Jennifer Noveck

Frequently Asked Questions

What were you doing in China?
I was doing research on a Fulbright grant.

What kind of research?
My one sentence topic description was “how rapid economic development and reemerging traditional cultural beliefs are currently affecting women’s work.”

What exactly does that mean? Like, what did you do everyday?
My Fulbright grant was for independent research. The type of research my project involves are field work, designing qualitative and quantitative methods to get information from people, working with NGOs and even government bureaus that are pertinent to my research. “Field work” in my case includes things like observational site visits, observing women work and do daily things, informal interviews, anything that allows me to build profiles of these women. Quantitative methods means statistical data from reports and surveys.

Why don’t you post more about your research findings?
Because I do not want to post incomplete work on my site for everyone to read. If there is one thing living and doing research in China has taught me it is that you should expect the unexpected. What I think may be true one day may change the next. Additionally, I may want to use these findings to write an article. Usually to be accepted into any sort of journal, the article must be unique and published no where else. So I’m not taking any chances.

Can I email you to ask questions about your Fulbright application, China experience or your research?
Of course, just click Contact button above for more information on either.

What did you go to school for?
I graduated from Northeastern University in 2004 with a BA in International Affairs and a minor in Asian Studies. I plan on successfully applying to PhD programs in Fall 2009. Any tips or suggestions are welcome!

Did you take any photography classes? Any training?
No, I never have. Well, that isn’t completely true. I took a 10 week class my senior year of high school. We had one digital camera, which I hated at the time because we could only print them out on copy paper, so I shot mostly with disposables. Our darkroom was full of junk and we cleared it out and bought our own chemicals so that we could do some real processing. I didn’t take the class very seriously and used it mostly as an excuse to cavort around outside of the classroom for 40 minutes a day in the Spring. I guess that is why I would answer “No” to this question.

What type of camera do you use?
I use a Nikon D80 and two lenses.

Why the photoblog?
I love taking photos and find that I censor my experiences and myself less when posting photos than words online. Additionally, because my research involved and will continue to involve field work, the photographs that I take here are helping me document not only my experiences but also my research and work.

Why is your blog blocked on Mainland China?
I have absolutely no idea and wish that someone would unblock me soon. They don’t send out notifications when they do this sort of thing, so your guess is as good as mine.

Why is this just a photoblog now?
I feel like I self edit less when sharing photographs. Also, most successful written blogs have specific subject matter and I find that hard to do.

Do you have a Links section or what?
I have a deli.cio.us account, and you can see all the things I find interesting, fun, sad, crazy and beautiful here.