The book of midterms. Experiences and stories about the practice and teaching of research in Urban Anthropology

María Victoria Díaz Marengo; Camila Pilatti; Lino Mora Abichain; Emilio Tanus Mafud; Miriam Abate Daga; Julieta Capdevielle; Danilo Marello; Martin Daniel Simonián; Ana Laura Prado; Fernando Rivarola; Ezequiel Aguilera; Mariano Pussetto; Lucía Page; Victoria Eugenia Bulacios Sant’ Angelo; María Florencia Arias; Camilo Martínez García; Agustina Viazzi; Silvia Fassi; Elena Gatti; María  Esteve; José María Miranda Pérez; Silvia Attwood; Miguel Robles; Lourdes Luna Rodríguez; Macarena  Díaz Martín; Liliana Vilte; Cecilia  Argañaraz; Ain Laura Gatica; Luisina Nahilin Alfonzo; María Laura Freyre

The book of midterms. Experiences and stories about the practice and teaching of research in Urban Anthropology

Authors

María Victoria Díaz Marengo; Camila Pilatti; Lino Mora Abichain; Emilio Tanus Mafud; Miriam Abate Daga

Keywords:

ethnography, ethnographic writing exercises, urban anthropology, San Martín Square, Colón Square, Sarmiento Park, Ministro Yofre Square, Las Heras Park, San Jerónimo Cemetery, University City, Isla de los Patos Fair, Waterfront, Land of the Patos, North Market, New Bus Terminal (Córdoba Argentina), Good Shepherd Walk, San Martín Street, Colón Avenue, General Paz Avenue

Synopsis

The book of midterms brings together a series of ethnographic writing exercises produced in the field of urban anthropology in the context of undergraduate university education.

The interest of this publication systematically refers to the question of how to settle the schooled ways of relating to social knowledge in order to think about forms of systematic and methodical production, recognizing the centrality of those who practice ethnography on the path of reflexivity, but without rigidity. The principle that threads through the concerns expressed here is to enhance experiences in academic training and to introduce and accompany undergraduate students in the craft of research.

Chapters

Introduction

Miriam Abate Daga, Julieta Capdevielle

PFD
San Martín Square
Urban interventions in Plaza San Martín
the state and its ways of connecting with residents

Emilio Tanus Mafud

PFD
The state. That invisible but omnipresent “other,” known but anonymous.

Danilo Marello

PFD
Colón Square
Enunciating space
a square with “three voices”

Martin Daniel Simonián

PFD
A day in Plaza Colón
a theoretical approach to disputes over meanings and appropriations of a public-urban space

Ana Laura Prado, Fernando Rivarola, Ezequiel Aguilera

PFD
One square, three voices

Ana Laura Prado, Fernando Rivarola, Ezequiel Aguilera

PFD
Sarmiento Park
Observe and reflect on Sarmiento Park through time

Ana Laura Prado

PFD
Approaching the urban environment. Reflections on a process of observation

Mariano Pussetto

PFD
Reflections ten years after the observation

Mariano Pussetto

PFD
Minister Yofre Square
Spaces for (re)encounters
ethnographic memories of the Plaza Ministro Yofre

Lucía Page

PFD
Notes and reflections on participant observation in Plaza Yofre

Victoria Eugenia Bulacios Sant’ Angelo, María Florencia Arias

PFD
Leaving the classroom, exploring our city

Victoria Eugenia Bulacios Sant’ Angelo, María Florencia Arias

PFD
Las Heras Park
Night Memories of an Old Park

Camilo Martínez García

PFD
Once upon a time in Las Heras Park

Agustina Viazzi

PFD
Ethnography as a life experience
getting to know and sharing the city at night

Agustina Viazzi

PFD
San Jerónimo Cemetery
Spaces of power
an approach to the San Jerónimo cemetery

