The Energy Vulnerability Lab

The Energy Vulnerability Lab, the 10-week field school, was held between April 6th, 2020 and June 9th, 2020. The Lab trained students in ethnographic data collection, that included participant observation, use of primary sources, such as survey administration and independent research. The foreging was achieved thanks to the collection of artifacts ‘stored’ within the structure of the Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography (PECE) essay. Participant observation activities had to be adapted to the newly created shelter-in-place conditions faced by everyone, as can be said for the survey administration. However, the course still aimed to fulfill the following outcomes: 

1. Provide a nuanced explanation of energy vulnerability as a concept, including its historical roots; 

2. Explain how energy vulnerability relates to broader systems, such as policies, energy markets, housing infrastructure, and climate change; 

3. Build a mini-research project; 

4. Collaborate with others on research design, data collection, and analysis; 

5. Employ qualitative instruments to collect data (i.e. research questions, archival infrastructures, interview questions, and surveys); 

6. Use MS Teams to foster an engaged learning environment with others, and to imagine how you might use this platform in other settings; 

7. Put together multimedia assignments that substantively and efficiently reflect your learning; and, 

8. Effectively assess your work and explain your assessment to others (i.e. self-grading).

The field school trained students on ethnographic methods by gradually having them familiarize with the field of energy vulnerability, whilst simultaneously exposing them to data collection and analyses. The foregoing was accomplished by having students read scholarly articles written by experts in the field of energy vulnerability. Alongside these readings, students were also given the opportunity to conduct structured participant observation activities, within the scopes of their home, broadly relating to the energy vulnerability field. The activities here described can be read in the 'Activities' section that follows.

Supplementing their understanding of the field, students were also given the opportunity to do independent research on the topic of energy vulnerability, as specifically related to their diverse areas of interest. Familiarity with the field of energy vulnerability mainly occurred the first five weeks of the course, the half mark of the term. Once students were deemed familiarized enough with the field, research projects were assigned to give students ample time to complete them. Students were given the option to conduct both an individual project and a group project in which to participate (this is where students were asked to conduct surveys). That said, if students wished to participate in the group project by administering surveys, they had to pass the CITI training to be included in the project’s IRB. If they did not wish to administer surveys, students could still contribute to the larger course project (which is the grander research project at hand) by starting to analyze the responses submitted by survey administrators.

    The thirteen students in the field school produced significant and enriching material for the purpose of the research and in congruence with the learning objectives of the course. Data collection was very successful on the part of the students, who collected a total of 215 artifacts as a course, wrote a total of fourteen PECE essays, and collected a total of 50 out of the 80 surveys administered by the project. The field school was a success, given students interacted well with the content, produced meaningful and focused pieces of writing, drawing on key informant interviews as performed throughout the class (thanks to guest lecturers), on their independent research, and on the data collected from survey administration.