Wu led a presentation titled “Identity Politics in Fieldwork” on Wednesday in the Global and International Studies building. The presentation was part of the annual lecture series called Chinese Tidings, sponsored by IU’s Chinese Flagship Center.
The event was presented entirely in Chinese while a student who is part of the Chinese Flagship Center simultaneously gave summary translations in English.
“I think it’s a really great opportunity for our students to also join with other Chinese speakers within the community,” said Marissa Fox, outreach and recruitment coordinator.
Wu’s talk focused mostly on her background in anthropology, specifically ethnography and her experiences completing her research and fieldwork.
“To me, going to fieldwork is difficult,” Wu said. “You can’t prepare for it. A lot of things will challenge your limits.”
Having grown up in Taiwan, Wu said she wasn’t sure whether she should complete her research in China or Taiwan. She eventually decided on China because it was a new challenge.
Wu said it is important for an ethnographer to go to unfamiliar places to grow their ability to interact with strangers and get to know them.
Through her research, Wu traveled to numerous villages and looked at differences in religion. She discussed some of the challenges of completing this fieldwork including the material, food, environment and language . Since she worked in mostly rural areas and villages, Wu shared anecdotes about the differences in culture and how she adjusted.
“A very important part of this is to be accepted by the natives,” Wu said. “You have to let them understand what you are doing.”
Throughout her fieldwork experiences, natives would give Wu different titles, such as a daughter or a reporter. However, Wu did not let these identities affect her work.
“Identity politics is not my research topic,” Wu said. “So I decided not to challenge it.”
The lecture provided a chance for flagship students to immerse themselves in the language, Fox said.
“I think it contributes to what we call the ‘target language exposure’ so students can hear the language not only in the classroom, but actually in real life, how language is used,” said Jingyu Huo, associate director of the Chinese Flagship Center.
Since all students in the Chinese flagship program are required to study in China for a year, the lecture series also gives students an opportunity to get used to an experience entirely in Chinese, Huo said.
The Chinese Flagship Center is one of three flagship centers at IU. Turkish and Swahili make up the other two.
She added that flagship centers are intensive language honors programs.
“What makes it different from the regular language programs is we have a very high standard or expectation,” Huo said. “So, we really want them, ideally, to reach the superior level by the end of their academic career.”
