"Become Human" PhD Fieldwork
Donation protected
My name is Avery and I am a PhD candidate fundraising for fieldwork related and conference costs for the first year of my PhD. As I am not funded via any research council’s and am an intersectionally marginalised student, your support would make all the difference in helping me to conduct my fieldwork as well as continue activities which span across academia, activism, advocacy and community engagement.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
In September (2019), I began a PhD in Anthropology at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
My research:
· combines anthropological methods with interdisciplinary theory which is decolonial, disabled, feminist, and queer to approach the question of 'what it means to be ‘human’ in the ‘age of the machine’.
· I use science fiction video games and speculative fiction as sites to examine how ideas and attitudes of what it means to be human/non-human come to be constructed, articulated, experienced and negotiated at different sites, by different people, and in different ways.
· I pay particular attention to how these intersect with and draw on race, gender, disability, and queerness.
In anthropology, we conduct in-depth fieldwork for a period of 12-15 months with research participants in order to develop a rich, nuanced understanding of how our participants understand, experience and interact with the world in their own ways and with their own voices. Starting from March 2020, I will begin conducting fieldwork with video game players & developers, speculative fiction authors & readers, and AI developers.
As a marginalized student who is disabled, trans and working-class who does not receive funding from any research council's, I am looking to raise money for my fieldwork and any other associated fieldwork-related costs. I applied for research council funding from the AHRC and ESRC for the start of my PhD but unfortunately was unsuccessful, so I have had to take out additional student loans to pay my fees with only a small amount left over to cover living costs. I have re-applied for funding for the second year of my PhD (starting September 2020) and am hopeful that this time I will be successful.
However, this means that I am facing over £1000 in fieldwork related and conference costs which I cannot afford without further financial support.
You can find a breakdown of how I will spend the money below.
IMPACT
There are a few ways that I feel that my PhD will have a positive impact within my discipline, within the academy, and outside of it:
- Decolonising and decentering anthropolology & academia: As a marginalized student who comes from a non-traditional education background, I am passionate about contributing to efforts to decolonise and decentre anthropology, as well as academia more broadly. My thesis primarily uses theory and literature that is decolonial, disabled, feminist, queer and written by people (especially women) of colour. Outside of the thesis, I am experimenting with ways to decolonise and decentre knowledge production which include teach-outs, reading groups, live public encounters (Puwar and Sanjay 2012) like live-action role plays, blogging, and providing platforms for other marginalised students.
- Video Games, Speculative Fiction, & AI in Anthropology: My research makes a unique contribution to anthropology in three significant areas - in single-player video games, speculative fiction, and artificial intelligence. Though there has been some incredible cornerstone literature which looks at these areas, especially massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (Boelstorff 2007, Nardi 2010) and AI (Bell, 2015; Richardson, 2015; Robertson, 2017), these still remain under-researched areas within the discipline and there does not currently exist any literature which looks at the dialogic relationship between these three areas, despite the fact though they are constantly drawing on and influencing the development of each other’s development.
- Anthropologies of the Future: Anthropology has an obsession with the past and present, often framing these pasts/presents within static bubbles which are not impacted by other places, other people, and other times. Anthropology of the Future is still a very new and developing sub-discipline within anthropology, despite the important role that futures and imaginations of futures play in/on people's every day lives and experiences of the past/present. My research feeds into this burgeoning field through its examination of how creators and consumers of video games & speculative fiction collectively/individually imagine potential futures; how these futures frequently draw on racialized histories; how conceptions of what it means to be "human" are being radically transformed in response to technological and scientific developments; and what it means to ‘do’ an anthropology of the future at a time of climate, economic, political and social crises.
MY STORY SO FAR
I am a 27-year-old disabled, trans and working-class PhD student at Goldsmiths University, where I have been studying for the past 6 years. I achieved a First-Class BA (Hons) in History and Anthropology in 2017, and a Distinction Master of Research in Anthropology in 2019.
Though I have achieved highly in both my BA and MRes, I had an incredibly difficult time due to frequent periods of homelessness and housing instability, living in poverty, estrangement from most of my family after coming out as trans almost 10 years ago, and having chronic disabilities (fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety).
