ANTH 380.001 ethnographic field methods: the practice of theory

course description

Ethnographic fieldwork has remained in dialectical tension with anthropological theory for over

100 years. It is, therefore, the "practice of theory." The highly experiential world of

ethnographic research has the power to "penetrate" abstractions of social theory--illuminating,

adumbrating, undermining. Of course, ethnography is not just naive empiricism. It is theory that

directs the course of ethnographic fieldwork for, in the words of one anthropologist, a "way of

seeing" is simultaneously a way of "not seeing," i.e., aspects of life selected through theory

require an anthropologist to ignore other, possibly puissant, areas of social and cultural life.

"Anthropological theory" and "ethnographic fieldwork" move together, one opening up a critical

space while another reveals a limit; one unveiling a contradiction while another engenders new

possibilities and so on

    On another level, ethnographic fieldwork is a way of knowing intimately related to everyday life, a

method that is very much an extension of our quotidian, phenomenological experience. Whenever

we travel, begin a new job or attend a new school, we engage in something very much like

ethnographic research. So although fieldwork is very much imbricated by questions of

anthropological theory, it is also part of the everyday aesthetics of living. In Paul Willis’s words,

art is "a defining and irreducible quality at the heart of everyday human practices and interactions"

(3). In our interpretations of everyday life, we will need to tap into our artistic sensibilities of the

everyday.  This course will, fittingly, adopt multiple perspectives on ethnographic research. On the one

hand, we will consider ethnography’s relationship--historical and theoretical--to cultural

anthropology. We will consider the historical development of ethnography from early

experiments in the mid-nineteenth century up to the present and link those putatively

methodological developments to theoretical debates (then and now) in cultural anthropology.

We will also review experimentation in ethnographic methods as sometimes oblique challenges to

anthropology’s status quo.  But we will also engage a great deal in the practice of ethnographic research,

structuring class activities that bridge the gaps between everyday understanding and experiential, ethnographic

knowledge. Additionally, students will take the first steps towards their own ethnography,

following the building blocks of ethnographic research from the initial proposal through the initial

site survey.

course objectives

1). Students will understand ethnographic methodology as arising in a context of anthropological

theory.

2). Students will study contemporary (and even experimental) methodologies through careful

readings of ethnographies.

3). Students will become familiar with qualitative methods germane to the anthropological

encounter: participant observation, interviews, life stories and visual anthropology.

4). Students will design an ethnographic project, set up research instruments and attempt

nonintrusive observations.

required reading: 

Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir.  The Sign of Four.  Urbana, Illinois (USA): Project Gutenberg Etext #2097.

-First release: Mar 2000.  http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext00/sign410.txt

Emoff, Ron and David Henderson, eds..  Mementos, Artifacts and Hallucinations from the Ethnographer's Tent.  New York: Routledge, 2002.

Gates, Hill.  Looking for Chengdu.  Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999.

graded assignments

In-Class Assignments (Due on assigned days) Students will each complete two, in-class

"projects" over the course of the semester. Projects will include 1) books reports; 2) acting as an

informant for "in-class" ethnographies; 3) engaging in and reporting on truncated instances of

"fieldwork" inside or outside the class. We’ll begin in-class assignments during week 2.

Research Proposals (Due September 24) Students must write a one-page description of their

proposed ethnographic research project. Proposals should answer the journalistic 4 Ws and 1 H

(Who, What, Where, When, Why and How).

Historical/Background Research (Due November 5) Students must complete a five (3) page

background report on their research site. Essays should both contextualize and historicize the

site, using relevant historical and archival sources. Students should show how their particular

research question arises out of problems germane to the research site.

Oral Reports (Last 2 weeks of  class) Students will briefly summarize their ethnographic findings, highlighting 

areas for future ethnographic work.

Ethnographic Reports (December 10) Using a modified (and less intrusive) form of participant

observation, students will spend between 2-4 weeks engaged in ethnographic research, after

which they will write a report summarizing method and analyzing data (however perfunctory) in

the light of the aforementioned Historical/Background Research. I will be handing out more

precise research guides later in the semester.

Final Examination (December 17) Students will demonstrate their knowledge of class themes and

readings by answering a battery of true-false, multiple choice and short answer questions.

