Our mission at the lab is to gain a deeper understanding of social relations and human behavior in times of crisis.
At our lab, we strive to deepen our understanding of social relations and human behavior through ethnographic methods, and further, using these insights to bridge the gap between academia and society while developing solutions to complex challenges.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated in our inspiration talk and panel and recap this meaningful afternoon for those who were not able join us this time.
After the welcome address by our Lab Director, Ellen Bal, the event commenced with an inspiring talk by Dan Podjed – the Slovenian anthropologist and bestselling author who coined the term ‘crisolation’. Podjed led us through the observations and methodologies that led him to crisolation. He understands crisolation as the phenomena of people retreating into their own ‘bubble’ of isolation, during times of crisis, and shutting themselves off from collaborating or connecting with anyone or anything else.We can observe this on social media, where we tend to amplify agreeable voices through likes and follows, while ignoring, blocking or discounting opposing views. In certain instances isolation is even viewed as a policy solution, as Podjed observed first hand when many people were ‘temporarily’ re-homed in container units outside the city by the Slovenian government in response to a large flood.
Whereas isolation might seem safe, convenient or even comforting at first glance, in reality it lessens our quality of life and inhibits our potential for flourishing. This is especially applicable to us as anthropologists – traditionally the learnings from anthropological research remain in the world of academic research, where our colleagues understand what we are doing and the value of it, but what if we take our academic methods outside the confines of the university? What problems could we potentially solve this way, what new insights could we contribute to, and what connections between people could we foster?
Keeping up the spirit of breaking out of traditional academic boundaries, we wanted to break down the hierarchies of knowledge and draw on the perception and experiences of those who work in the fields of societal change. The second part of the event included on-ground reflections from the field by our attendees.
After Dan’s talk, we opened the floor to for a discussion with out guests – a mix of academics, non-academic university staff and societal stakeholders. Participants were eager to share their observation and alively conversation broke out! Chairs were pulled to face new connections and notepads were whipped out to share exciting ideas.We discussed action research, interdisciplinarity and the value of just talking to each other in the workplace.
We ended the session with a networking event over drinks and snacks wherein this spirited chatter continued over drinks and extended into the early evening. When we closed the event, we were please to have had accumulated a large amount of business cards, email addresses and fresh ideas for future collaborations.
We, the eLab team, were honored to be able to unlock the potential of collaboration through this event. We look forward to new developments and mapping out the path ahead. Are you inspired to collaborate with us? Or would you like to stay updated with upcoming events and activities? We invite you to connect with the eLab coordinators Medha Guru and Eva Koemar at
