Part 1:
The "Summer Camp" podcast is an example of an ethnography because it seeks to answer a critical question about the distinct gap between camp-lovers and camp-haters in America through observations of and interviews with "camp people." The podcast is organized into six "notes about camp," each of which deals with a different aspect of camp. This structure allowed each "note" to dive deeper into its own subject in a way that uniquely contributed to the listener's understanding of camp. I was very intrigued by this podcast because it reminds me of a conviction that was closely held by author Kurt Vonnegut, who also studied Anthropology: human beings thrive in large, extended families and/or small, close-knit communities. I could also personally relate to the tension between American camp culture's insensitive use of "Fake Indian-ness" and the business of camp, wherein those Native American rituals and terms are very popular among campers such that they keep coming back for them every summer. I recall distancing myself from my favorite day camp as a child after the closely held yet politically incorrect traditions were eliminated.
The "Becoming Batman" podcast is an example of a profile because it closely observes a highly accomplished blind man, Daniel Kish, in order to shed light on the psychological influence of expectations on performance and the responsibility of society to shift those expectations when they are holding people back. I genuinely felt drawn in and connected to Kish's experience when he detailed his childhood memories, especially those of his first encounter with another blind child, Adam. This podcast greatly intrigued me for many reasons, from the fascinating psychological finding about expectations to the neuroscience of the clicking-blind-brain's visual cortex, which illustrated the urgency of a cultural shift of expectations for the blind because their learning to "see" becomes much harder with age. "Becoming Batman" took a very broad concept--expectations--and effectively sharpened its importance to a personal level before broadening it back again to highlight the connection to larger society.
Part 2:
I'm ninety-eight percent positive that I would like this project to be an ethnography. However, I'm afraid that my "group" will end up being too large. For example, a feasible as well as an interesting group would be female undergraduate students here at UNL. I don't know which location on campus would be meaningful to my critical question as opposed to random. I definitely want to get some diverse opinions on feminism, specifically whether these women identify as feminists, why, and what has influenced their opinions. I would also be sure to ask them how important they feel the feminist cause is in terms of societal consensus. I think this would contribute to my critical question in the sense that, in terms of organization, divisive issues like abortion prevent women from uniting and rising up; unification is crucial for social change. I would like to gauge these women's thoughts and feelings about gender equality in 2015 America, and how those sentiments relate to their own perceptions of feminism. Understanding what and/or who influences these women's ideas of feminism could, additionally, bring some clarity to the many answers to my critical question. The undergraduate identity of this group could also bring college rape culture into the modern relevance of feminism. I'm unsure as to how the scope of this group will meet the appropriate standards for a quality ethnography.
I hadn't focused as much on the Native American cultural appropriation as you did, but I think that may have been because I listened to the podcast while playing a video game. I liked that you commented on the disconnect between campgoers and non-campgoers, as it was something that I didn't pay much attention to since it was mostly mentioned in the beginning and my memory is typically short.
ReplyDeleteI didn't write about it explicitly, but I too was very interested in the visual representation of the echolocating blind person's mind images. I hadn't really thought about the urgency you described due to the aging of the blind population; I think it's a very important topic to note, that expectations need to shift quickly to salvage as many blind people's ability to learn to "see" as possible.
Julianne,
ReplyDeleteGreat job considering the way the pdocasts work. You do a particularly good job of pulling out the critical questions each addressed and how it connected tot he broader culture.
In terms of your project, I think you're right that an ethnography is the way to go, but I can see your concern in figuring out where to start what group exactly to do. You don't so much want to take a poll of people to see what their stance is on your critical question, but rather closely study--mostly though observation-- how your idea of feminism plays out in a group. Could you do something like studying another discussion based class summer class like ours to see how the men and women interact in them? See how ideas of feminism play out int he classroom? Do college women act in accordance to their feminist or not feminist beliefs in the classroom? Or , could you go do the same thing with a group of faculty? Try to attend a faculty meeting to see if they act out their beliefs on feminism? Or could you go out into the community and see what feminism looks like at something like Friendship Home (a woman's shelter)? Or what does feminism look like in some profession like in the medical field or at a law firm?