Pilgering Researchers or Researching Pilgrims: Experiences from Four Student Projects on the Camino de Santiago 2016-2019

Abstract

Between 2016 and 2019, I accompanied four student groups on the Camino de Santiago - however the planned 2020 project was cancelled due to the coronavirus epidemic. In this article, I describe the project, its planning, its implementation, and its conclusion, as well as some experiences and impressions of the participating students on the basis of an ethnographical approach. The projects presented have two objectives: on the one hand, to teach the students qualitative and quantitative research methods in a delimited, protected environment, and on the other hand, to introduce the students to the fascination of pilgrimage and the Camino de Santiago. During the four years, 45 students of different disciplines from BSP Business School Berlin and its partner universities in Berlin and Hamburg, participated in the projects. Although this paper can be used as a kind of instruction manual for student projects on the Camino de Santiago, it represents above all a work-in-progress that continually needs to be improved and adapted. I encourage other university teachers to embark on the Camino de Santiago with their students. It can be an enriching, valuable, and sometimes life-changing experience for all participants.

Keywords

• camino de santiago
• way of st. james
• student project
• pilgrimage
• research project
• progress report