Grading

In-class assignments: 60 pts.

Research proposal: 20 pts.

Background paper: 40 pts.

Oral Report:    20 pts.

Ethnographic report: 40 pts.

Final examination: 20 pts.

Explanation of Grading:

A+    186+

A-     180-185

B+    174-179

B       166-173

B-      160-165

C+     154-159

C       146-153

C-     140-145

D+    134-139

D       120-133

F       <120

class schedule:

1st Week         Introduction to the course and explanation of syllabus.

(8/27)              

2nd Week        Ethnographer and Flaneur

(9/3)                Film:  "The Sign of Four" (1988)

                        Assigned Reading:  Doyle, "The Sign of Four" 

3rd Week        Varieties of Ethnographic Research.

(9/8-9/10)        Assigned Reading: Emoff and Henderson, pp. 17-29, 61-79

                        SEPTEMBER 9: Change of Schedule Period Ends

                        In-class assignments begin

4th Week        The History of Anthropological Fieldwork

(9/15-9/17)      Assigned Reading: Emoff and Henderson, pp. 179-198

                        Gates, pp. 1-24

                        September 17: Research Proposals Due

5th Week         Contemporary Anthropological Fieldwork

(9/22-9/24)      Assigned Reading: Emoff and Henderson, pp. 155-177

                        Gates, pp. 25-47

                        September 24: Research Proposals Due

6th Week         Challenges to the Anthropological Episteme

(9/29-10/1)      Assigned Reading: Emoff and Henderson, pp. 81-100

                        Gates, pp. 48-80

7th Week         Foundations of Ethnographic Research: Global histories in situ

(10/6-10/8)      Library Research Methods

                        Assigned Reading:  Emoff and Henderson, pp. 101-116

                        Gates, pp. 81-108

8th Week         Fieldwork: "A Predicament Turned Into a Method."

(10/13-10/15)  Assigned Reading: Emoff and Henderson, pp. 45-59

                        Gates, pp. 109-138

9th Week

(10/20-10/22)    Assigned Reading: Gates, pp. 139-166

10th Week          The Secret Lives of Informants 

(10/27-10/29)     Emoff and Henderson, pp. 31-44, 131-153        

11th Week         The Secret Lives of Informants

(11/3-11/5)        Assigned Reading: Gates, pp. 167-187

                          November 7: Last Day to Withdraw with a Grade of "W"

                          November 5: Background Essays Due

12th Week         Participant Observation

(11/10-11/12)    Assigned Reading: Gates, pp. 191-216

13th Week         Scratchnotes, Fieldnotes and Journals

(11/17-11/19)    Assigned Reading: Gates, pp. 217-246

14th Week        Varieties of Interviews

(11/24)              November 26-30: THANKSGIVING BREAK

15th Week        Building Ethnographic Theory

(12/1-12/3)        Oral Reports

16th Week       Oral Reports

(12/8-12/10)     December 12: LAST DAY OF CLASSES

                         December 17: Final Examination, 12:30 p.m. -2:30 p.m.

                         December 10: Final Projects Due

notes

1. Although exams and graded work will remain as stated above, I may have to change

different readings or films on the syllabus throughout the semester. I will, in any case, try to give

you ample warning of any syllabus changes.

2. Each student should be familiar with the University’s rules regarding cheating and

plagiarism (Towson University Undergraduate Catalog, Appendix F). Neither will be tolerated in

my class and will result in a flunking grade.3. Students with learning disabilities should register at the Disability

 Support Services

Office.

explanation of grading

Following department policy, students will be assigned a letter grade without a qualifying "+" or

"-".

A: A superior performance surpassing assigned work in unique and novel ways and

integrating diverse ideas from a wide range of sources in addition to those discussed in

class.B: Excellent work surpassing the expectations of the assignment and demonstrating initiative

and a willingness to move beyond the basic requirements of the assigned work.

C: Satisfactory work meeting all basic requirements of the assignment.

D: Work in some way less than satisfactory. Although conforming to basic requirements in

some way, the completed work is nevertheless not a coherent response to the

assignment.

F: A profoundly unsatisfactory performance which doesn't meet

the intent of the assignment at any level.