Returning to higher education at the age of 21 was a crucial step in helping me get out of poverty and homelessness (in part due to student loans providing a consistent income for me throughout my studies) and has been a way for me to finally find some stability, though it has been and continues to be a difficult journey. I am incredibly thankful to all of the support I've received from friends, acquaintances, academic staff, and my partner who have always believed in me, encouraged me and supported me when I couldn't do these things for myself. It is because of this amazing support system that I am where I am today.
Most of my education and working history has involved working to champion, empower and mentor other marginalised people in their education and employment. I am involved in various projects and groups which fight against racism, ableism, misogyny, classism, and queerphobia in education, and which seek to decolonise higher education. In addition to these, I am also involved in a range of other activities alongside my PhD which include:
· being a member of the Beyond Gender collective, a collective which seeks out and engages with Science Fiction which goes beyond the gender binary, is intersectional, rejects Eurocentrism and embraces radical change/utopia rather than reinforcing the status quo. We have a forth coming collectively written chapter due for publication in 2020/2021;
· creating content and maintaining my academic website www.fieldnotesfromthefuture.com
· speaking at a variety of conferences and conventions on topics such as #ownvoice fiction, gender and sexuality in video games, and animal rights & conservation in popular culture
· [forthcoming] publication in the Teaching Anthropology journal on diversity work, exhaustion, and the remaking of anthropology
FUNDING BREAKDOWN
As explained above, I am currently receiving student loans which amount to just over £8566 per year. The PhD fees per year are £4327 which leaves me with £4239 for research related costs and living expenses for the entire year, which isn't enough to cover most of my costs.
I work part-time as a peer facilitator on the Against Sexual Violence programme facilitating sessions other students on sexual harassment and violence, but this does not provide me with much money and, as a disabled person who cannot currently work over 15 hours a week, it is a constant struggle to make rent and bills with little to no money left over which can be put towards my fieldwork costs.
Fieldwork is an essential component of anthropology and is unfortunately the most expensive aspect of an anthropology PhD, so I am hoping to raise money towards covering any fieldwork related and conference costs, with any money left over being put towards living costs. All fieldwork is conducted in the UK, primarily in London where I am based.
Conventions - Total = £97.49 (plus travel expenses)
London Games Festival 26th March - 6th April 2020 - https://games.london/
- EGX Rezzed 26th March 2020 (£46 plus £10 travel)
- Three summits (Games Impact Summit, Games Culture Summit, and Interactive Narratives Summit) - £51.49
A vital aspect of my fieldwork is conducting research with game developers & players, & exploring the relationship of exchange between them. Being able to attend gaming conventions such as EGX Rezzed would mean being able to access both of these communities, and I am hoping to be able to help out at a game development stall during Rezzed.
Other associated research costs - Total = £669 (£160 for additional game copies)
Cyberpunk 2077 - £49.99 ( 1-2 additional copies for players £100)
In Other Waters - no current price listed - estimated at around £30 (plus 1-2 additional copies for players £60)
Railcard - £30 (to lower costs of travelling to events, meet ups and interviews)
Key texts - ~£200 (there is a set of key texts which I continually refer to that I cannot afford to buy. Some are available at my library but this requires repeatedly taking them out for long periods of time. Due to my fibromyalgia, I find it easier to read paper copies and want to find a way to reduce printing paper so would like to purchase these texts second-hand instead)
Dictaphone for recording interviews - £50-£60 (I cannot record on my phone due to storage issues and it would be helpful to have a permanent recording device which I can use)
Travel to interviews/meet ups - unknown (amount needed for travel is difficult to estimate as it depends on location, time of day of travel, and whether I will have a railcard but I estimate travel to be anywhere up to £300)
Conferences - Estimated total (excluding accommodation) £471.91
Royal Anthropological Institute - Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present, Future. 4th-7th June 2020 in London, UK. Presenting a paper on "Worlding Across Worlds: Science Fiction, Video Games and Anthropologies of the Future in a time of Climate Crisis"
Student fellowship membership for 1 year @ £32.55 plus £140 for the conference registration ticket (due by 25th March 2020)
European Association for Social Anthropology - New Anthropological Horizons In and Beyond Europe. 21st-24th July 2020 in Lisbon, Portugal. Invited to participate in the roundtable "Methodologies On and Offline: Doing Ethnography Ethically in the Digital Age".
