led by Dr Maythe Han, University of Edinburgh
What is multispecies ethnography and why does it matter? In this workshop, we will get a brief overview of multispecies ethnography, critically reflect on the limitations of human-centric social research, experiment with participant observation suited to multispecies contexts (with alpacas!), consider practical and ethical dimensions of researching more-than-human worlds as social scientists, and finally, generate ideas for integrating these approaches into our own research practice.
We will start with a quick presentation on multispecies ethnography, including key scholars, concepts, and practical examples, and take to the great outdoors to put to practice what we discussed with the alpacas and wildlife present on campus. By the end of the session, you’ll have developed a deeper understanding of multispecies ethnography and what it can do for your research.
You don’t need to already have done multispecies ethnography to participate in the session, nor do you need to be an anthropologist. Anyone and everyone who has a keen interest in challenging anthropocentrism in social research regardless of their disciplinary background is welcome!
Maythe is an anthrozoologist and multimodal ethnographer whose interdisciplinary work explores more-than-human kinship through creative methods, including music, illustrations, and textile art. Her work examines how multispecies relationships shape and reflect broader social dynamics, emphasising the complexities of kinship that transcend species boundaries. Drawing on environmental humanities, ecological anthropology, and kinship studies, she shows how these relationships are entangled with histories of selective breeding, neoliberal capitalism, racialisation/animalisation.