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Course information:
Professor: Jeanne L. Shea, Ph.D, 515 Williams Hall
Class meetings: Tu Th 9:30-10:45 am, Williams Hall, Room 403
Office hours: Tu Th 11:00-11:30, 3:30-4:00
Prof. phone/email: (802) 656-3181, jlshea@zoo.uvm.edu
Course description:
The course provides a space for advanced students to consider theoretical, ethical, and practical issues surrounding research methods in the field of sociocultural anthropology. In this course, students will have the opportunity to learn about various methods used in the collection, analysis, and expression of research materials in sociocultural anthropology; to consider ethical and practical issues involved in anthropological fieldwork; to assess and debate the poetics and politics of ethnographic writing; and to try their hand at participant observation, interviewing, ethnographic writing, research project design, and proposal writing and presentation. Prerequisite: Anth 21 and a 100-level anthropology course.
Course schedule:
Introduction:
Tu Aug 27 Orientation to course/Overview of research methods in sociocultural anthropology
Th Aug 29 Creating a web page and using the web for research, presentation, and dialogue
Guest consultant: Hope Greenberg, CIT, hag@zoo.uvm.edu, 656-1176Readings: Hammersley, What Is Ethnography?
Ethnographic Writing
Tu Sept. 3 Debates over the definition of ethnographic writing
Readings: Pratt in Clifford, Fieldwork in Common Places
Wolf, A Thrice Told Tale, ch. 1
Th Sept 5 Field notes, fiction, ethnography: What's the difference?
Readings: Wolf, A Thrice Told Tale, ch. 2-4
Tu Sept 10 Some issues to consider in reading ethnographic writing
Readings: Wolf, A Thrice Told Tale, ch.5
Clifford in Clifford, Introduction: Partial Truths
Rosaldo in Clifford, From the Door of His Tent
Marcus in Clifford, Contemporary Problems of Ethnography
Research Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology
Th Sept 12 Principles in research design
Readings: Hammersley, Research Design
Tu Sept 17 Discussion of student reviews of ethnographies
*Ethnographic book review due
Th Sept 19 Issues of access and The art of field relations
Readings: Hammersley, Access and Field Relations
Tu Sept 24 Research ethics in sociocultural anthropology
Readings: Hammersley, Ethics
Th Sept 26 Ethics Case Day One: Darkness in El Dorado
Readings: Darkness in El Dorado, Introduction- Chapter 10
Tu Oct 1 Ethics Case Day Two: Darkness in El Dorado
Readings: Darkness in El Dorado, Chapter 11- Afterward
Th Oct 3 Participant observation and interviewing
Readings: Hammersley, Insider Accounts
Tu Oct 8 In-class practicum: the art of participant observation
*Bring in field notes from hour of participant observation at event of your choice
Th Oct 10 In-class practicum: interview design and technique
*Bring in a list of interview questions you'd like to use for your interview paper
Tu Oct 15 Generating and dealing with qualitative "data" and Documents as resources for sociocultural anthropology
Readings: Hammersley, Recording and Organizing Data and Documents
Th Oct 17 Analysis of qualitative data
Readings: Hammersley, The Process of Analysis
*Ethics essay due
Tu Oct 22 Writing ethnographically
Readings: Hammersley, Writing Ethnography
Th Oct 24 The art of writing research project proposals
Readings: Locke, Proposals That Work (on reserve )
Krathwohl, How to Prepare a Research Proposal ( on reserve)
Tu Oct 29 Generating, processing, analyzing, and writing about quantitative data
* Participant observation paper due
Th Oct 31 Collecting and expressing visual, audio, and audiovisual data
*Interview paper due
Unit Three: Research Project Proposal Presentations
Tu Nov 5 *Proposal presentations due: Group 1 (9:30 am)
Th Nov 7 *Proposal presentations due: Group 2 (9:30 am)
Tu Nov 12 *Proposal presentations due: Group 3 (9:30 am)
Th Nov 14 *Proposal presentations due: Group 4 (9:30 am)
Tu Nov 19 *Proposal presentations due: Group 5 (9:30 am)
Th Nov 21 [No class - Anthropology Professional Meetings]
Tu Nov 26 *Proposal presentations due: Group 6 (9:30 am)
Th Nov 28 [No class - Thanksgiving Holiday]
Conclusion:
Tu Dec 3 Concluding remarks
*Written feedback on classmates' proposal presentations due (9:30 am)
Th Dec 12 *Research project proposal due (12:00 noon)
Required Coursework:
Class participation: 25%
Completion of all required readings before class.
Attendance and prompt arrival at all class meetings
Active oral participation in class discussions with informed analysis and specific examples.
Listening to and acknowledging each other's points of view.
Encouraging others to participate by drawing them into the discussion.
Thoughtful, diplomatic responses to differences of opinion.
