Over the course of the project, I carried out ethnographic research on dry-stone walling practices in Switzerland, with a focus on how learning and teaching take place in the craft. This included multi-sited fieldwork, combining participant observation, video-based interaction analysis, and interviews with a range of actors – from professional dry-stone wallers to trainees and professionals in the heritage field. I also enrolled in several courses organised by the Swiss Association of Dry-Stone Wallers, in order to gain a first-hand understanding of the craft and experience of learning. I adopted a multimodal methodological framework, meaning that I paid attention to the richness of interactions that take place between a craft expert and learner - not just words, but gestures, direction of gaze, body posture, or shared attention on an activity. Video recordings of interactions enabled me to pay close attention to how these different forms of interaction work together to enable learning. The result was a detailed, practice-grounded understanding of how craftspeople guide others into skilled forms of perception and action.
In parallel to the empirical work, the project developed an interdisciplinary methodological framework combining ethnography and interaction analysis. I was trained in the use of video data and multimodal transcription, participated in advanced seminars and workshops, and collaborated with international researchers working on vocational education and heritage.
The research was presented at international seminars (e.g. University of California, Berkeley; University of Gothenburg), conferences (e.g. Royal Anthropological Institute; Rovaniemi Craft and Ecology conference), and Swiss academic networks in anthropology and adult education. I also organised a workshop on video methodologies in craft research and co-developed a panel for the International Conference for the Craft Sciences (October 2025).
Publications, either already published or forthcoming, address key concepts in the scholarship on the anthropology of learning, including the concept of education of attention, and the concept development as part of this project of artisan pedagogies - pedagogical practices that emerges from specific forms of technical expertise. Publications also address the significance of forms of intangible heritage to address sustainable development goals, with the example of dry stone walling as a practice that has found new significance to tackle pressing environmental issues. The project is also leading to the development of a book manuscript "Craft Alterings" that reflects on anthropological approaches to the study of craft and apprenticeship.
Developing on the themes of the project, I am developing grant applications further investigating issues of vocational training, and the significance of forms of intangible heritage to tackle sustainable development goals.
