Module Code and Title:        ETY202 Writing Ethnography        

Programme:                          BA in Anthropology

Credit:                                   12

Module Tutor:                       Dolma Choden Roder

General objective: This hands-on module aims to develop student’s ethnographic writing skills, a core research skill in anthropology. It will build on the knowledge and critical readings abilities that students developed in ETY201 Ethnographic Monographs and compliment what they are learning in UGR202 Anthropological Research Methods. Students will explore the relationship between the kinds of data collected during fieldwork and how they can be used to support theory in ethnographic writing. The module will also include workshop-like practical classes aimed at giving students the time, support and space to hone their ethnographic technique. This module will be important for preparing students to undertake UGR303 Undergraduate Ethnographic Research in their final year.

Learning outcomes – On completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Explain the relationship of ethnography to the discipline of Anthropology.
2. Recognize ethnographic writing strategies and genre in a selection of ethnographic writing.
3. Evaluate a selection of ethnographic writing.
4. Collect ethnographic data.
5. Apply a range of ethnographic writing strategies to their own writing.
6. Analyse ethnographic data.
7. Produce an original ethnographic account.

Learning and Teaching Approach:

Assessment Approach:

A. Ethnography Book Review: Portion of Final Mark: 20%

Students will individually write a critical response to a selected ethnographic text demonstrating their ability to engage with and evaluate ethnography. The book review will be 600-800 words in length.

4%       Summary of the book (accuracy and completeness)

10%     Quality of analysis (includes well stated and original analysis, uses relevant and adequate support for all claims made)

2%       Organization

2%       Language       

2%       Referencing

B. Book review presentation: Portion of Final Mark: 5%

Students will orally present their critical response to a selected ethnographic text. By performing the oral presentation before turning in their book review students will have the opportunity to receive feedback from the tutor and their peers that they can use to improve their written book review. The presentation will be 10 minutes long.

3%       Content (how well does the presentation address specified criteria, quality of overall reflection, all claims relevant and supported)

1%       Organization and structure; language use

1%       Delivery (volume, pace, efforts to engage audience) and time management

C. In class writing exercises: Portion of Final Marks: 10%

Students will be asked to individually practice ethnographic writing in class, focusing on core issues such as combining observation and theory, descriptions of people, events and places, positioning, reflexivity and voice. They will be given 2 in class writing assignments as well as opportunities to provide constructive feedback to their classmates. The tutor will provide appropriate feedback during the exercise. The exercises (each graded out of 10), will have their marks averaged to compute the final mark for this assessment. The exercises may include:

• Description and observation exercises
• Applying theory to data exercises
• Exercises exploring voice and representation
• Reflexivity exercises

D. Leading discussion: Portion of Final Marks: 10%

During the semester students will be responsible for working with one or two partners to lead class discussion about a particular ethnography selected because it illustrates an ethnographic technique or analytical genre. The discussion will be expected to last most of a class period or at least 40 minutes. The tutor may take up the last ten minutes of class (or spend time in the next class) going over doubts, confusions or inaccuracies but will be a silent observer during the discussion. During the discussion students will be responsible for (1) summarizing the ethnography in their own words, including identifying and explaining key terms and concepts, (2) preparing discussion questions to stimulate class discussion and (3) facilitating a clear and helpful discussion that will help them class as a whole to both understand the reading and engage more critically with its main arguments and ideas. Before the discussion, each pair will meet with the tutor to discuss the reading, clarify any doubts or questions they have about the reading. Discussion facilitation will be assessed based on:

2%       Pre-discussion meeting (attendance and preparedness)

2%       Quality and accuracy of summary (focus should be on arguments)

3%       Thoughtfulness and effectiveness of discussion questions  

2%       Quality and effectiveness of facilitation of discussion (including balance between facilitator and class participation)

1%       Teamwork (including meaningfulness of each member’s participation)

E. Class participation and preparedness: Portion of Final Mark: 10%

Students will be expected to participate substantially in class discussions, with contributions reflecting adequate preparation for topics under discussion. 5% of class participation and preparedness will be assessed before midterm, and the remaining 5% post midterm.

F. Ethnographic Project: Portion of Final Mark 45%

Students will spend a large part of the semester working on an individual self-directed ethnographic project that will demonstrate mastery of the ethnography as both a genre and a research methodology. Since this project is on-going, at least 15% of the final mark will be allotted to process (including a proposal and draft stage) a further 10% of the final mark will be allotted to improvement based on feedback. Three milestones will included (namely the proposal, an update viva and a draft) in order to ensure that students are on-track, supported and working throughout the semester. The final project is expected to be 1000-1,250 words in length.