Julieta Capdevielle

PFD
The deceitful silence of cemeteries

Silvia Fassi

PFD
Keep doing, keep being, move forward, without forgetting the past

Silvia Fassi

PFD
University City
Unraveling the urbanity of Cordoba

Elena Gatti

PFD
Denaturalizing the University City
the Bosquecito and the Agroecological Fair as spaces for socializing

María Esteve

PFD
Reflections in retrospect

María Esteve

PFD
Duck Island Fair
Rereading the record
diachronism and polyphony

Camila Pilatti

PFD
Creating a Peruvian neighborhood in Córdoba. An exercise in participant observation at the Isla de los Patos Fair

José María Miranda Pérez

PFD
Learning the anthropological trade, first fieldwork entries

José María Miranda Pérez

PFD
Waterfront and Land of the Patos
Walking and recording
a dynamic observation of urban space as a palimpsest

Camila Pilatti

PFD
Housings1, (in)discipline, and witchcraft. Some appropriations and materialities of (on) the Costanera - Isla de los Patos

Silvia Attwood

PFD
(self) reflection

Silvia Attwood

PFD
North Market
Between night and day
the urban experience at Mercado Norte

Lino Mora Abichain

PFD
Transitions

Miguel Robles

PFD
On observations, courtesies, and acknowledgments

Miguel Robles

PFD
The New Bus Terminal in Córdoba
The New Bus Terminal
a gateway to Córdoba and its diverse urbanites

Emilio Tanus Mafud

PFD
Observation record at the New Bus Terminal in Córdoba

Lourdes Luna Rodríguez, Macarena Díaz Martín

PFD
About the midterm exam

Lourdes Luna Rodríguez, Macarena Díaz Martín

PFD
Good Shepherd Walk
Reflection on the work of Liliana Vilte

Silvia Attwood

PFD
Walk the Buen Pastor, a promenade for everyone?

Liliana Vilte

PFD
The importance of the anthropological approach in urban contexts

Liliana Vilte

PFD
San Martín Street
From emptiness to promenade: exploring San Martín Street

María Victoria Díaz Marengo

PFD
The San Martín walk

Cecilia Argañaraz

PFD
A reunion

Cecilia Argañaraz

PFD
The intersection of Colón and General Paz avenues
The intersection between Colón and General Paz avenues
a bustling crossroads of practices

Emilio Tanus Mafud

PFD
Between circulation and encounter. An analysis of interactions, uses, and rules at the intersection of Colón and General Paz avenues

María Victoria Díaz Marengo, Ain Laura Gatica, Luisina Nahilin Alfonzo

PFD
Rediscovering the city, learning to be anthropologists

María Victoria Díaz Marengo, Ain Laura Gatica, Luisina Nahilin Alfonzo

PFD
Epilogue

María Laura Freyre

PFD

Author Biographies

María Victoria Díaz Marengo

She holds a degree in Anthropology from the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities at the National University of Córdoba and is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropological Sciences at the same institution.
She is a CONICET doctoral fellow, working at the IDH-UNC. Her research interests focus on urban life and the ways of living of the middle classes. She has participated in various research projects related to urban studies, belonging to CIFFyH-UNC and IIGG-UBA, including the team that produced this publication, led by Dr. Miriam Abate Daga and Dr. Julieta Capdevielle. She has also served as an adjunct professor in the departments of Anthropology in Urban Contexts and Issues in Social Anthropology.

Camila Pilatti

She holds a degree in Geography and is a PhD student in Anthropological Sciences (with a CONICET scholarship) at the National University of Córdoba. She is part of the Urban Anthropology department, as well as the research team that edited this publication. She participates in the CIECS (CONICET-UNC) Work Anthropology Program and in the editorial collective of the CIFFyH magazine Etcétera. She also teaches in the Geography program (FFyH-UNC).

Lino Mora Abichain

He is an advanced student in the Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology (FFyH, UNC). Student Assistant in the Anthropology in Urban Contexts course. He is interested in studies on urban life and is part of the research team carrying out the project for this book. He served as a teaching assistant for the courses Ethnography of Indigenous Groups and Anthropological Theory III. He also served as an advisor in the Department of Anthropology for the Anthropology Student Assembly.

