A Place-Based Inquiry

This work is place-based.

I design extended field inquiries — choosing locations deliberately, learning enough about their cultural and historical context to orient what I’m seeing, and moving through them as both participant and observer.

The notes, essays, and field observations that emerge from each inquiry are organized into a set of recurring forms.

The following notes document the process as it unfolds.

What started as a 90 day field inquiry in West Africa has grown into a year-long project across the five regions of the continent. The proposed itinerary includes: Senegal, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissua, Uganda, Rwanda, Namibia, Botswana, Morocco, and Ethiopia.

The questions are the same. The scope has changed.

Questions, connections, or just want to talk about the work? Find me here: Tracy

Tracy Smith Tracy Smith

Language

Language. More than thirty countries and I’ve always found English.

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Time

Time. Last Friday, I told my boss I was leaving.

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Volunteering

Volunteering. When you’re planning a long-term stay like this, you start to think about what your days are going to entail.

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Reading

Reading. My family and friends don’t understand what I’ll be doing in West Africa. They think it’s just another trip. Last week, I told my son, “This isn’t travel. This is research, and travel is how I do it.”

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Travel Dates

Travel Dates. I opened the calendar and saw that November was warm and dry.

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Life in Place

Expenses at home. I woke up the other night, grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote car insurance on it.

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Location

 Location. Last November, I met a woman named Isatou and spent the day with her.

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Research

The Question. It started with me. I had always tussled with fitting in and belonging.

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Getting started

A few weeks ago I shared that I am designing a 90-day residency in West Africa and the process itself is worth documenting for anyone considering a place-based inquiry of their own. This is not a trip.

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