2%       Proposal (completeness, thoughtfulness, feasibility)

2%       Update Viva (oral account of progress, process and challenges to take place at the midway point, students will be evaluated based on their progress, organization and thoughtful reflection)

5%       Quality of Draft (including the quality of the ethnographic account, ability to apply relevant module concepts and techniques, claims made in the ethnography are well stated and supported)

25%     Quality of content (including the quality of the ethnographic account, ability to apply relevant module concepts and techniques, claims made in the ethnography are well stated and supported)

2%       Language

2%       Referencing

2%       Organization

5%       Improvement (in comparison to draft, with particular emphasis on consideration and incorporation of feedback provided)

Pre-requisites: AFD101: Introduction to Anthropology, ETY201 Ethnographic Monographs

Subject matter:

1. Unit I: Review of Ethnography (a review)
   • Review of key terms, history and logic of ethnography
   • The value of ethnography as an academic exercise
2. Unit II: Ethnographic Genres
   • Realistic ethnography (Evans-Pritchard): definition, key features and examples
   • Reflexive ethnography (Behar): definition, key features and examples
   • Experimental ethnography (Bieh): definition, key features and examples
   • Critical ethnography: definition, key features and examples
   • Virtual ethnography: definition, key features and examples
   • Multi-sited ethnography (Marcus): definition, key features and examples
   • Native ethnographies: definition, key features and examples
3. Unit III: Ethnographic Conventions and Clichés
   • Arrival stories; function, key features and examples
   • The use of vignettes: function, key features and examples
   • Review of thick description (Geertz): definition, function, key features and examples
   • Incorporating holism and context: definition, function and examples
   • Review of authorial authority and challenges to authorial authority: definition, function, critique and examples
   • Avoiding the ethnographic present: definition, function, critique and examples
   • Insider view(s): definition, function, key features and examples
4. Unit IV: “Doing” Ethnography
   • Review of participant observation: definition and function
   • Practical concerns in fieldwork: types and examples
   • Building and maintaining rapport: function and key feature
   • Recognizing “ethnographic data”: key features and examples
   • Formal and informal interviews: key features, process and examples
   • Making ethnographic field notes (Emerson, Fretz & Shaw): key features, process and examples
   • Coding ethnographic field notes: key features, process and examples
   • Analysing ethnographic field notes: key features, process and examples
5. Unit V: Writing Ethnography (Narayan)
   • Writing thick description; process, examples and practice
   • Creating scenes: process, examples and practice
   • Building contexts: process, examples and practice
   • Creating characters and personalities: process, examples and practice
   • Incorporating voices: process, examples and practice
   • Choices about representation: process, examples and practice
   • Positioning the author: process, examples and practice
   • Language and tone: examples and practice
   • Fitting together theory and ethnographic data: process, examples and practice
6. Unit VI: Ethic of Ethnography
   • Ethics in the field: key issues and concern
   • The politics of representation (Clifford): definition and implications
   • The ethnographer’s obligations: debates and implications

Reading List:

1. Essential Reading
   • Clifford, J. (1983). On Ethnographic Authority. Representations, 2, 118- 146.
   • Emerson, R., Fretz, R., & Shaw, L. (2011). Writing ethnographic Field notes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
   • Geertz, C. (1998). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture. In C. Geertz, The interpretation of culture (pp. 3-32). New York: Basic Books.
   • Murchison, J. (2010). Participant observation. In J. Murchison, Ethnography essentials: Designing, conducting and presenting your research (pp. 83-98). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
   • Naryan, K. (2012). Alive in the writing: Crafting ethnography in the company of Chekhov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2. Additional Reading
   • Basso, K. (1996). Wisdom sits in places: Landscape and language among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
   • Behar, R. (1996). The vulnerable observer: Anthropology that breaks your heart. Boston: Beacon Press.
   • Benedict, R. (1946). The chrysanthemum and the sword. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
   • Bieh, J. (2005). Vita: Life in a zone of social abandonment. Berkeley: University of California Press.
   • Cerwonka, A., & Malkki, L.H. (2007). Improvising theory: Process and temporality in ethnographic fieldwork. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
   • Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1937) Witchcraft, magic and oracles among the Azade. Oxford: Oxford University Press
   • Marcus, G. (1995). Ethnography in/of the world system: The emergence of multi-sited ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24, 95-117.
   • Passaro, J. (1997). You can’t take a subway to the field!. In A. Gupta & J. Ferguson (Eds.), Anthropological locations: Boundaries and grounds of field science (pp. 147-162). Berkeley and London: University of California Press.

Date: March 15, 2018