Write a formal paper describing a different/unknown/foreign culture that you have researched. Use tools such as your oral history interview, participant observation and different kinds of comparative and reflexive analyses based on your and other known cultures.
This paper is 3-5 pages long, approximately 750-1500 words long, with standard formatting only (1.5-2 spacing, max. 1 in margins, max. 12 pt font, etc.).
This paper is designed to catalog and describe the people, spaces, norms, structures and other aspects of this culture to an outsider without intimate knowledge of the culture.
Write a short introduction that identifies themes you either planned to observe/study or that you ended up focusing on as a result of your experience. If you had to change the focus of your study explain what led you to change your goals/perspectives.
Focus your ethnography on two or three major themes/topics for the sake of clarity and focus.
Your ethnography should be structured around questions/topics that we have considered in our discussions of culture and ethnography in our class thus far. You may choose to focus on specific social structures, norms, childhood/family/kinship relations and experiences, socialization and education, class/power, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, general worldview and understanding of other cultures as well as any other interesting aspects of culture.
Plan to devote roughly equal space to the two or three major themes that you explore. That means 1-1.5 pages with some introduction and conclusion that wraps them all together.
You should identify a space or spaces where you conducted your studies. You should plan to spend a minimum of 1.5-3 hours on at least two different occasions in your study location(s) in order to get a large enough ‘sample’ of observations.
Your observations should be both as a spectator/observer and as a participant observer – make every effort to integrate yourself.
Ask questions: What behaviors are culturally specific? What are the short lists of norms and beliefs that define this culture/space/activity? What is considered “normal” vs. “abnormal”? Why? Does everyone behave the same way? Is there pattern or organization to who behaves how and why? How do you know? What if anything surprised you or caused you confusion or discomfort? Why? Was there something you could NOT access? Things that as an outsider you simply couldn’t understand no matter what?
Write reflexively about any challenges that you encountered, or about how your perspectives and biases changed how you experienced this culture (vs. how the members of this culture experience it).
What avenues for future study do you foresee?
What perspective and style/tone will you write with? What is your ‘story’ about? Who is your audience? Make it engaging and make it make sense. Proofread. Use citations where necessary/appropriate.
