Remote Chay #1 - Introduction

How do you study a place when you cannot go there?

In this inaugural episode, hosts Vanessa Frangville (Université libre de Bruxelles), Björn Alpermann (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg), and Rune Steenberg (Univerzita Palackého v Olomouc) introduce the challenges that sparked this podcast.

• The birth of "remote ethnography" for inaccessible research sites

• Studying Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (East Turkistan)—the heavily surveilled Uyghur homeland

• How scholarship adapts when physical presence becomes impossible

• Preview of upcoming expert voices and methodological innovations

This foundational conversation sets the stage for everything that follows: How do we maintain scholarly rigor when studying from afar? What ethical obligations do researchers have? And what can we actually know about life in heavily restricted regions?

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Remote Chay

How do you study places you cannot reach? When governments restrict access and surveillance makes traditional research impossible, scholars must find new ways to understand distant realities.

Remote Chay brings together experts to explore two key questions: How can researchers study inaccessible regions? And what can we learn about Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region—one of the world's most heavily surveilled territories?

Our guests share insights on remote ethnography, a methodological approach for researching areas where traditional fieldwork is impossible. From digital anthropology to diaspora interviews, we explore innovative ways to gather knowledge across barriers of distance, politics, and control.

Remote Chay isn't just a podcast—it's an ongoing scholarly dialogue. We invite listeners to engage: comment, share insights, and help refine these approaches for studying the unstudyable.

Remote Chay launched in 2024 as part of the EU-funded project "Remote Ethnography of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region," a collaboration between Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, and Université libre de Bruxelles.

ULB Podcasts, les podcasts de l'Université libre de Bruxelles.

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.