Sights and Sounds of the Crisis is a transnational research project that began in 2012 as a masters research seminar at the Institute for European Ethnology of Humboldt University in Berlin. The goal of this website is to provide a platform for the exchange of research on the causes and effects of the current global economic crisis.
Students in the course pursued an multi-sited ethnographic study of the "crisis", using audio and visual media to document its sounds and sights, respectively. We (the students) began our investigation with the questions "what does the crisis sound like?" and "what does the crisis look like?"
From there, we set off in different directions, hoping to understand the various natures of the crisis that governs us today. Although the project began within the context of this seminar, it has been since its founding a transnational collaborative effort, and will expand to other universities in the coming years.
The current "investigations" within the project represent individual inquiries about the crisis conducted by students at various locations throughout Berlin, Europe and its borders, and North America. We plan to use this site as a means to document our work, research, findings, and collaborative efforts in the field.