Critical Social Inquiry 0229 - Art of Critical Ethnography

This course will familiarize students with the basics of conducting quality ethnographic research from a critical perspective. We will begin with one reality of our times: New media technologies offer research subjects increased access to the tools necessary for ethnographic representation of the self and communities. This means the ethnographer no longer has a monopoly on particular forms of power- namely the tools of representation and access to the technologies needed to circulate her representations of herself, "Others", institutions, or culture in general. This reality calls for theorizing critical ethnographic methodologies in ways that make the researcher aware of these changing dynamics and ever-more attentive to the power dynamics at play in all academic research. With an emphasis on youth, we will explore the politics of representing the self and "Others" in ethnographic research, as well as the various sites in which ethnographic research is currently conducted (school settings, out-of-school settings, juvenile detention facilities, peer groups, families, "Web 2.0" sites, and mass media discourses). Over the course of the term, students will engage readings, films, and activities that interrogate questions of ethics, access, reflexivity, methods of data collection and analysis, and the process of ethnographic writing.

Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least five to six hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.