Student membership for 1 year @ £25 plus early-bird registration ticket of ~£174.36 (price TBC once registration opens on 12th March). Accommodation costs (TBC - shared Airbnb with fellow PhD students) plus flights (estimated around £100 return from London to Lisbon)
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
In September (2019), I began a PhD in Anthropology at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
My research:
· combines anthropological methods with interdisciplinary theory which is decolonial, disabled, feminist, and queer to approach the question of 'what it means to be ‘human’ in the ‘age of the machine’.
· I use science fiction video games and speculative fiction as sites to examine how ideas and attitudes of what it means to be human/non-human come to be constructed, articulated, experienced and negotiated at different sites, by different people, and in different ways.
· I pay particular attention to how these intersect with and draw on race, gender, disability, and queerness.
In anthropology, we conduct in-depth fieldwork for a period of 12-15 months with research participants in order to develop a rich, nuanced understanding of how our participants understand, experience and interact with the world in their own ways and with their own voices. Starting from March 2020, I will begin conducting fieldwork with video game players & developers, speculative fiction authors & readers, and AI developers.
As a marginalized student who is disabled, trans and working-class who does not receive funding from any research council's, I am looking to raise money for my fieldwork and any other associated fieldwork-related costs. I applied for research council funding from the AHRC and ESRC for the start of my PhD but unfortunately was unsuccessful, so I have had to take out additional student loans to pay my fees with only a small amount left over to cover living costs. I have re-applied for funding for the second year of my PhD (starting September 2020) and am hopeful that this time I will be successful.
However, this means that I am facing over £1000 in fieldwork related and conference costs which I cannot afford without further financial support.
You can find a breakdown of how I will spend the money below.
IMPACT
There are a few ways that I feel that my PhD will have a positive impact within my discipline, within the academy, and outside of it:
- Decolonising and decentering anthropolology & academia: As a marginalized student who comes from a non-traditional education background, I am passionate about contributing to efforts to decolonise and decentre anthropology, as well as academia more broadly. My thesis primarily uses theory and literature that is decolonial, disabled, feminist, queer and written by people (especially women) of colour. Outside of the thesis, I am experimenting with ways to decolonise and decentre knowledge production which include teach-outs, reading groups, live public encounters (Puwar and Sanjay 2012) like live-action role plays, blogging, and providing platforms for other marginalised students.
- Video Games, Speculative Fiction, & AI in Anthropology: My research makes a unique contribution to anthropology in three significant areas - in single-player video games, speculative fiction, and artificial intelligence. Though there has been some incredible cornerstone literature which looks at these areas, especially massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (Boelstorff 2007, Nardi 2010) and AI (Bell, 2015; Richardson, 2015; Robertson, 2017), these still remain under-researched areas within the discipline and there does not currently exist any literature which looks at the dialogic relationship between these three areas, despite the fact though they are constantly drawing on and influencing the development of each other’s development.
- Anthropologies of the Future: Anthropology has an obsession with the past and present, often framing these pasts/presents within static bubbles which are not impacted by other places, other people, and other times. Anthropology of the Future is still a very new and developing sub-discipline within anthropology, despite the important role that futures and imaginations of futures play in/on people's every day lives and experiences of the past/present. My research feeds into this burgeoning field through its examination of how creators and consumers of video games & speculative fiction collectively/individually imagine potential futures; how these futures frequently draw on racialized histories; how conceptions of what it means to be "human" are being radically transformed in response to technological and scientific developments; and what it means to ‘do’ an anthropology of the future at a time of climate, economic, political and social crises.
MY STORY SO FAR
I am a 27-year-old disabled, trans and working-class PhD student at Goldsmiths University, where I have been studying for the past 6 years. I achieved a First-Class BA (Hons) in History and Anthropology in 2017, and a Distinction Master of Research in Anthropology in 2019.
Though I have achieved highly in both my BA and MRes, I had an incredibly difficult time due to frequent periods of homelessness and housing instability, living in poverty, estrangement from most of my family after coming out as trans almost 10 years ago, and having chronic disabilities (fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety).
Returning to higher education at the age of 21 was a crucial step in helping me get out of poverty and homelessness (in part due to student loans providing a consistent income for me throughout my studies) and has been a way for me to finally find some stability, though it has been and continues to be a difficult journey. I am incredibly thankful to all of the support I've received from friends, acquaintances, academic staff, and my partner who have always believed in me, encouraged me and supported me when I couldn't do these things for myself. It is because of this amazing support system that I am where I am today.
