Photo: Svetlana PAVLOVA / NEFU Newsroom

Anthropologist Sigrid Schiesser from the University of Vienna presented the results of field studies on the impact of infrastructure on the social and cultural environment of the region to participants of NEFU “Cold Lands” workshop. The field studies were carried out in Central and South Yakutia.

"I was always interested in Russia, studied the Russian Language and Culture in a Bachelor’s programme, and then defended master's thesis on the Russian problematics. Now I am working on my PhD thesis based on infrastructure projects in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) on the example of the Amur-Yakutsk highway. As anthropologist I’m interested to study how such huge infrastructure projects form not only the physical, but also social, cultural space", Sigrid Schiesser said.

"The subject of the interaction between human and infrastructure in social anthropology is new to the Russian audience. The lecture was full of concepts and examples, defining different aspects of the infrastructure anthropology. The report aroused the interest of students and masters, studying regional studies, history and cultural studies. This lecture is necessary to widen the humanitarian outlook and research skills", said Viktor Mikhailov, session moderator, assistant professor of NEFU Department of Northern Studies.

PhD student Sigrid Schiesser involved in a research project on the impact of infrastructure projects on the social space of the region within the framework of the agreement signed between NEFU Department of Northern Studies and the Department of Anthropology of the University of Vienna.