Emilio Tanus Mafud

He holds a degree in Anthropology (FFyH-UNC). He is a member of the team “Social inequalities and disputes over the production, reproduction, and appropriation of urban spaces in Greater Córdoba,” which belongs to the Social Sciences area of CIFFyH. He is also a participant in the project “Invisible visitors? A proposal on accessibility in the Museum of Anthropology (FFyH-UNC).”

Miriam Abate Daga

She holds a PhD in Latin American Social Studies, specializing in the socio-anthropology of education, and a Master's degree in Educational Research, specializing in socio-anthropology, from the Center for Advanced Studies of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the National University of Córdoba. She is a professor of Education Sciences at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities at the UNC.
She is a regular adjunct professor of Issues in Social Anthropology and Anthropology in Urban Contexts in the Department of Anthropology, FFyH, UNC. She is the alternate director of the Master's Degree in University Teaching. FFyH and FCS, UNC. Research Professor in the Educational Research Area, CEA, FCS, UNC. Serving as Academic Coordinator of the Master's Degree in Educational Research. Postgraduate Secretary of the FFyH.
Together with Dr. Julieta Capdevielle, she is director of the research project “Social inequalities and disputes over the production, reproduction, and appropriation of urban spaces in Greater Córdoba,” belonging to the Social Sciences area of CIFFyH. Her research topics are developed in the field of Anthropology and Education and Urban Anthropology.

Julieta Capdevielle

She holds a PhD from the Center for Advanced Studies at the National University of Córdoba (UNC). She is an adjunct researcher at CONICET and an adjunct professor of sociology and the seminar “The Work of Henri Lefebvre and its Contemporary Derivations” in the Geography program at the National University of Córdoba. She is a member of the Research Network on Business and Territory (RESET). Together with Dr. Miriam Abate Daga, she is director of the research project “Social inequalities and disputes over the production, reproduction, and appropriation of urban spaces in Greater Córdoba,” which belongs to the Social Sciences area of CIFFyH. The focus of her research is urban transformations, the real estate market, and the housing strategies of families from different social classes.

Martin Daniel Simonián

Es estudiante avanzado de la Licenciatura en Antropología de la Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, UNC; especializándose en Antropología Urbana. Integrante del Proyecto de investigación: “Desigualdades sociales y disputas por la producción y apropiación de los espacios urbanos del Gran Córdoba” del CIFFYH e investigador en formación del CECYT. Estudiante en formación de la Diplomatura en Gestión de Ciudades, UNSAM.

Ana Laura Prado

He is a thesis student in Anthropology, currently working at the Pedro Milesi Foundation - Bella Vista Popular Library and the Casa Macuca Foundation. He is a student in the University Technical Degree in Cultural Heritage (UPC) and a participant in research teams based at UNC and UPC that investigate cultural consumption, artistic practices, urban spaces, gender, and age.

Fernando Rivarola

He is a thesis student in Anthropology and carried out his fieldwork in the “Música a Ciegas” cycle in
the city of Córdoba. As part of her Bachelor's degree in Anthropology at the National University of Córdoba, she actively participated in the creation of the seminar “Music and Anthropology” taught
in 2019, which broadened her interest in the links between ethnography and artistic activities, mainly related to cultural consumption and musical productions.

Ezequiel Aguilera

He holds a degree in Anthropology and is a CONICET Doctoral Fellow working at IDACOR. He is a PhD student in Anthropological Sciences at the National University of Córdoba (UNC). He participates in various research teams investigating institutional violence, masculinities, bodies, genders, sexualities, and the sex trade.