Most of my education and working history has involved working to champion, empower and mentor other marginalised people in their education and employment. I am involved in various projects and groups which fight against racism, ableism, misogyny, classism, and queerphobia in education, and which seek to decolonise higher education. In addition to these, I am also involved in a range of other activities alongside my PhD which include:
· being a member of the Beyond Gender collective, a collective which seeks out and engages with Science Fiction which goes beyond the gender binary, is intersectional, rejects Eurocentrism and embraces radical change/utopia rather than reinforcing the status quo. We have a forth coming collectively written chapter due for publication in 2020/2021;
· creating content and maintaining my academic website www.fieldnotesfromthefuture.com
· speaking at a variety of conferences and conventions on topics such as #ownvoice fiction, gender and sexuality in video games, and animal rights & conservation in popular culture
· [forthcoming] publication in the Teaching Anthropology journal on diversity work, exhaustion, and the remaking of anthropology
FUNDING BREAKDOWN
As explained above, I am currently receiving student loans which amount to just over £8566 per year. The PhD fees per year are £4327 which leaves me with £4239 for research related costs and living expenses for the entire year, which isn't enough to cover most of my costs.
I work part-time as a peer facilitator on the Against Sexual Violence programme facilitating sessions other students on sexual harassment and violence, but this does not provide me with much money and, as a disabled person who cannot currently work over 15 hours a week, it is a constant struggle to make rent and bills with little to no money left over which can be put towards my fieldwork costs.
Fieldwork is an essential component of anthropology and is unfortunately the most expensive aspect of an anthropology PhD, so I am hoping to raise money towards covering any fieldwork related and conference costs, with any money left over being put towards living costs. All fieldwork is conducted in the UK, primarily in London where I am based.
Conventions - Total = £97.49 (plus travel expenses)
London Games Festival 26th March - 6th April 2020 - https://games.london/
- EGX Rezzed 26th March 2020 (£46 plus £10 travel)
- Three summits (Games Impact Summit, Games Culture Summit, and Interactive Narratives Summit) - £51.49
A vital aspect of my fieldwork is conducting research with game developers & players, & exploring the relationship of exchange between them. Being able to attend gaming conventions such as EGX Rezzed would mean being able to access both of these communities, and I am hoping to be able to help out at a game development stall during Rezzed.
Other associated research costs - Total = £669 (£160 for additional game copies)
Cyberpunk 2077 - £49.99 ( 1-2 additional copies for players £100)
In Other Waters - no current price listed - estimated at around £30 (plus 1-2 additional copies for players £60)
Railcard - £30 (to lower costs of travelling to events, meet ups and interviews)
Key texts - ~£200 (there is a set of key texts which I continually refer to that I cannot afford to buy. Some are available at my library but this requires repeatedly taking them out for long periods of time. Due to my fibromyalgia, I find it easier to read paper copies and want to find a way to reduce printing paper so would like to purchase these texts second-hand instead)
Dictaphone for recording interviews - £50-£60 (I cannot record on my phone due to storage issues and it would be helpful to have a permanent recording device which I can use)
Travel to interviews/meet ups - unknown (amount needed for travel is difficult to estimate as it depends on location, time of day of travel, and whether I will have a railcard but I estimate travel to be anywhere up to £300)
Conferences - Estimated total (excluding accommodation) £471.91
Royal Anthropological Institute - Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present, Future. 4th-7th June 2020 in London, UK. Presenting a paper on "Worlding Across Worlds: Science Fiction, Video Games and Anthropologies of the Future in a time of Climate Crisis"
Student fellowship membership for 1 year @ £32.55 plus £140 for the conference registration ticket (due by 25th March 2020)
European Association for Social Anthropology - New Anthropological Horizons In and Beyond Europe. 21st-24th July 2020 in Lisbon, Portugal. Invited to participate in the roundtable "Methodologies On and Offline: Doing Ethnography Ethically in the Digital Age".
Student membership for 1 year @ £25 plus early-bird registration ticket of ~£174.36 (price TBC once registration opens on 12th March). Accommodation costs (TBC - shared Airbnb with fellow PhD students) plus flights (estimated around £100 return from London to Lisbon)
Organizer
Avery Delany
Organizer
