Self-authorship autoethnography

Autoethnography is a kind of research method in which you explore your own self in relation to the world around you, with the aim of gaining insights that can be meaningful for you and others. In our case, we are going to explore what we have learned about ourselves through the various mini-assignments we have completed, in order to help us better understand ourselves and how we can be the change in the world. To complete the autoethnography, you will need to analyze all of your data sources that you have produced. This means reading through what you have written and looking again carefully at visual pieces in order to identify important themes and insights. You will then present your findings in a written essay, exploring in more detail the 2-3 most important themes that you identified that tell you something about your identity in terms of who you are and who you want to be. This essay should be minimum 1000 words.

Steps

1. Copy and paste all of your data into one document for easier reference. By 'data' we mean all of your mini-assignment work and, optionally, any other identity-related items or work you would like to include, into one document. For example, you might want to include the object or item we shared with the class that we feel represents us in some way, or you may have written a poem or something in a diary (at any point in your life) that you feel tells you something about yourself, or you may have some photos or objects that reveal an important aspect of your identity. You must include all of your mini-assignment work. However, adding anything else is optional. Once you have collected all of the items you want to include into your document, title it 'Appendix A'. You will eventually add this to the end of your essay.

2. You are now ready to start the data analysis. Remember, your research question (the purpose of the data analysis) is: Who am I and how do I want to be the change? Keep this question next to you to guide you as you analyze your data.

3. Read through / look at all of your data one time. As you do so, ask yourself "What strikes me?" "What am I noticing?" Highlight parts that jump out at you and write down some notes as comments on your document. These can be things like certain values you notice that keep appearing, or maybe certain emotions, or perhaps certain ways you notice that life events have shaped you, or insights into the types of activities that bring your joy or a sense of fulfillment. These are just a few of many, many examples of things that might strike you as you look through your data. You should also highlight possible quotes that you might want to include in your essay later. Please look at my appendix as an example if you think it will help you.

4. You will then create a new identity map based on your vision of who you are and how you would like to be the change. At the center you can choose to have the title "Being the change". You will then use the notes you took in step 3 to help you create your identity map. Here, you can makes links between who are you and what you have been through and how this understanding of yourself can shape who you are becoming and how you want to be the change. You can also refer to your data again to fill in more details, especially about the identity markers. Please see my example if you find it helpful. You should add this map as Appendix B.

5. Talk with a partner about your identity map. Talk through what you 2-3 insights you could write about and why. Your partner may help you focus or narrow down your ideas further, and they may see some links or connections that could help you.

6. Based on your identity map and peer conversation, you will now choose two or three main ideas that you would like to write about in more depth for the written autoethnography essay. These ideas should reflect some kind of insights you have gained about yourself and your relationship to the world, insights that you think are meaningful for you and that you think could also be meaningful to readers. Create an outline or small map as a plan to help you organize your writing. See my example. Add this plan to Appendix B.

7. You are now ready to write your autoethnography essay. As you write about each insight, you should try to do the following:

   1. Introduce the insight and explain it clearly

   2. Support your explanation with evidence from your data (i.e. lots of relevant quotes or images from your mini-assignments or other work)

   3. Support your insight with one or two references to texts (i.e. videos or readings) -- either that we have covered so far in the course, or ones that you have found on your own that are relevant to the insight you are presenting. You can find a list of most of the texts used this semester on the "Texts" page of this class site.

   4. Try to conclude with some kind of "So what?" statement. In other words, answer one or more of the following questions: Why does this insight matter? What difference does this insight make to you, and possibly to others? Where is this insight taking you in terms of being the change?

8. Your essay should include an interesting and focused introduction and conclusion. Add a relevant, creative title. The minimum word count for the essay itself is 1000 words (but can be as long as you would like beyond that). After the essay, you should list your references (at least 2-3) in APA, followed by your two appendices. 

9. Follow the formatting instructions on the main Assignments page, and proofread very carefully before you submit.

Please do not use AI to write this essay.

Grading

"As well as being reflexive and critical, autoethnographies need to move us to action" (Schroeder, 2017).

You will be evaluated on the extent to which you meet the criteria in the rubric below. See my example (with appendices) if you find it helpful. Remember, there is no one way to do this assignment. What is important is that you are gaining meaningful insight into who you are and how you want to be the change, and that you are conveying your insights in a way that attempts to engage your reader. Feel free to be creative within the parameters of the assignment requirements.

Adapted from assignment created by Dr. David Hanauer