Advice from a brownbag luncheon today at UW as part of her book tour. Â Damn, this woman is inspiring!
- Know your artifact at a technical level (MySpace was built on Cold Fusion – a horrible platform!).
- Take as many methods (and theory) classes as you can so you can know how to approach problems from different perspectives.
- Collaborate.
- When doing ethnographic fieldwork, do your first-thought voice notes into your recorder, immerse in the environment (eat at McDonalds), listen to people’s stories even if they are off-topic, prepare to become part of people’s lives on an emotional level.
- Find a community of people interested in what you’re interested in and find your place in it, bring people together to do it.
- Take care of yourself: Â yearly email sabbaticals, go trekking, make your own massage parlor map, time with family and friends
- Self-present mindfully: What will your research subjects think of your mohawk?
- If you want to make an impact, be public. Â Be honest about the limitations of your data/work. Â Force people to care.
- Understand that you are part of a much bigger system. Â Know power as theory (Foucault!), engage with it as practice (start a think/tank like this).
- When dealing with journalists, be strategic, work on background, not just for the quote or to promote your work. Â Help them understand.