference seeks to unpack how “facts” and “knowledge” are produced, understood, and contested across educational landscapes. For our February 2026 conference, the Ethnography Forum therefore invites submissions that explore the complex intersections of knowledge, truth, and education through the lens of ethnography and practitioner inquiry.  

Although we welcome all papers dedicated to ethnographic and practitioner inquiry, we are particularly interested in encouraging submissions that critically examine foundational epistemological and ontological questions about ethnographic practice: How do we define knowledge in ethnographic work? What assumptions do we carry about the truth our research aims to reveal? We also welcome submissions that reflect on the broader processes of knowledge production both within the academy, and also within schools and other educational spaces.

Paper Submission Deadline Period: April 15, 2025-June 1, 2025

https://2026forum.dryfta.com/133-2026-paper-submission

The University of Texas at Austin
August 18-21, 2025

The UT Austin Urban Ethnography Lab offers a four-day intensive course on ethnographic methods. The course provides an overview of ethnography as a “way of seeing” the social world and as a “way of doing” social scientific research. Participants will learn about different approaches to ethnography and the place(s) of theory in ethnographic research. They will also examine the need for warrants and puzzles in ethnography, the various ways of reconstructing subjects’ points of view, the role of reflexivity, and the ethical dilemmas present in hands-on research. Invited speakers from the Sociology Department will offer lectures on specific topics. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their own projects with attending faculty and will be offered a workshop on qualitative data analysis software, and a presentation on human subjects protection protocols.

APPLICATION
Upload your CV and a one-page (single space) description of your general interest in ethnography and/or your ethnographic project at this link.

Deadline for applications: The deadline to apply is April 23. Admits will be notified by May 1. Payment (by credit or debit card only) is due May 15.