Mariano Pussetto

Bachelor's degree in Anthropology (FFyH-UNC), Master's degree in Educational Research with a focus on socio-anthropology (CEA-FCS-UNC). CONICET doctoral fellow. Assistant Professor at the School of Education Sciences (FFyH-UNC). Co-director of the outreach project "Raíces. Narratives and stories of the Obispo Salguero boarding school (Pampa de Olaen, Córdoba)."
Coordinator of the Research Program “Socio-anthropological studies in educational institutions” (CEA-FCS-UNC). He is currently researching the educational experiences of young people at the intersection of sports and education from a socio-anthropological perspective.

Lucía Page

Bachelor's degree in Anthropology. Currently a PhD student in Anthropological Sciences at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities (UNC) and a CONICET doctoral fellow. Interested in the field of Urban Anthropology, she has been a member of various research teams and projects (2014-2024) based at CIFFyH (Córdoba) and IIGG (Buenos Aires). Affiliated with the
“Anthropology in Urban Contexts” course in the Anthropology degree program at the National University of Córdoba.

Victoria Eugenia Bulacios Sant’ Angelo

Licenciada en Antropología por la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba y especialista en políticas de cuidado con perspectiva de género (FLACSO-Brasil). Actualmente es becaria doctoral de CONICET y se encuentra realizando el Doctorado en Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Su proyecto de investigación doctoral aborda las tensiones entre maternidades y niñeces en las políticas de cuidado de primera infancia en Córdoba. Desde sus estudios de grado, sus intereses de pesquisa han estado vinculados a cuidados, género y políticas públicas. Forma parte del equipo del “Núcleo de Estudios sobre Intimidades, Política y Sociedad” IDAES-UNSAM.

María Florencia Arias

Bachelor's degree in Anthropology. She is currently a PhD student in Anthropological Sciences at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Córdoba and a CONICET doctoral fellow.
Her research project aims to understand the place of animals in the lives of the inhabitants of the El Bolsón Valley (Catamarca), considering their reproduction in a biological, social, and symbolic sense, and combining multiple lines of evidence. She is a member of the Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Collective of the High Valleys of Catamarca (CIIVAC) and the Laboratory of Zooarchaeology and Taphonomy of Arid Zones (LaZTA, IDACOR, UNC-FFyH).

Camilo Martínez García

Advanced student in the Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology (FFyH-UNC) and currently completing his final thesis. To this end, he draws on his field experience gained as an intern within the framework of the Supervised Professional Internships (PPS) of the Department of Anthropology, carried out in two planning institutions in the city of Córdoba Capital. His areas of interest include the processes of urban project development by state institutions, the conceptions of the city present in urban planning, and their connection to local perspectives.

Agustina Viazzi

Bachelor's degree in Anthropology (UNC), Diploma in Environmental Perspectives for Cultural Industries (UNTREF), in Documentary Photography (UBA) and in Material Heritage Management (UPC), as well as a textile worker. She has worked in production, management, research, and teaching in the visual and audiovisual arts, as well as ethnography and applied archaeology in different socio-community contexts. She currently teaches in prison, tertiary, and university extension contexts in the city of Azul, Province of Buenos Aires. She coordinates Neera, Textile Experiences.

Silvia Fassi

She holds a degree in Anthropology from the National University of Córdoba and taught history in private and public schools for children and adults. She has lived in the city of Córdoba for 40 years. She is originally from the interior of this province, but she adopted this city as her own. She is the mother of Lucia and Mariano.
She taught with passion, the same passion with which she studied anthropology. For her, if she had a second chance to choose her life, she would choose to be a teacher again. It is a craft, a job, or a profession from which she has tried to sow knowledge that contributes to a more humanized world.

Elena Gatti

Professor of History. Advanced student pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology at FFyH-UNC. Member of the Urban Anthropology research group based at CIFFyH-UNC. “Revisiting fieldwork and urban theories. Today and always.”

