Week Two

Ethnographic observations, writing due at 5pm on Friday, Sept. 10 at 5pm by email

This week I’m asking you to begin observing something or some people that relate to the ethnographic project theme you’ve chosen for yourself. Locate yourself in a place where you suspect you can observe things that relate to the theme you picked. It’s ok if you end up being wrong -- it ok (and, even, really interesting!) if what you expect to happen in a location doesn’t.

For this writing, spend at least 30 minutes in your location, observing as much as you can. Take notes and type them up before you turn them in. As always, ethnographic fieldnotes are best when they include what might feel like an extraordinary amount of detail. Describe everything as if your reader is an alien who has literally never been where you are -- by this I mean, do not take your reader’s knowledge of anything for granted. We will talk, in class, about the benefits of such details and their relationship to ethnographic research.