The Urban Ethnography Project at Yale supports the ethnographic study of urban life and culture.

Its mission is to continue to develop a community of qualitative researchers who are working in the traditions of DuBois, Park, Thomas, Blumer, Hughes, Drake and Cayton, Gans, Goffman, and Becker, among others. 

UEP sponsors occasional academic conferences and workshops that bring together graduate students, post-docs, and faculty members from institutions around the United States and other countries who engage in fellowship as mentors and colleagues to present, discuss, and critique ongoing ethnographic work.  These scholars comprise an informal consortium of “junior” and “senior” fellows.

UEP also runs the weekly Workshop in Urban Ethnography, which focuses on the ethnographic interpretation of urban life and culture. Ongoing projects of participants are presented in a “workshop” format, providing participants with critical feedback as well as the opportunity to learn from and contribute to ethnographic work “in progress.” 

While the promise of sociological fieldwork continually branches outward in new directions with varying philosophical and methodological approaches, we hope that coming together in this way will fortify and guide us as we think about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.