Week 3 - Ethnographic Research Project, part 1
Due: 1pm, Thursday, September 13; must be uploaded to dropbox
Find a location or "community of practice" in or around Charlottesville that you think would be an interesting place to do ethnographic research. For example, you could locate yourself among pick-up basketball players at the court in a gym; among students and teachers in the reading room of a library; among people, runners, and perhaps families at a park; at Bodo’s during the morning rush. Be creative but be aware that you will be returning to this location, so you need to feel (somewhat) comfortable there. When picking a location and community, also remember that you will have to do observation and analysis about the group -- not just participation. We'll talk more in class about what this might mean -- and how observation and participation can feel like opposite pulls -- but please keep this in mind when you're picking a community.
When thinking about where to put yourself, you can think through the following questions.
Who spends a lot of time here? Who spends only a little time here?
Why do people come here?
Do they interact much with each other? Is there a lot of conversation? What languages do people use to speak to each other? How do people communicate without speaking?
What might be interesting in this location?
Do you think this community of practice is homogenous or heterogeneous? In what ways?
Please be willing to share your chosen community of practice in class discussion. Write one, double space page about what you have decided to do.
