Reconnecting with old friends
Why did you choose to exchange to this university?
–I chose UC Santa Cruz for three reasons. Firstly the faculty are doing work I have long admired and wanted to connect with more deeply – particularly on areas like the Anthropocene, non-human relations and technology. Secondly it’s close to Silicon Valley and gave me access to resources such as the Computer History Museum in Mountain View that were invaluable to my project. Finally I had done my PhD nearby, at Stanford University, and it allowed me to reconnect with friends and scholars in meaningful ways as a newly established professional.
Access to invaluable feedback
During her exchange, Auerbach was working on a new book project on Africa in relation to fibre optic cables.
What have been the benefits of your stay, both in relation to work and your wider professional development?
–The stay allowed me to reconnect with old networks, build new ones, share my work with colleagues and gain critical feedback and most importantly have some space for real reflection and thought that was away from the frantic pace of my every day life in Cape Town. I gave presentations at Stanford, Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz and received rich and invaluable feedback of ideas in process. I was also able to attend a conference on science and technology in Mexico that would have been very difficult to access from South Africa, and have been placed on the programming committee for the same conference next year. It reassured me that I am asking questions that are of wider interest to the broad scholarly community and gave me some invaluable insight and data through both interviews and archives. Given the high cost of living in Silicon Valley, there is no way this work would have been possible without the additional funding.
Auberbach was pleasantly surprised by the fact that she got to bring her husband along for the experience.
–I was extremely grateful for the additional support that allowed a family member to come with me. My husband Aarvin was able to work remotely for his architecture practice, and then come with me on several trips to find cable landing stations and understand the relevant histories of the internet. Having done so much research alone in the past, I was struck by how much healthier it felt to not have to sacrifice family connection for the sake of my work, and really appreciate the policy of the Norwegian government towards family inclusion.
About the project
Department of Social Anthropology has received NOK 10 million from the Research Council of Norway to build strategic collaborations in environmental anthropology with key institutions in the United States, Japan, and South Africa. This is part of the INTPART project.
The funding is in line with the government's Panorama strategy: Panorama strategy (2021-2027) - regjeringen.no.
As a result, the department has sent PhD and postdoc candidates on an exchange between the various institutions for research stays. So how has their experience been? And is the project working as intended, aiming at building new strategic networks and collaborations?
More interviews:
Sonja Irene Åman: Exercising forgotten muscles through academic exchange
Anselmo Matusse: Changed my perspective on academic writing as a solitary undertaking