Studies in the Latina/o Community: Ethnographic Practice in L.A.
Instructor: Richard Chabran
Class Meetings: Tuesday-Thursday 4:00-5:50
2242 Public Policy
Office Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 6:-7:00
Phone: 206-6052
Email: chabran@latino.sscnet.ucla.edu
Course Description
The primary goal of this course is to introduce students to the practice of ethnography. The class activities will revolve around planning and carrying out an ethnographic research project.
An overview of bibliographic research and the handling of primary documents (including print and visual sources such as photographs, video) will be provided.
Extensive exercises introducing students to journal and fieldnote writing as both a critical activity and a source of documenting the world will be incorporated.
Students will co-construct an oral history.
Selective short ethnographic case studies will be read and discussed.
Assignments and reading will cover the following ethnographic methods and techniques: participant observation; interviewing; composing fieldnotes; and organizing data.
During the course of the class we will discuss: the changing notions of self; participatory research; politics; the border as a site; citizenship; ethics;insider/outsider; gender representation etc.
Fieldnotes will become an important part of class discussions in order to allow students to compare experiences, expand and be critical of their initial observations.
Guest speakers will participate in the class.
Students will be required to make several visits to a local Latino commuity.