Fast Facts

Hours per week: At least 4-5 hours per week (including weekly Zoom meetings), but up to 12-15 hours per week if you are interested and able

The course would be perfect for:

Current researchers in any discipline who want to expand their methodological knowledge and skills

Graduate students who need additional research training

Community educators, activists, artists, and others who want to incorporate autoethnographic reflection into their work or practice

Autoethnography Certificate: Narrating Self & Society

Cost: $395

Dates: Wednesdays, June 4-25, 2025

Time: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM (CST)

Online with weekly Zoom meetings

Limited to 15 leaners!

This 4-week online course will provide a thorough introduction to autoethnographic inquiry. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

Define autoethnography and various approaches/orientations to the method (e.g., evocative, analytic, critical)
Recognize characteristics of high-quality autoethnographies and evaluate autoethnographic works
Identify opportunities for autoethnographic inquiry in your personal life and/or scholarly work
Effectively design and carry out autoethnographic projects
Navigate ethical issues involved in doing ethnographic research and creating autoethnographic accounts

After completion, you will receive a certificate and a Digital Badge that can be uploaded to your LinkedIn account or other social platform.

Join Aaron Hoy, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Excellence in Scholarship and Research (CESR) at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Dr. Hoy is also an Editor at The Qualitative Report.

a person wearing glasses and smiling

Why Autoethnography?

Autoethnography is a method of qualitative inquiry that draws upon the researcher’s personal experiences (“auto-”) to describe or represent (“-graphy”) social and cultural forces and dynamics (“-ethno-”). Autoethnographers themselves come to the method from diverse backgrounds and with varied motivations and goals. For many, autoethnography is a way to break down barriers between our research or scholarly work and our personal lives, giving us the opportunity to use our research and writing to better understand our lived experiences, both positive and negative. For others, it is a way to infuse creativity and artistic practice into otherwise conventional, even rigid approaches to research.

Over the last 30 years, autoethnography has grown into a valid and respected method of research and inquiry across a wide range of academic disciplines, including communications, anthropology, education, sociology, nursing and health, counseling, business, music and art, performance, and more. Today, a rapidly growing number of peer-reviewed journals and professional conferences welcome and support autoethnographic work, and well-respected presses have published countless book-length autoethnographies.

Topics

This certificate contains four modules to be completed within the four-week course. It will combine asynchronous coursework and weekly synchronous meetings, held remotely via Zoom.

Week 1: What is Autoethnography?
- You will learn about: the history of autoethnographic research and writing, approaches/orientations to autoethnography, appropriate topics for autoethnographic inquiry
Week 2: Reading and Evaluating Autoethnographic Work
- You will learn about: characteristics of high-quality autoethnographies such as resonance, reflexivity, and social/cultural insight; journals and conferences that support autoethnography
Week 3: Doing Autoethnography
- You will learn about: formulating research questions; sources of autoethnographic data including personal experience, textual artifacts, media representations, interviews, and conversations
Week 4: Writing/Representing Autoethnographies
- You will learn about: writing as inquiry, thick description, storytelling and scenes, structuring autoethnographic manuscripts, and non-textual forms of autoethnography

Registration Questions: Email workforce@mnsu.edu or call 507-389-1094
Training Questions: Email aaron.hoy@mnsu.edu