Jamaica: Ethnographic Field School
ANTH 498W/698W OR ANTH 498J/689J
July 11 - August 10, 2009
The two courses described below are presently the primary component of an ethnographic field school that has been established in Jamaica by Tony Whitehead, Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the Cultural Systems Analysis Group at the University of Maryland. These courses are carried out during simultaneous dates on the campus of the University of the West Indies and the cities of Kingston and Ochos Rios (the last three days). Students can register for only one of these courses, not both.1. ANTH 498W/698W: Ethnographic Fieldwork: “National Celebration and Identity”(6 credits)
This four-week intensive course is organized around Festival celebrations in Kingston, Jamaica during the last week of July, and celebrations associated with Emancipation Day (August 1) through Independence Day ( August 6). These celebrations will be studied by students of this course as they are introduced to such ethnographic methods (or enhance their skills in) secondary data analysis, observation and participant observation, various forms of interviewing, and the analyses of socio-cultural themes.
In addition to the study of these celebratory events, students will learn ethnographic methods and epistemologies through didactic classroom sessions, and ethnographic field trips that will provide them with opportunities to observe and take interviews in such settings as Kingston neighborhoods of different economic status, the main Coronation Market (for a “food and culture day” that includes purchasing local foods, preparing them, and consuming them), socio-culture significant museums, including those associated with such national heroes as Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey, and indicators of social stratification and interactions as found on Jamaican beaches, nightclubs, and tourist areas.
While students registered for ANTH 498W (undergraduates) will be required to write a final paper based on the results of their ethnographic findings, students registered for ANTH689W (graduate) course will be required to develop a proposal for further research based on their ethnographic findings. Undergraduate students have used this course to develop papers that they then used as examples of writing in their applications to graduate school. For graduate students the course provides an excellent opportunity for developing a research plan for carrying out further research for a thesis or dissertation.
Final papers or papers or proposals are due one week following the end of the course, i.e. no later than August 24, 2008.
2. ANTH498J/ANTH698J: Internship/Ethnographic Assessment: ”Introduction to Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues in Jamaica” (6 credits)
This four week intensive short course is carried out during the same period, overlaps some with ANTH 498W/698W. The overlap occurs in that students registered for ANTH498Z/ANTH689V will take the same first week of intensive ethnographic methods classroom sessions, and will be required to attend the same cultural events as the students registered for ANTH 498W/698W that occur in the evenings and during weekends. However their activities during the day will be their assignment to: (1) organizations working on youth sexual and reproductive health issues (early introduction to sex and pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, etc) in Jamaica or the wider Caribbean; or (2) the Cultural Systems Analysis Group (CuSAG) responsible for the coordination and integration of other students internship with those organizations. With regards to the former, students will be asked to go beyond the traditional tasks of an intern by learning and applying ethnographic techniques to better understand: (1) the broader social and cultural contexts that contribute to sexual and reproductive issues among youth; and (2) how these issues are being addressed by the organizations in which they are interning, as well as by other organizations working on these issues.
While students registered for ANTH498Z (undergraduates) will be required to write a final paper based on the results of their ethnographic findings, students registered for ANTH689V (graduate) course will be required to develop a proposal for further research based on their ethnographic findings. This course provides excellent opportunities for students interested in the way that social issues are addressed in another culture, the impact of social programs at different social levels, as well as a vehicle for gaining access to Jamaicans and social settings at different levels of Jamaican society through the organizations to which they are assigned as interns. This course will also be a good experience for those students who may be interested in international health and other social issues. Undergraduate students have used this course to develop papers that they then used as examples of writing in their applications to graduate school. For graduate students this course provides an excellent opportunity for developing a research plan for carrying out further research for a thesis or dissertation.Final papers or papers or proposals are due one week following the end of the course, i.e. no later than August 24, 2008.