Course code:

HS1077

Level:

I - Introductory

Class size limit:

12

Meets the following requirements:

  • HS - Human Studies

Lab fee:

15

Typically offered:

Once every three years

Ethnographic writing, literally the “writing of a people,” is anthropology’s primary disciplinary mode of representation, based on participant-observation fieldwork. Early ethnographies were usually written by European and American anthropologists about people they had studied in far away places. In the 1970s and on, critical questions about representation began to challenge assumptions about ethnographic work, raising questions about objectivity, transparency, and the relationship of the ethnographer to the people and place about which he or she is writing. This class will introduce students to a range of ethnographies in the discipline of anthropology, as well as to the political, cultural, and intellectual contexts in which these ethnographies were produced. At the same time, we will consider epistemological, ethical, philosophical, and methodological issues that such writing involves, including questions about representation and interpretation. In addition to classic ethnographies, we will also read some fiction, travel writing, and journalism. We will consider questions about how ethnographic knowledge is authorized, how assumptions about interpretation shape ethnographic writing, and the relationship between author and reader. Students will be asked to experiment with ethnographic writing themselves, through a series of short writing assignments as well as a final project. The course is designed to allow students to workshop their own writing. Students will be evaluated on the development and improvement of their own writing over the course of the term, as well as on their ability to critically evaluate and closely read ethnographies as texts, and on their engagement with their peers’ writing, considering elements such as authorial voice, the nature of characterization, and the overall movement of a text.

Prerequisites:

None.

Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.