Graduate Methodologies in Politics, Law and Administration F1A

Academic unit or major

Graduate major in Social and Human Sciences

Instructor(s)

Akira Watanabe

Class Format

Lecture

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

Class

-

Course Code

SHS.P465

Number of credits

100

Course offered

2025

Offered quarter

3Q

Syllabus updated

Mar 19, 2025

Language

Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

This class is about fieldwork and "life-research balance". The instructor will try to share his fieldwork experience with students so that we can discuss the importance of the fieldwork. We will also discuss about the life-research balance because I think it is very imporant for students to conduct research while not sacrificing too much other important aspects of life (well, some sacrifice of course would be necessary, but sacrificing too much would not be very productive, either!).

In this course I will be trying to encourage students to acquire more knowledge about the fieldwork, and to become aware that sometimes, even when you are dedicated to research, sometimes you need to look at other important things in life. I hope those ideas of mine work, and that this class will be useful for the students.

Course description and aims

Students are expected to improve their understanding about fieldwork as a research method, and what it means to do research under these social conditions.

Keywords

Fieldwork, life-research balance, Mexico, politics, migration, and chess

Competencies

• Specialist skills
• Intercultural skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

The instructor will try to explain his own experience as a field worker. The instructor is also planning to invite one or two guest speakers, who might talk about their own experiences, to widen the vision of the participating students.

Course schedule/Objectives

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

Students will be asked to read instructor's papers, most of which are available at: https://researchmap.jp/akira_watanabe.

Also, we will surely read the following book in the 2nd or 3rd session.

Ishioka, T. "Introduction to Ethnography," Tokyo: Chikuma, 2024 (in Japanese).

Reference books, course materials, etc.

To be indicated during the class.

Evaluation methods and criteria

feedback: 50%, final essay: 50%

Related courses

• SHS.P463 ： Graduate Methodologies in Politics, Law and Administration S1A
• SHS.P464 ： Graduate Methodologies in Politics, Law and Administration S1B
• SHS.P466 ： Graduate Methodologies in Politics, Law and Administration F1B

Prerequisites

No specific requirements. The class will be conducted in Japanese, however.

Other

This class is about fieldwork and "life-research balance". I have done research in Mexico and had traveled to the country at least 3 times are year, until the start of the pandemic. It is also worth mentioning that I still live in Yamanashi, where I worked for 8 years before I transferred to Tokyo Tech, because of the pandemic. These experiences and that of online-teaching have led me to think about the importance of the relations between research and life, and it is still relevant now that we are regaining mobility somehow. In the last three years I learned a lot from my students, and this year, I will also try to create a space where we can learn a lot from each other about this quite important topic.

The instructor is really looking forward to sharing his experiences as a fieldworker and would like to learn a lot from the discussions with the students.