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FRIDAY HISTORICAL READINGS
Oct 10: Pioneers
Oct 17: Expertise
Oct 24: Cliffords
Oct 31: Danger
Nov 7: El Dorado
Nov 14: Emotions
Nov 21: Natives
M Dec 1: Assistants
Dec 5: Summary
MONDAY EXERCISES
Sep 29: Experience
Oct 6: Observation
Oct 13: Interview
Oct 20: Discomfort
Oct 27: Formal
Nov 3: Survey
Nov 10: Photo
Nov 17: Video
Nov 24: Digital
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Your third class exercise is due for today. Your assignment is an ethnographic interview, and it has three parts:
- Select a question you want to interview about and a person you want to interview, and write a rough interview guide (the methodology books will distinguish between structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews, but actually there is a continuum; I would recommend something around the semi-structured point).
- Do the interview. Take about 10 minutes for this mini-version. It's your choice whether you want to tape record or take notes. Remember that you have to ask permission to tape record, and some people will feel uncomfortable, and recording an interview may make the responses more "standard" and less revealing than doing an interview while simply taking notes or even waiting until afterwards to write down the content.
- By 9:00 a.m on the day of class, transcribe and post your notes, or a summary of your notes. Then append a self-critique including what you wish was in the notes but wasn't. You may also wish to reflect on what's different about observation notes and interview notes.
We will spend our class time discussing the difficulties, awkwardnesses, unexpected directions, and other features of your interview.
In preparation for this exercise, read the following:
Finally, at 3:30 today, right after class in Thomson 317, anthropologist and filmmaker Tami Blumenfield (Ph.D. UW 2010) will show and comment on her film, Some Na Ceremonies. We will be reading some of her critiques later in this class. We can walk over there as a group if you want.
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