Much of the study of politics relies upon metropolitan perspectives and geopolitically inflected methodological frameworks. This course asks, how does our understanding change when we analyze politics from local vantage points, using grounded methods? Through our reading of scholarship on empires and nation-building, the seminar treats overarching questions about perspective and method in ethnography, asking what ethnography can tell us not only about the world in which we live, but also about the political and social constructs that shape our interpretation of experience. We consider ethnography's relationship to other forms of analysis that transcend boundaries within and beyond the social sciences and its epistemological foundations. Our seminar also examines the role of ethnography in the conduct of politics and the writing of history, including in the governing technologies of empire. We consider how thinking with ethnography can help illuminate and clarify ethical concerns that accompany all social research, and we identify ways scholars using other research methodologies may use insights generated through ethnographic research in their work.