FOLK-E 523 FIELDWORK IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY (3 CR.)
Theories and methods of conducting field research, including research design, methods of data gathering, research ethics, and presentation of research results.
1 classes found
Spring 2024
Component | Credits | Class | Status | Time | Day | Facility | Instructor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SEM | 3 | 30803 | Open | 2:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m. | T | C2 272 | Dirksen R |
Regular Academic Session / In Person
SEM 30803: Total Seats: 12 / Available: 1 / Waitlisted: 0
Seminar (SEM)
This course offers an in-depth introduction to ethnographic field research, providing a foundation in theory and methodology while building a repertoire of practical approaches to the work frequently undertaken by ethnomusicologists and music scholars. We will consider what it means to ¿do¿ ethnography, both as a specific type of qualitative data collection and as a final written/documented product that comes from such research endeavors. Assigned readings will be drawn from a broad array of perspectives pertaining to project design, data collection, positionality and reflexivity, and writing and representation in ethnomusicology, anthropology, folklore, and beyond. Our work together over the semester will include discussions such as: meeting institutional requirements (IRBs, etc.), addressing funding concerns, taking field notes, handling audio-visual recording equipment, developing interviewing techniques, becoming effective participant observers and observant participants, navigating archives, mapping social spaces, and cultivating collaborative and sustainable relationships with our partners in the field. Crucially, we will contemplate ethics; safety; health; and tensions that can arise in fieldwork settings over gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, ability, nationality, and other markers of difference. We will also aim to establish protocols and strategies for dealing with the challenges and obstacles that inevitably come up throughout the research process. By the end of the semester, we will aspire to define best practices for our own ethnographic research process and projects.