Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
202
Assignment:
Ways
of
Ethnographic
Listening
Due
Tuesday
November
4th,
1
pm
(before
class
begins)
Please
note:
the
assignment
will
be
handed
in
electronically.
Please
follow
the
same
directions
for
posting
that
you
followed
for
assignment
#1.
In
addition,
please
scan
and
upload
your
field
notes
as
a
PDF
file.
The
goal
of
this
assignment
is
to
learn
ways
to
observe
and
listen
ethnographically,
and
to
find
ways
to
use
writing
as
a
means
to
do
this.
For
this
assignment
you
will
(1)
choose
a
field
site,
(2)
go
to
the
field
site
and
conduct
ethnographic
observation,
(3)
take
notes
while
in
the
field,
come
home
and
transcribe
and
augment
your
notes,
(4)
write
an
ethnographic
sketch
about
your
field
site
and
your
experience
there,
and
(5)
write
a
rationale.
(1)
The
Field
Site
You
must
choose
a
field
site,
somewhere
in
Montreal,
that
makes
you
uncomfortable.
By
this,
I
do
not
mean
that
you
should
go
someplace
dangerous.
You
should
not
in
any
way
do
anything
that
would
put
you
or
anyone
else
in
physical
or
serious
psychological
danger.
You
simply
need
to
find
a
place
that
is
somehow
outside
of
your
known
socio-cultural,
and
perhaps
socio-economic,
comfort
zone,
a
place
that
feels
strange
to
you.
For
the
purposes
of
this
assignment,
this
site
should
be
a
public
or
retail
space
someplace
where
you
can
hang
out
for
about
an
hour
without
having
to
ask
permission
or
establish
for
anyone
why
you
are
there.
Possible
field
sites
might
include
an
indoor
or
outdoor
food
market
catering
to
a
particular
neighborhood
or
ethnic
group
you
are
unfamiliar
with,
a
caf,
or
bar,
or
metro
station
in
an
unfamiliar
neighborhood,
any
sort
of
public
event
such
as
a
parade,
an
outdoor
religious
procession,
or
a
local
team
sport
event
(such
as
a
high
school
football
game)
that
draws
spectators;
a
park
or
street
bench
in
an
unfamiliar
neighborhood;
a
long
ride
on
a
bus
or
metro
filled
with
other
people
on
an
unfamiliar
line
through
an
unfamiliar
part
of
the
city.
Some
examples
of
sites
that
are
not
allowed:
Sites
devoid
of
people;
any
sites
that
are
near
Montreals
universities
or
that
cater
to
university
students;
professional
or
university
sport
events;
large
chain
supermarkets
(e.g.,
IGA,
Provigo,
etc.),
shopping
malls,
markets
commonly
frequented
by
McGill
students
(e.g.,
Segals,
Atwater
Market,
Jean
Talon
Market);
institutions
of
religious
worship;
health
institutions
or
therapy
sessions
of
any
kind;
Parc
Lafontaine,
Parc
Mont
Royal;
a
field
site
you
visited
before
undertaking
this
assignment
(e.g.,
a
foreign
country
you
visited
over
the
summer);
simply
driving
or
biking
through
a
neighborhood.
A
list
of
possible
field
sites
is
included
at
the
end
of
the
assignment.
(2)
Conducting
Ethnographic
Observation
You
should
plan
to
spend
a
minimum
of
one
hour
at
this
site
(not
including
travel
to
and
from
it)
observing
what
is
going
on
around
you
and
observing
how
you
feel
in
this
site.
For
this
assignment
you
are
not
to
develop
sustained
relations
with
anyone,
or
conduct
any
interviews.
That
would
require
ethics
clearance
and
more
training.
It
is
OK
to
have
a
brief
conversation
if
this
arises
naturally,
or,
to
jot
down
snippets
of
conversation
you
may
happen
to
overhear
in
public
spaces.
Without
being
too
self-indulgent
or
self-absorbed
(remember,
ethnography
is
about
the
self
but
only
insofar
as
your
self
discoveries
are
through
the
detour
of
the
comprehension
of
the
other)
pay
attention
to
your
own
reactions
to
the
setting
you
are
observing
and
to
the
actions
and
social
interactions
of
others.
What
are
people
doing?
What
is
the
general
mood?
Is
there
anything
about
how
people
relate
to
each
other
that
strikes
you
(are
people
silent,
loud,
very
physical
or
withdrawn?).
This
is
a
micro-ethnography.
Focus
on
carefully
describing
concrete
interactions,
details
and
objects
that
you
observe.
Make
sure
you
take
good
notes
on
the
physical
setting
(in,
say
a
caf,
describe
what
the
tables
look
like,
the
walls,
the
view).
What
do
people
look
like,
how
are
they
dressed,
what
exactly
are
they
wearing?
