CRAFT OF ETHNOGRAPHY
SOCIOLOGY 7622
Spring 2024
Units: 3.0
Thursdays | 3:00pm to 5:30pm
Location: McGuinn Hall 413
Boston College
This graduate-level course introduces students to the craft of ethnography, “the disciplined and deliberate witness-cum-recording of human events.”[1] We will focus not just on learning key epistemological debates and reading exemplary research, but also on doing ethnography.
Every student must complete 20 hours of in-person fieldwork during the semester. You can partake in participant observation (prioritize lessons learned through observation), observant participation (prioritize lessons learned through participation), or mix these approaches. Either way, you are expected to write high quality fieldnotes and analytical memos informed by extant theory.
You can satisfy your fieldwork hours by designing and executing your own IRB-approved study. Alternatively, you can contribute to one of two IRB-approved collaborative fieldwork projects designed specifically for the class: an examination of the labor process via a case study of platform-based food delivery work and a study of street-level bureaucracy via a case study of district court proceedings.[2] All three options require some engagement with analytical social theory, but the collective projects include a handful of texts selected by me.
Our course content and exercises are divided into four overlapping parts: 1) Practicing Ethnography, 2) Theorizing Ethnography, 3) Debating Ethnography, and 4) Consuming Ethnography.
The first half of most seminars will focus on the assigned readings, and the second half will focus on students’ ongoing fieldwork. However, we will make an effort to identify connections and contradictions between ethnography on paper (what we read) and ethnography in practice (what we do). This will most explicitly be accomplished through four "working theory" memos and either a) a solo report or b) a collaborative manuscript.
While this is a single-semester course, there will be opportunities for continued support and mentorship throughout the year. Assuming there is enough interest, I will organize a series of post-course meetings where students can either a) develop their independent fieldwork into theses, dissertation chapters, and/or article manuscripts or b) develop coauthored manuscripts with me and others involved in the gig work study and/or the courtroom study.
I ultimately hope this course is the beginning (or continuation) of your ethnographic training. Let’s get to (field)work!
[1] Willis and Throndman (2000: 5).
[2] “An Observant Participation Study of the Greater Boston Gig Economy,” PI: Josh Seim. Boston College IRB Protocol: 23.125.01E. "A Participant Observation Study of Greater Boston Trial Courts," PI: Josh Seim, Boston College IRB Protocol: 23.158.01e.