María Esteve

She holds a degree in Anthropology (FFyH-UNC) and works at IDH-CONICET. Since 2023, she has been a CONICET doctoral fellow and doctoral candidate in the Doctorate in Anthropological Sciences at the same institution, where she also works as an adjunct professor in the Department of Social Anthropology.
She is currently researching youth sexuality in secondary schools and other spaces for the development of sexual pedagogies in the Traslasierra Valley, Córdoba, Argentina. She is currently researching configurations of youth sexuality in secondary schools and other spaces for the development of sexual pedagogies in the Traslasierra Valley, Córdoba, Argentina.

José María Miranda Pérez

Doctor of Anthropological Sciences from the National University of Córdoba and postdoctoral fellow at CONICET. He is part of the Speculative Anthropology Laboratory collective, based at the Institute of
Anthropology of Córdoba (IDACOR).
He worked for several years in the field of popular economics and is currently conducting ethnographic research on non-modern modes of collectivization and politicization in indigenous communities in the Puna de Jujuy.

Silvia Attwood

Bachelor's degree in Anthropology (UNC), doctoral candidate, affiliated with the Department of Anthropology in Urban Contexts (UNC). Member of the Urban Anthropology research team led by Dr. Miriam Abate Daga and Dr. Julieta Capdevielle (CIFFyH-UNC). Also: writer, anthropologist, performer, and feminist.

Miguel Robles

Category A instructor in small arms and long guns, expert lecturer at Siglo 21 University (Criminology and Security) and General Coordinator of Prevention and University Coexistence at UNC. He was a member of the Córdoba Provincial Police and the General Directorate of Judicial Police. He was Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Security of the Nation (Complex Crimes and Investigation of Organized and Complex Crime). He was in charge of the National Directorate of Criminal Intelligence and the Secretariat of Security of the Nation. He was Director of the Court for the Fight against Drug Trafficking (Judicial Branch of Córdoba). He works as a writer for Random House.

Lourdes Luna Rodríguez

She holds a degree in Anthropology from the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities at the National University of Córdoba. She is currently a CONICET doctoral fellow and a secondary school teacher. Her current research
focuses on analyzing processes of social license construction in mining in the puna region of Jujuy, Argentina.

Macarena Díaz Martín

She holds a degree in Anthropology from the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities at the National University of Córdoba. She is currently working as a doctoral fellow at CONICET. Her anthropological work focuses on supporting the socio-productive and organizational processes of rural workers in the Traslasierra region, Province of Córdoba, Argentina.

Liliana Vilte

Advanced student in the Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities (FFyH) – UNC. Assistant in the project “Archaeology of pre-Hispanic occupations in the San Antonio River basin (southern Punilla, Córdoba) during the Late Holocene,” under the direction of Dr. Gisela Sario.

Cecilia Argañaraz

Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Professor of History (UNC), PhD in Urban-Regional Studies (UNC). Author of various scientific articles related to historical anthropology, member of the Nature-Culture Group (IDACOR-CONICET-UNC) and the RIEGA research network on the history of water management. She currently teaches in the Anthropology Degree program and at other institutions.

Ain Laura Gatica

Bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, National University of Córdoba. Currently working as a secondary school teacher. She is a member of the Commission for the Implementation and Monitoring of Supervised Professional Practices (PPS) of the Department of Anthropology as a graduate, and her interests are related to applied anthropology.

Luisina Nahilin Alfonzo

Advanced student in the Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, National University of Córdoba. Activist for LGBT rights and DJ. Her interests are linked to gender and age studies.

María Laura Freyre

Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a focus on Sociology of Education (FCS-UBA), Master's degree in Design and Management of Social Programs (FLACSO), and Doctorate in Social Sciences (FCS-UBA). She is the teacher in charge of the outreach project “Roots: narratives and stories of the Obispo Salguero shelter school (Pampa de Olaen, Córdoba)” and the researcher in charge and director of various research projects based in the Social Sciences and Education Areas of the “María Saleme de Burnichón” Research Center (CIFFyH-UNC). She is currently a full professor in the Social Theory department and an assistant professor in the departments of Issues in Social Anthropology, Ethnography in Rural Contexts, and Anthropology in Urban Contexts.