Afro-American Studies 690A - Black Feminist Ethnography

The seminar explores the relationship between ethnography and theory from a Black feminist anthropological perspective, focusing on how social theory and methodology are mutually productive. The class will draw on conceptual tools and a close reading and analysis of ethnographic studies addressing subjects such as gender, class, geographies, and human-non-human relations, among others, to critically examine themes such as power and knowledge production, the politics of ethnographic fieldwork, positionality and representation, decolonizing methodologies, and experimental writing approaches. The course will critically reflect on the multiple ways scholars think and write about contemporary social issues and the subjective experiences of Black communities and spaces, drawing on questions such as how we use data to develop theory and how theoretical frameworks shape ethnographic production. Overall, this seminar aims to stimulate students? critical awareness of the complex dynamics shaping the production of ethnographic knowledge.