Semester | Spring Semester, 2020 | ||
Department | International Doctor Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, First Year International Doctor Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, Second Year | ||
Course Name | The Research Methods of Ethnology | ||
Instructor | WORK COURTNEY KATHERINE | ||
Credit | 3.0 | ||
Course Type | Elective | ||
Prerequisite |
Course Objective |
Course Description |
Course Schedule |
Week 1- 2/18: Course Introduction Course overview Ethnographic methods and ethnographic writing Deep description Participant Observation Reflexivity Fieldwork Assignment: Deep Description - memory
Week 2- 2/25: General Thoughts on Ethnography Read: Ingold, T. 2017. Anthropology contra ethnography. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 7 (1):21–26. Abu-Lughod; L. (1991). Writing Against Culture. In R. G.Fox (Ed.); Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present (pp. 466–479). Santa Fe: School of American Research Press.
Additional Suggested readings Nader, Laura, 2011. “Ethnography as Theory,” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1(1): 211-219. McGranahan, C. (2018). Ethnography Beyond Method: The Importance of an Ethnographic Sensibility. Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, 15(1), 1–10. Foucault, Michel. 1994[1966]. The Archaeology of Knowledge and the Discourse on Language. New York: Vintage. Pp. 3-17, 21-39. Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” The Interpretation of Cultures, New York: Basic Books, pp. 310-333. Clifford, James. 1983. “On Ethnographic Authority,” Representations 2: 118-146. Jackson, John L., Jr. 2012. “Ethnography Is, Ethnography Ain’t,” Cultural Anthropology 27(3): 480-497. Fieldwork Assignment: Participant Observation
Week 3- 3/3: Preliminary Project Proposal Presentations Read: DQR, Introduction
Informal in-class presentation
- With evidence of having read DQR
Discuss
- Methods for data collection
Fieldwork Assignment: Interview- notes only
Week 4- 3/10: Discussion/ Presentation on Fieldnotes Assignment Read: DQR Chapter 4: The What of the Study Narayan, Kirin. 2012. Alive in the Writing: Crafting Ethnography in the Company of Chekhov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Chapter 1 and 2, plus exercises- bring writing to class)
Informal in-class presentations
- Share successes and challenges
- Share ideas for next time
Discussion
Fieldwork Assignment: Deep Description- real-time
Week 5- 3/17: Making Subjects, Intersubjects, and Fieldwork Relationships Read: DQR, Chapter 2: Qualitative Research Genres Bourdieu, Pierre. 2002. The Bachelors’ Ball: The Crisis of Peasant Society in Bearn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read Part 1 Pels, Peter. 2014. “After Objectivity: An historical approach to the intersubjective in ethnography,” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 4(1): 211-236.
Additional Suggested Readings: Greenberg, Ofra. 1993. When They Read What the Papers Say We Wrote. In, When They Read What We Write: The Politics of Ethnography. Caroline B. Brettell, ed. Westport: Bergin & Garvey. Rabinow, Paul. 1977. Reflections on Fieldwork in Morrocco. Berkeley: University of California Press (Chapter 3: Ali, an outsider’s insider).
Fieldwork Assignment: Participant Observation – Event with Video
Week 6- 3/24: Sites: Choosing and Navigating (5-page Proposal Outline Due) Read: Gupta, Akhil and James Ferguson. 1997. Discipline and Practice: The field as site, method and location in anthropology. In Anthropological locations Berkeley: University of California Press. 1-46. Borneman, John and Abdellah Hammoudi, eds. 2009. Being There: The Fieldwork Encounter and the Making of Truth. Blackwell Publishing (introduction and chapter 5). Marcus, George E. 1995. “Ethnography In/Of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-sited Ethnography,” Annual Review of Anthropology 24: 95-117.
Class discussion: What have your fieldwork exercises taught you about the dynamic space of field sites? Fieldwork Assignment: Mapping- spatial representation
Week 7- 3/31: Proposal Presentations (Ethics On-line course completion certificate) Read DQR, Chapter 6: Basic Data Collection Methods
Discuss In-class Proposal Presentations
- Conceptual Framework – What questions are you asking? - Related literature and studies -- What theories are you using?
Fieldwork Assignment: Kinship/Relationship charts
Week 8- 4/7: Fieldwork Ethics Read DQR, Chapter 3: Trustworthiness and Ethics Lambek, Michael, Veena Das, Didier Fassin, and Webb Keane. 2017. Four Lectures on Ethics: Anthropological Perspectives. Hau Books. https://haubooks.org/four-lectures-on-ethics/ Das: What Does Ordinary Ethics Look Like? Sluka, Jeffrey A. 1996. Reflections on Managing Danger in Fieldwork: Dangerous Anthropology in Belfast. In, Fieldwork under fire. Carolyn Nordstrom and Antonius C.G.M. Robben, ed. University of California Press.
