Spring 2026 Events This spring, the Urban Ethnography Lab is excited to hear from many fantastic qualitative scholars from other institutions. Kerilyn Schewel – Friday, February 20th, 1:00pm Dr. Schewel, a professor of Sociology at UNC Chapel Hill, will be presenting on her new book Moved by Modernity: How Development Shapes Migration in Rural Ethiopia. Through ethnographic and historical research, Dr. Schewel explores social and economic development as a cause of global migration. Jacinto Cuvi – Friday, April 3rd, 11:00am Dr. Cuvi, a UEL alumni and professor of sociology and development studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles, will be presenting on his new book The Edge of the Law: Street Vendors and the Erosion of Citizenship in Sao Paulo. This work explores the relationship between the construction of legality and experiences of citizenship from the point of view of street vendors in Brazil. Angela Frederick – Friday, April 10th, 11:00am Dr. Frederick, a professor of Sociology at UT El Paso and alum of UT Austin Sociology, will be presenting on her new book Disabled Power: A Storm, A Grid, and Embodied Harm in the Age of Disaster. In this interview-based work on the 2021 Texas power crisis, Dr. Frederick examines how disabled people are disproportionately vulnerable to the consequences of infrastructural failure. Hyun Jeong Ha, Marcos Perez, & Vivian Shaw – Friday, April 17th, 11:00am Drs. Ha, Perez, and Shaw, all UEL alum, will be presenting on their recent paper “Practical Lessons for Conducting International Qualitative Fieldwork as a Graduate Student.” This work draws lessons from their experiences conducting fieldwork as UT graduate students. For anyone conducting or planning to conduct fieldwork internationally, this session (and the paper) will be a fantastic resource!
