Article begins This is a conversation between a student and a teacher. It takes place over an undefined period. Some of it on Zoom, some of it in passing at a convention center. Some of it took place years ago but reappears now. We talk about three subjects or topics: multimodality, fieldwork, and pedagogy. Partly because the teacher is interested in the work of their student. And partly because the student realizes the value of pedagogy. We question the stability of the student and teacher as “pair”, because both students and teachers have many other students and teachers. We approach these three subjects or topics through a central relationship in anthropology—that between a teacher and student. Mentorship is a fragile thing. Are we passing something on, developing colleagues, competitors, teachers? How do we come to terms with the university and the “field” in a discipline which so heavily relies on the relationship of these two distinct spaces?…