What
are
people
drinking
at
the
caf,
what
do
the
coffee
cups
look
like?
Of
course,
this
is
ethnography,
so
your
main
focus
is
not
on
objects
or
empty
spaces
but
on
actual
people
and
how
they
interact
their
social
and
cultural
worlds,
their
everyday
lives.
Make
sure
you
also
treat
your
travel
to
and
from
the
field
as
part
of
your
field
experience.
What
is
this
transitional
zone
like?
What
do
you
feel
as
you
move
closer
to
the
field?
When
does
it
begin
to
feel
like
you
are
really
in
the
field?
What
is
different
from
the
places
you
are
more
familiar
with,
when
does
it
become
different?
Make
sure
that
you
are
equally
precise
about
documenting
your
own
reactions
to
your
new
cultural
environment.
(3)
Taking
Notes
As
weve
discussed
in
class,
how
you
see
and
think
about
what
you
see
is
closely
related
to
the
representational
media
you
use
and
how
you
use
it.
Writing
helps
you
see
things,
it
helps
you
listen
more
attentively.
It
also
may
detract
you
at
times
from
listening.
Keep
this
in
mind
in
the
field.
You
should
definitely
have
a
notebook
handy.
Write
down
as
much
as
you
can
at
the
moment
you
observe
it.
In
some
instances
you
may
need
to
write
things
down
after
the
event.
Try
to
do
this
as
soon
as
possible,
so
that
you
dont
forget
the
little
details.
Tape
recording,
filming,
and
photography
are
not
permitted
for
this
project.
If
you
are
interested
in
photography
or
film
you
might
try
to
imagine
what
is
like
to
be
seeing
things
in
the
field
as
if
through
the
cameras
lens
and
to
write
about
this
way
of
seeing.
Take
a
lot
of
field
notes.
Then
go
home
and
immediately
transcribe
them
into
your
computer.
Try
not
to
clean
them
up
too
much,
you
want
to
preserve
your
first
impressions
in
all
of
their
freshness.
You
should
add
to
your
field
notes
with
other
reflections
or
memories
or
even
dreams!
about
your
field
experience.
You
will
use
these
transcribed
notes
as
the
basis
for
writing
your
ethnographic
sketch.
We
will
also
want
to
see
your
original
hand
written
notes
that
you
took
in
the
field.
Include
the
time,
date,
and
place
where
they
were
written,
and
hand
them
in
with
the
rest
of
your
assignment.
Your
original
field
notes
should
be
about
3
pages
long.
(4)
Write
an
Ethnographic
Sketch
Your
sketch
should
be
3
double-spaced
pages
long
and
it
should
have
a
title,
which
attempts
to
capture
in
some
way
or
another
something
of
the
ethnographic
essence
of
your
field
site,
the
events
there,
or
your
experiences
there.
In
your
sketch,
make
clear
where
your
field
site
is.
Give
us
a
sense
of
the
physical
setting,
so
we
understand
what
kind
of
a
place
it
is
you
are
writing
about.
Set
the
scene
for
the
events
and
interactions
you
will
describe,
reflect
on
your
own
sensations
about
being
there.
Your
sketch
should
be
well
written
and
carefully
edited.
It
should
be
organized
in
paragraphs
that
link
logically
to
one
another.
You
do
not
need
to
make
an
argument,
but
you
do
need
to
give
some
thought
to
how
you
are
going
to
organize
your
material.
Your
sketch
should
have
a
beginning
and
an
end.
For
the
purposes
of
this
assignment
try
to
model
your
writing
on
one
or
more
of
the
ethnographic
writings
we
have
read
so
far
in
class
(especially
Agees
but
also
Rabinow
and
Geertz
in
their
ethnographic
descriptions,
not
their
theoretical
analysis).
Alternatively,
you
may
try
to
paint
an
ethnographic
sketch
as
if
it
were
a
scene
from
one
of
the
descriptively
rich
ethnographic
films
weve
seen
in
class
(e.g.,
Robert
Gardners
Forest
of
Bliss,
or
Lucien
Taylors
Sweetgrass).
For
this
assignment
you
should
try
to
explicitly
copy
the
writing
and/or
observational
styles
of
these
anthropologists.
This
is
not
plagiarism.
Think
of
yourself
as
an
apprentice
and
think
of
these
as
the
master
craftspeople
under
which
you
are
apprenticing.
What
can
you
learn
from
the
ways
they
see
and
the
ways
they
depict
what
they
see?
Your
sketch
should
be
closely
based
on
your
field
notes,
and
you
might
even
lift
a
few
sentences
directly
out
of
your
field
notes,
but
the
sketch
is
not
simply
the
field
notes.