Creation of own web page and submitting assignments on the web.
Written feedback on the web to classmate's course assignments.
Written and oral feedback on classmates' proposal presentations.
Required assigned readings:
Martyn Hammersley and Paul Atkinson, Ethnography: Principles in Practice, 1995 (bookstore)
James Clifford and George E. Marcus, The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, 1986 (bookstore)
Margery Wolf, A Thrice Told Tale, 1992 (bookstore)
Patrick Tierney, Darkness in El Dorado, 2001 (bookstore)
Assorted reserve readings (library, reserve desk)
An ethnography of your choice in consultation with the instructor (for example, Bronislaw Malinowski's Argonauts of the Western Pacific, E. E. Evans-Pritchard's The Nuer, Anna Tsing's Into the Realm of the Diamond Queen, Huang Shu-Min's The Spiral Road, Paul Farmer's AIDS and Accusation, Sue Estroff's Making It Crazy, Nancy Scheper-Hughes' Death Without Weeping, and so on)
Book review of ethnography of your choice: 10%
5 pages, DS, 12 pt., 1-inch margins.
Submit paper and web copy and feedback to one classmate.
Guidelines for the evaluation of essays to be distributed in class
Ethics essay: 10%
5 pages, DS, 12 pt., 1-inch margins.
Submit paper and web copy and feedback to one classmate.
Guidelines for the evaluation of essays to be distributed in class
Participant observation paper: 10%
5 pages, DS, 12 pt., 1-inch margins.
Submit paper and web copy and feedback to one classmate.
Guidelines for the evaluation of essays to be distributed in class
Interview paper: 10%
5 pages, DS, 12 pt., 1-inch margins.
Submit paper and web copy and feedback to one classmate.
Guidelines for the evaluation of essays to be distributed in class
Presentation on research project proposal: 10%
One 10-minute in-class oral presentation on research project proposal.
In-class feedback will be provided by all class members.
Guidelines for the evaluation of presentations to be distributed in class
Research project proposal: 25%
10-12 pages, DS, 12 pt., 1-inch margins, plus outline, abstract, bibliography, timeline, and budget
Should analyze and cite material from at least ten outside books or scholarly articles.
Submit paper and web copy and feedback to one classmate.
Due noon, 515 Williams Hall (slide under door)
Guidelines for the evaluation of proposals to be distributed in class
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Students with special needs: Please confirm that I have received a letter from the ACCESS office, and contact me during the first week of class to discuss accommodations arrangements.
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Course Policies:
This section addresses course policies to ensure a positive and fair learning environment and to make sure that everyone has a clear understanding of the expectations in this course.
Preparation: Assigned readings must be completed prior to each class meeting. Inadequate preparation will impair your ability to participate effectively in class discussion and perform well in your written work. Class discussions will assume completion of assigned readings. It is your responsibility to make sure to complete all of the readings in a timely fashion.
Attendance: Attendance at each class meeting is crucial to your ability to do well in this course. Students are expected to arrive on time and to remain in the classroom until the end of the class. No absences and no tardiness can be permitted without documentation of a serious health problem, family emergency, religious obligation, or other excused reason. Unexcused absences, tardiness, or early departures will bring down the student's class participation grade. If you do need to be absent, with or without an excused reason, please touch base with the professor via a brief note or email as soon as you can. If, during class, you need to arrive late or leave early, you should do so quietly and considerately, giving a brief note with your name, the date, and an explanation to the lecturer. It is your responsibility to make up any content that you miss due to absence from class.
Conduct: All members of the class are expected to be attentive and considerate, to work together to create a positive and invigorating learning environment, and to treat each other with respect and compassion. Students are expected to actively participate in course discussions, to ask questions and express their analyses of issues raised in readings, to encourage others to participate in discussion, to listen respectfully to others' points of view, and to respond diplomatically to differences of opinion. Inappropriate conduct will bring down the student's class participation grade.
Late papers and makeups: Late papers cannot be accepted, extensions cannot be granted, and makeups cannot be given without documentation of a serious health problem, family emergency, religious obligation, or other excused reason. Please mark your calendars and set your alarm clocks carefully. Unexcused absence on the day that a presentation is scheduled will result in a zero on the presentation in question. Unexcused late papers will be marked down by a full letter grade per day late (e.g., one to twenty-four hours late, an A- becomes a B-).
Plagiarism and cheating: Plagiarism and cheating hamper a person's ability to learn and grow and create original work, and they stunt a group's ability to maintain fairness, honesty, and trust. Please familiarize yourself with proper citation practices and definitions of plagiarism and cheating. It is important to be aware that violations can result in serious consequences, including a failing grade on the essay, paper, or presentation in question. If you have any questions concerning the line between doing your own work and copying the work of others, please do not hesitate to ask.
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