Anqi Peng, ChinaTongue, video installation, 2016
GWSS 490 A GWSS 590 D
Ethnographic Studio
Sasha Welland
Spring 2018
WF 1:30-3:20
5 credits
Description
This craft-based workshop supports advanced undergraduate and graduate students to develop ethnographic research within creative formats alternative to the predominant practice of analytic, propositional prose. It provides a collaborative environment for students to explore the relationship between ethnographic content and form, or put another way, the relationship between cultural aesthetics/poetics and ethnographic representation. As a GWSS offering, the studio centers critical feminist praxis in terms of research ethics, knowledge production, and questions of audience and social justice. For undergraduates, this studio course guides students in creating a capstone project, different from but possibly complementary to an honors thesis or senior portfolio. For graduate students, it provides a way to practice or prototype modes of ethnographic inquiry and representation they want to incorporate or develop further in dissertation research. For more background on the course, see “Ethnography Unbound.”
Prerequisites & Process
In order to participate, students must have a well-defined project based on some previous ethnographic research and a preliminary proposal for the medium in which they intend to work, such as creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, photography, performance, video, audio, or some combination thereof. Previous research can include interviews, oral history, auto-ethnography, participant observation, etc. The focus of the workshop will be on sharing resources and models; iteratively producing and revising well-defined projects that can be completed within ten weeks; and providing constructive feedback to fellow participants.
Registration
In order to maintain a workshop environment, the course is limited to 15 students. Registration is by add code from instructor only. In order to apply, please submit a project proposal by February 16 to swelland@uw.edu. Applications (500 words or less) should describe the ethnographic research already completed or underway and a proposal for how you want to develop this material, including the medium you will use and a rationale for why you have chosen it. Participants will be admitted based on the level of preparation and thought demonstrated in their proposals. Add codes will be issued by February 23.