Location: East Austin, Austin, TX, USA
Session Dates: Course Dates 2027: online meetings in early January onsite Jan 11 -22
Application Deadline: October 1, 2026
Deadline Type: Rolling
Website: https://ifrglobal.org/program/us-texas-tattoos-winter/
Program Type:
Field School
RPA Certified:
No
Affiliation:
Institute for Field Research (IFR)
Project Director:
Dr. Kelton Sheridan
Project Description:
Get to know Austin’s tattoo culture from the inside through hands-on research with the artists shaping this growing community. Long known for its independent spirit and unconventional culture, Austin’s recent rapid growth and the arrival of major tech companies are reshaping neighborhoods and shifting local identity. Yet even as longtime businesses and creative spaces disappear, the city’s tattoo scene is flourishing. This unique ethnoarchaeology field school takes you inside local tattoo shops to document the spaces, objects, and working practices behind Austin tattoo culture. You’ll meet tattoo artists and use archaeological and ethnographic field methods to examine how they build community while adapting to a city changing around them. Along the way, you’ll learn how archaeology offers a fresh perspective on contemporary life and one of humanity’s oldest creative practices: tattooing.
Field school highlights:
Period(s) of Occupation: Contemporary
Project Size: 1-24 participants
Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: Students are expected to stay the full length of the program.
Minimum Age: 18
Experience Required: None
Room and Board Arrangements:
The group will share a large house in trendy East Austin. You’ll sleep 2 to each bedroom and share bathrooms among the team. The house will include a washer and dryer, a full kitchen, a dining area, an outside patio area, and a common area that includes a tv, couches, and a game room for relaxing during downtime.
Meals: This program will cover most meals while onsite, though you will need to purchase several dinners on your own. Breakfast and lunch supplies will be available at the group house to eat and pack a lunch each day. Group dinners will be a mix of eating out and cooking together at the project house. For a few evenings, you will supply your own dinner and can choose to cook at home or go out to nearby restaurants or food trucks – see course schedule of the syllabus for detailed meal expectations. This program is able to accommodate special dietary needs.
Academic Credit:
6 Semester (9 Quarter)
Institute for Field Research
1855 Industrial Street, Unit 106
Los Angeles
CA
90021
United States
Phone: 4242091173
