Anthropological Field Research Opportunity

October 2012
From Susan L. Erikson, PhD
Faculty of Health Sciences
Simon Fraser University

I will be recruiting two MSc
students to work on a
research project in Sierra Leone
during Spring semester 2014. Preference
will be given to students with
previous degrees and/or theoretical and methodological
training in anthropology. To
receive the funding, students will need to
be accepted and enrolled in the MSc/PhD program in the Faculty
of Health
Sciences at Simon Fraser University,
near Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada.

As part of a grant from the
Social Science and Humanities
Research Council of Canada, I have funds to support fieldwork
(travel and per
diem) in Sierra Leone Spring 2014.
Students will be part of a small team of researchers
collecting data on
how and to where health statistics "travel" for use in other
social
domains. Statistics
are the subject of
inquiry; the fieldwork stage does not include complex
statistical
generation. Students
would live in Sierra Leone
for 2-3 months as observant participants, attending sites of
statistical use
and exchange, and interviewing many different types of people
about the ends to
which statistical enumerators are put.
Students would need to be willing to learn to basic
proficiency the
lingua franca of Sierra Leone,
Krio, and able to overcome scarcity
and limited technological connectivity in the field in
creative and resourceful
ways. The most
competitive students for
this opportunity will be undergraduate anthropology majors
with some previous
field experience.

The Faculty of Health Sciences
at Simon
Fraser University offers
MSc and
PhD degrees with a high degree of coursework flexibility.
Admissions
are
on a rolling basis, but in order to be eligible for funds to
support student
life in Vancouver,
you need to apply to the MSc/PhD programs by February 1, 2013.
You would
need to begin
your program by May
2013 (Summer Semester) or September 2013 (Fall Semester).

If you are interested in
applying for the funds available
for the Sierra Leone
fieldwork, send me (slerikson@sfu.ca)
a CV, transcript, and 2-page statement detailing your
theoretical orientation,
methodological education, and previous experience by January
1, 2013. If selected,
I will sign on as your
supervisor, and then you will need to apply to the MSc or PhD
program following
the usual Faculty of Health Sciences
admissions
processes. Admission
is not
guaranteed, though it is likely when you apply with a
pre-arranged faculty
supervisor, some funding, and if you meet the baseline
eligibility
requirements. Serious
inquiries
only. If you are not
interested in using
anthropological theory and method in your graduate degree
work, please do not
apply.