FORM8860 · Education

Experiential Knowledge and Ethnography as Method

Lynch School of Education & Human Development

This course offers an introduction to ethnographic methods, set within a broader consideration of what it means to know and learn from an experience. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples of ethnographic research, we will consider the central questions that have shaped ethnography as a method, including those related to the ethics, positionality, and subjectivity of the ethnographer. We will study tools such as participant observation, interviewing, fieldnotes, and digital ethnography, while practicing these skills in a mini-ethnographic project conducted during the semester. Finally, we will grapple with the challenge of analyzing the often complex and variegated data produced through ethnographic research, learning how to capture our observations and analyses in writing.