DISCUSSION POST #1 DUE 2/10
Read “A Report from Occupied Territory” by James Baldwin
Write a short response (250-500 words) to Baldwin’s essay that addresses the following questions:
- What cultural information (shared beliefs, rules/rituals, behaviors, insider language, etc.) does the article include?
- What kind of questions might a fieldworker ask to further uncover the culture the article describes?
- What other sources of information might a fieldworker use to penetrate the insider perspective?
DISCUSSION POST #2 DUE 2/26
Read “The Hustlers at Scores” by Jessica Pressler
Write a short response (250-500 words) to Pressler’s profile that addresses the following questions:
- What cultural information (shared belies, rules/rituals, behaviors, insider language, etc.) does the article include?
- How was the background information chosen helpful in understanding the story?
- How did she describe her informants to make them come to life?
DISCUSSION POST #3 DUE 3/11
Choose a public place (park, restaurant, church, coffee shop, etc.) to conduct a non-participant observation. Plan to spend at least one hour observing and taking notes. Record as many details, informational and personal, as you can about what you experience. Write a brief summary (250-500 words) of what you observe noting any patterns or themes.
DISCUSSION POST #4 DUE 3/18
Brainstorm a list of all the privileges you have.
- Includes those that you enjoy through your own efforts — for example, an educational scholarship that you have thanks to your hard work and good grades.
- Also include privileges that require little to no effort on your part — for example, about being born into a middle-class family or having American citizenship.
Write a short reflection (250-500 words) on how these privileges might affect your field research.
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- Some areas to think and write reflectively about are: age, nationality, gender, skin color, race, or ethnicity, education level or opportunities, social and or financial support, freedom of religion or of speech or freedom to travel, socioeconomic status, etc.
- Questions to consider:
- What are your reasons for choosing your particular online community?
- Which of your own fixed positions (personal facts) may affect what you see/notice?
- What subjective positions (life history and personal experience) do you carry into your research? ·
DISCUSSION POST #5 DUE 5/6
Write a short reflection (250-500 words) on your approach to writing. Questions to consider:
- How do you prepare for written assignments/tasks?
- What do you need to know before you begin?
- What do you learn as you go through the process?
- How has this process changed (or not changed) over the course of the semester?
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