AN81a-CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK: METHODS AND PRACTICE OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH

FALL 2022 - BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY . DESIGNED AND TAUGHT

What research methods do ethnographers use to understand diverse human experiences and the ways people make sense of their lives and the world around them? What does fieldwork entail and what ethical dilemmas and other challenges do ethnographers encounter while engaging in research? This course introduces students to ethnographic research, the defining method of anthropology as a discipline, with the potential to reveal nuanced and important insights into the people, places, and phenomena we study. This course trains students to carry out their own ethnographic research, providing guidance on asking meaningful questions, learning diverse fieldwork methods, analyzing data, and effective ethnographic writing and communication. We explore what kinds of questions anthropology asks, how ethnographic research can serve to answer these questions, and how to communicate our meaningful findings to others.

The course is structured in a lab format. Building on a weekly ethnographic research method, students will learn to update and apply those skills through their own hands-on exercises and projects. One class session each week (generally Tuesday) will center on workshopping students’ weekly small-scale fieldwork assignments, while the other class session (generally Thursday) will focus on exploring and learning a new methods topic. Class sessions will focus on: choosing a research topic, designing research questions, ethical issues in anthropological research, the social position of the researcher, sampling and choosing interlocutors, participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, life-history interviewing, collaborative ethnography, textual analysis (such as of public, scientific, etc. texts), virtual fieldwork, writing effective fieldnotes, organizing and analyzing data, multi-media options for ethnographic communication, working with archives (historic and contemporary), and producing evocative ethnographic writing. We will also consider the potential uses of anthropological research: Are we writing primarily for an academic audience, or might ethnographic fieldwork also be a potent tool for influencing public understanding? The goal is to practice, and critically reflect on, ethnographic research as a two-fold endeavor: as a way of knowing and as a way of representing people and their lives.

Readings include texts on research methodologies and critiques of ethnographic practice, as well as ethnographic publications that demonstrate sophisticated fieldwork and writing practices. Along the way, students will produce weekly written assignments to practice various methodologies and collect data about a research topic of their choice. The course culminates with an oral presentation and mini ethnography project through which each student will have the opportunity to share their research with the class.