It
is
a
reworking,
a
polishing,
mixed
with
your
reflections
after
the
field,
of
this
material.
(5)
Rationale
In
half
a
page
to
one
page
your
rationale
should:
a)
briefly
justify
why
your
field
site
is
appropriate.
You
need
to
explain
to
us
why
this
site
is
strange
to
you,
or
in
some
way
makes
you
feel
uncomfortable;
b)
briefly
explain
what
youve
learned
about
ways
of
anthropological
listening
through
this
assignment;
c)
explain
which
of
the
ethnographers
whose
works
weve
read
or
seen
in
class
you
used
as
an
influence
in
your
ethnographic
sketch,
give
us
a
sense
of
what
it
is
about
your
chosen
mentor(s)
that
you
found
inspiring
or
helpful.
Grading
Criteria
(out
of
35
points)
Title:
1
point
Does
your
title
capture
something
of
the
ethnographic
essence
of
your
field
site,
the
events
there,
or
your
experiences
there?
Ethnographic
Sketch:
(20
points
total)
Setting:
Have
you
established
the
setting
(physical,
geographical,
social)
for
the
ethnographic
scene
you
are
depicting?
(4
points)
Listening:
How
well
do
you
demonstrate
your
ability
to
listen
ethnographically
in
a
way
that
has
allowed
you
to
capture
subtle
details
about
socio-cultural
reality?
How
well
have
you
reflected
on
yourself
as
an
observing
and
listening
subject?
(10
points)
Clarity:
Have
you
organized
your
description
in
some
sort
of
a
meaningful
and
clear
way?
(3
points)
Creativity:
Have
you
managed
to
convey
interesting
insights
about
the
lives
of
the
people
you
have
observed
and/or
about
the
ethnographic
process
and
your
experience
of
it?
(3points)
Rationale:
(8
points
total)
Strangeness:
How
well
have
you
justified
why
your
field
site
made
you
uncomfortable?
(3
points)
Learning:
Have
you
adequately
explained
what
youve
learned
from
this
exercise
in
ethnographic
listening?
(3
points)
Influences:
Have
you
adequately
explained
how
you
were
influenced
by
one
of
your
mentor
ethnographers?
(2
points)
Overall
Writing:
(3
points)
Is
your
paper
well
organized
with
paragraphs
that
flow
well
and
clear
sentences?
Did
you
fulfill
all
the
instructions
outlined
here
and
on
the
syllabus?
(i.e.,
you
should
use
standard
margins
and
12
point
font,
etc.,
etc.).
Did
you
carefully
edit
your
paper?
Is
it
free
of
typos?
Field
Notes
and
Their
Relation
to
the
Sketch:
(3
points)
Please
note,
you
cannot
get
credit
for
this
assignment
if
you
do
not
include
the
hand
written
notes
you
took
in
the
field
(which
you
should
scan,
convert
to
a
pdf,
and
turn
in
with
your
assignment).
Have
you
taken
enough
field
notes
(about
3
pages)?
Do
they
indicate
that
you
were
carefully
listening
to
the
events
around
you?
Are
they
rich
in
detail?
Think
of
your
field
notes
as
your
data.
Your
ethnographic
sketch
should
grow
out
of
your
field
notes
and
be
closely
tied
to
them,
but
it
is
not
just
your
cleaned
up
field
notes.
You
will
be
adding
other
memories
of,
and
reflections
on,
the
events
you
saw,
things
that
didnt
make
it
into
your
field
notes.
In
the
sketch
you
will
also
be
imposing
on
these
some
sort
of
organizational,
or
narrative,
logic.
Have
Fun!!!
Some
Potential
Field
Sites
Here
are
some
ideas
for
potential
field
sites
from
our
TAs.
We
do
not
believe
that
these
places
pose
any
particular
dangers,
but
please
use
your
judgment.
This
is
the
real
world.
-The
Goth
club
on
St.
Laurent
and
St.
Catherine
-Foufounes
Electriques
on
St
Catherine
between
St
Laurent
and
St.
Denis
-Dunkin
Donuts
on
St.
Laurent
and
St.
Catherine
-Anywhere
on
St.
Catherine
or
Ontario
east
of
Frontenac
-Donut
shops
and
McDonalds
at
night.
-Laval
(the
suburb)
-Strip
clubs
(
Solid
Gold
on
St.
Laurent
and
a
place
on
Parc
and
Fairmount,
TAs
feel
that
these
are
less
skuzzy
than
others).
-Hochelaga
(anywhere
on
Ontario
street
going
west
from
Frontenac
metro
station,
until
at
least
Pie
IX,
A
good
place
here
would
be
the
restaurant
Chez
Clo:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/722501/restaurant/Montreal/Hochelaga-
Maisonneuve/Restaurant-Chez-Clo-Montreal)