Posted January 16

Fieldwork Project I

To Serve and Observe

Getting Involved

Central to the discipline of Anthropology is the experience of fieldwork, becoming a participant in a culture in order to learn about it. In this first assignment you will choose the one setting where you will serve and observe this semester. You will go to the same place throughout the semester in order to make connections and deepen your understanding and relationships there. In fieldwork, as in service, you work with others for some common goals and some distinct ones. Every two weeks I will ask you to complete a particular writing assignment, and that is one of your goals, but your commitment to your service placement goes beyond those particular assignments. You have responsibilities to the agency or supervisor and to the people with whom you make connections in addition to your responsibilities for this course. You should plan on going at least once a week for a couple of hours; choose something to which you can make that kind of commitment for the whole semester.

Your specific assignments will move you toward an end of semester project; keep them all as they are returned. The professional anthropologist keeps a file of field notes, logging each day’s observation. Any notes you can make will come in handy later.

This first assignment requires that you make a decision about your service site and make your first visit there in time to hand in the written assignment by September 17. I encourage you to work at a site recommended by the Service Learning Center, but you may have other needs or interests that draw you elsewhere for this assignment. Whatever your choice, you should ask yourself questions with regard to:

Practical issues – can you get there and back at the times that are useful to the agency? (transportation, schedule, etc.)

Personal issues – will you be working with a population or in a situation that is challenging enough to provide learning and comfortable enough for you to be effective?

Course related issues – is the situation that will satisfy your course requirements, contribute to your learning, and meet with your professor’s approval?

You can speak with other students who have done service for this or other classes, speak to anyone in the Center for Service Learning, make a preliminary visit to the agency to answer some of these questions.

DO NOT leave this until the last minute. There will be missed communications and other difficulties in setting up your first visit. This is why I have given you two weeks to do this work.

Your first written assignment for this class requires that you complete the following:

• Determine your fieldwork/service site

• Sign on for service with the Service Learning Center and the site supervisor (please inform the Service Learning Center even if you do not need their help in finding a service placement.)

• Make your first visit

• Write your report. The items to be included in your first written assignment are:

• How and why did you choose this placement, including your reasons (both practical and other);
• A general description of the setting – where is it, what do they do there, etc.
• A realistic and specific discussion of your preconceptions/expectations of what this experience will be like for you;
• A discussion of your first time as a volunteer in this setting. Be specific: when did you go (date and time); how long were you there; who did you see and talk with; what did you do? You may also include reactions: did you feel useful, anxious, bored; are there questions you have about this experience; how does it compare with other comparable experiences you have had?

This first assignment is a paper, requiring an introduction, a conclusion, coherent and careful writing, and not simply a set of answers to the questions I have raised above. You will be most successful if you are able to refrain from generalization and judgment and be specific and exact in your descriptions.

PAPER DUE: February 5 at the beginning of class.  Learning contracts are to be turned into me as soon as they are complete; you keep the blue-gray cards to keep track of your service hours.

Posted February 4

SO 204   Spring 2002   Reich

Fieldwork Project II

To Serve and Observe

Description

In this assignment you will sharpen your skills in making careful observation and description; this is a hallmark of good fieldwork.  You will be looking at three areas:  the physical location and its layout, the persons present in the situation; the activities taking place.

 I.                    The physical location:  Describe the physical setting in which you do your service.  You may use drawings or photos if you wish, but you should have a narrative description of the overall setting and your actual working site in more detail (e.g. Boys and Girls Club overall; art room specifically.  How is the space furnished?  Are the furnishings adequate for the work being done?  What objects here are necessary to the work?  Are there others that interfere with the work?  Be specific and detailed; remember not to generalize.  Base this on particular field work experiences, not on an abstract generalization.

 II.                 Who are the persons in your setting?  Discuss them more in terms of the roles that they play rather than in terms of their personalities.  Be specific as to numbers: e.g. “there were three other tutors and seven students” or “there were twenty three kids in and out, but never more than six at a time.” (This example shows also that you are meant to be talking about a particular, specific day at your site.) 

III.               What are the activities that occur?  Describe what you know or believe to take place in general and what specifically occurred during your time there.  Be descriptive and give details (not “they give out food” but “I served soup to fourteen people and four of them came back for seconds.”)  Notice unintended as well as intended activities. 

Your written report should give the dates and times (actual and duration) you went to your site and include a discussion of each of the areas above.  Do not be afraid of giving too much detail – in general, the more the better.  Include any questions or other reactions you have at this point.

DUE:   February 19, 3:00 p.m.  Please be sure that your learning contract has been, filled out, signed, and turned in.

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