InterAct Research Group

A Group for the Empirical Study of Social Interaction

InterAct is a supportive and collaborative group of like-minded scholars working to advance ethnomethodological conversation analysis (EMCA) in South Africa. The group was started by Catherine Tam and Daniella Rafaely and is housed in the Humanities Graduate Centre. We meet regularly for data sessions, presentations and the development of research projects, often hosting international scholars.

We welcome postgraduate students and faculty members to join meetings and the group to learn more about EMCA, to collaboratively analyse social interaction and to join projects looking at interactions in local languages and contexts.

Ethnomethodological Conversation Analysis is an interdisciplinary approach to studying social interaction that is used in fields across the humanities including psychology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, and more.

EMCA is an inductive approach to investigating what people do and how they do it by privileging participant (rather than analyst) orientations in interaction. This empirical study of social life is an important avenue for enhancing critical scholarship in the social sciences.

Contacts:

General:

E-mail: gradcentre.humanities@wits.ac.za
#Sch-Gradschool@wits.ac.za  

Directors:

Dr Daniella Rafaely
E-mail: Daniella.Rafaely@wits.ac.za

Dr Catherine Tam
E-mail: Catherine.tam@wits.ac.za

InterAct General Invitation