I studied social anthropology at University College London which, in the British tradition, combined a strong respect for the empiricist tradition together with a romantic view of fieldwork in exotic places as needing little preparation in the nitty-gritty of how to go about gathering data and making sense of them. Hence, I learned about doing ethnography – both process and product – while in the field.

I have since ordered that somewhat chaotic experience into a graduate course on ethnographic methods which I have been teaching for 15 years. I also teach courses on the anthropology of childhood, anthropology of education, the body in social life, and anthropology of the life cycle.