In the Thick of It
In the Thick of It
Podcast Description
Welcome to In the Thick of It. On this podcast, we talk to qualitative researchers about how they do what they do, one method at a time. This is a product of the Public Ethnography Lab, housed in the Department of Anthropology at American University. We are a new center focused on making ethnographic work matter beyond academia. In these episodes, we dive into the behind-the-scenes of anthropology by explaining the choices, challenges, and creativity that go into qualitative methods. Hosted by Eva Rey.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores themes of ethnography, qualitative research methods, and the intersection of anthropology with activism, featuring episodes such as an interview with Dr. Manissa Maharawal on the use of ethnography as a tool for activism in urban social movements. Specific focus areas include eviction, race, displacement, and the role of qualitative research in addressing contemporary sociopolitical issues.
Welcome to In the Thick of It. On this podcast, we talk to qualitative researchers about how they do what they do, one method at a time. This is a product of the Public Ethnography Lab, housed in the Department of Anthropology at American University. We are a new center focused on making ethnographic work matter beyond academia. In these episodes, we dive into the behind-the-scenes of anthropology by explaining the choices, challenges, and creativity that go into qualitative methods. Hosted by Eva Rey.
In this episode, we talked with Dr. Chandler Miranda. She is an Assistant Professor of Education at Molloy University, an anthropologist of education, and a former high school teacher. Her work is rooted in a deep commitment to understanding and improving the educational experiences of recently arrived immigrant youth. She studies how schools and educators navigate the pressures of exclusionary policies, accountability mandates, and a hostile political climate—while also imagining new ways of creating classrooms and school communities where students feel a sense of belonging and can thrive. She is the author of Sanctuary School: Innovating to Empower Immigrant Youth.
In the Thick of It is a project of the Public Ethnography Lab, housed in the Department of Anthropology at American University. We are a center focused on making ethnographic work matter beyond academia. This is our second season, and it builds on conversations that began at the Public Anthropology Conference held in November 2025. Throughout the season, we have conversations with presenters from the conference who are using ethnography and qualitative methods across a wide range of fields. In the episodes, we will dive into the behind-the-scenes of their work by exploring the choices, challenges, and creativity that go into qualitative methods.
Read:
- Sanctuary School: Innovating to Empower Immigrant Youth
- Bans, Walls, Raids, Sanctuary: Understanding U.S. Immigration for the Twenty-First Century: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv11hpsmj
- “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehesi Coates: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
- Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side by Eve L. Ewing
Music Credits:
“Study And Relax” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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