Ethnologist

The ethnologist is a research and field professional who is interested as much in the study of distant populations as in European populations, in institutions as in the suburbs or in the practices of daily life.

An ethnologist studies all the dimensions of the functioning of human groups: political, economic, aesthetic, religious, technical, material, symbolic … An ethnological study requires several months of investigations in the field and a good integration into the observed society. ethnology is such a rich discipline that its practice is often transdisciplinary (history, sociology, anthropology, psychology). Students orient themselves towards certain very specialized sub-disciplines: ethnolinguistics, ethnomusicology, ethnozoology, ethnobotany, etc.

The ethnologist is most often also a university teacher, sometimes a writer and always an observer ground. He is also most often an ethnographer insofar as he himself gathers the materials and knowledge relating to the population studied to develop his hypotheses. His working conditions are most often spartan, whether his field of observation is close or far away: virgin forest, desert, city or suburb. A large part of his professional life is devoted to writing articles or books, film reports broadcast in the professional and university environment. But also towards a wider audience (beautiful books, encyclopedia, video, conferences, documentaries, CD / DVD …).