Ethnographic sensibility as a tool for social change (2235.YR.014159.1)

General information

Type:	OPT	Curs:	1,2,3,4	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	4 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 1	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales	ENG

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 2	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales	ENG

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 3	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales	ENG

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 4	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales	ENG

None

None

In this course we will combine (1) sessions in class -to see the basics of ethnography- with, (2) substantive time you will spend "in the field (of your choice) to learn by doing -observing, listening, participating, engaging-, and (3) then other sessions working collectively on your "material.

One of the most important -and sometimes underestimated- skills for to-be-leaders and managers is the capacity to listen and observe attentively and in a non-judgemental manner. This is, in fact, what ethnographers try to do. To see what is going on, and try to make careful distinctions between what people say they do and what they actually do. This is crucial for any effort to understand well established patters in society -particularly exclusionary ones- and think about narratives and practices to disrupt and transform them.

The course will be equally divided among individual work, team work, and plenary work. The central driver around which the course is designed is participation and observation of different "fields of action".
Thus, this means participating in class discussions, working with the group and contributing to the class through the individual work. Our goal is threefold: (1) to foster an atmosphere of openness and dialogue; (2) to challenge participants to give the best of themselves; and (3) to look at issues from different angles and perspectives. Regarding this last point, the course will be taught by a main instructor supported by different guest speakers.
It also means "spending time" in the field, observing and taking field notes.

- developing an ethnographic sensibility
- learning how to write notes on a scene or a setting one observes
- making the effort of not being judgemental when observing people that are not members of my own group or taking distance when they are "like me?
- understanding that every single situation has a certain order, and often we are not aware of it

1. Intro

2. What's ethnography? Fieldwork?

3. Entering the field and question of positioning?

4. Doing the work 1

5. Observation and fieldnotes

6. Doing the work 2

7. Doing the work 3

8. Doing the work + analysis

9. Showing your work (I)

10. Showing your work (II)

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Emerson, R., (1995). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. Chicago University Press

suggestions:
Desmond, M., (2016) Evicted: Povery and Profit in the American City

Ho, Karen (2014). Liquidated: An ethnography of Wall Street

Goffman, A. (2018). On the run: Fugitive life in an American city

Biehl, J. (2014). Vita: Live in a Zone of Social Abandonment in Brazil

Group	Teacher	Department
Year 1	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales

Group	Teacher	Department
Year 2	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales

Group	Teacher	Department
Year 3	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales

Group	Teacher	Department
Year 4	Ana Ayuso Nogueiras	Ciencias Sociales