Fieldwork Assignment: Interview – audio recording only
Week 9- 4/14: Mid-term Proposal Presentations
Week 10 and 11: Theories Week 10- 4/21 Read DQR, [review] Chapter 4: The What of the Study: Building the Conceptual Framework Bourdieu, Pierre. 2002. The Bachelors’ Ball: The Crisis of Peasant Society in Bearn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Part III
Fieldwork Assignment: Deep Description - photograph
Week 11- 4/28 Read Fortun, Kim. 2012. “Ethnography in Late Industrialism,” Cultural Anthropology 27(3): 446-464. Haraway, D. 1988. Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies 14 (3):575–599. Narayan, Kirin. 2012. Alive in the Writing: Crafting Ethnography in the Company of Chekhov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Chapter 5, plus exercises- bring writing to class)
Additional Readings: Taussig, Michael. 2012. “Excelente Zona Social,” Cultural Anthropology 27(3): 498-517. Butler; J. 1988. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal 40 (4):519.
Class Discussion: What are you learning from your fieldwork? Do your observations of daily life give you any insights into your research question?
Fieldwork Assignment: Recap assessment – Questions answered/New questions
Week 12 and 13: Writing Preparation Draft Proposal for Peer Review (Due week 13)
Week 12- 5/5 Read DQR, Chapter 5: The How of the Study: Building the Research Design Hastrup, K. 2004. Getting it right: Knowledge and evidence in anthropology. Anthropological Theory 4/4 455-472.
Fieldwork Assignment: Interview- audio recording and notes
Week 13- 5/12 Read Narayan, Kirin. 2012. Alive in the Writing: Crafting Ethnography in the Company of Chekhov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Chapter 4, plus exercises – bring writing to class)
Additional Suggested readings Fabian, J. 1983. Time and writing about the other, in Time and the Other. Comaroff and Comaroff. 1992. Ethnography and the historical imagination. In, Studies in the ethnographic imagination. Westview press.
Fieldwork Assignment: Group Discussion (get a partner)
Week 14- 5/19 Funding and Proposal Writing Draft Proposal for Peer Review: On the first day of class next week bring a draft of your proposal. You will share this with one of your colleagues who will return it with comments next week.
Prepare: Come to class with at least three possible funding sources for your research
In-class Discussion Finding and winning funds for research
Peer Review Discussion Research is never wholly produced by one person How to offer constructive critique on your colleague’s proposal Using the ECAA method of critique- evaluate its qualities Open the piece to comments from the group
Fieldwork Assignment: Participant Observation- social setting, head notes and notepad
Week 15- 5/26: Peer Review Exchange papers with Peer Review partner Review comments and discuss together Re-Present individual proposals
Fieldwork Assignment: Textual analysis
Week 16- 6/2: Collecting and Organizing Data Read DQR, Chapter 7: Specialized and Focused Data Collection Methods Chapter 8: Managing, Analyzing, and Interpreting Data
Prepare Collect all your documents from observation activities for this class Bring digitized versions to class
Exercise Work independently to code and organize your data Work in groups to share experiences with data collection and management Use examples from this course or any other Present the findings of group-work to the seminar
Fieldwork Assignment: Researcher choice Week 17-18-6/9-16: Proposal Presentations Formal Proposal Presentations |
Teaching Methods |
Teaching Assistant |
Requirement/Grading |
5-Page Proposal: Pilot Field Study (week 5) 20% statement of the problem, background to the problem, methods to be employed, field site rationale, significance of the problem Human Subjects Protocol (week 6) 10% Following university guidelines Fieldwork Exercises (each week) 20% Conduct fieldwork one day per week and turn in typed fieldnotes for each week. Include interview transcription, photographs, video, drawings, and/or voice recordings Class Participation (each class) 20% Close readings of texts; active participation in class discussions and activities 10-Page Research Proposal (final) 20% on the pilot research proposal (includes bibliography) |
Textbook & Reference |
Bourdieu, Pierre. 2002. The Bachelors’ Ball: The Crisis of Peasant Society in Bearn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Marshall, Catherine and Gretchen B. Rossman. 2016. Designing Qualitative Research. Singapore: Sage Publications. (DQR) Narayan, Kirin. 2012. Alive in the Writing: Crafting Ethnography in the Company of Chekhov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. |
Urls about Course |
Attachment |