Unit 2: Writing in the Social Sciences | Writing at the Research University, Fall 2022, Sections 054 and 065

For our second unit, students will take on the role of an ethnographer—a common role in the Social Sciences, especially among anthropologists and sociologists—to conduct their own ethnographic study and present their findings in the form of a miniature academic conference presentation. In order to create this presentation, students will take on the role of an anthropologist interested in contemporary local subcultures and/or gathering spaces. They will be observing, researching, and analyzing one cultural aspect of life at UNC or Chapel Hill.

To complete this study, students will conduct an ethnography of their chosen subculture. “Ethnography” means, literally, a portrait (graph) of a group of people (ethnos). An ethnography is a social, political, and/or historical portrait of a specific group of people or a particular situation or practice, at a particular period in time, and within a particular context or space. Ethnographies have traditionally been based on an anthropologist’s long-term, firsthand research (called “fieldwork”) in the place and among the people or activities they are studying. Students will employ the methodology of “participant observation” to complete their ethnography. They can choose to focus on a specific group of individuals or a specific site, location, or gathering space as the subject of their ethnography.

This unit allows students to enter the scholarly discourse around their chosen subculture of study by allowing them to synthesize their research (both primary and secondary) into an academic conference presentation in which they share their unique findings. This experience exposes students to one of the most common methods for disseminating knowledge in academia both as presenters and as audience members while also allowing them to learn and practice best techniques for oral communication and presentation.

For more information, see the Unit 2 Assignment Prompt, which should be accompanied by the Quick Guide to Interviews and Observations.

And of course, be sure to explore the students’ completed ethnography presentations. In the menu for “Categories,” choose “Social Sciences: Ethnography Presentations” and look for the appropriate section to access their presentation materials (their presentation script, a longer Explication of Research, and any potential slides/images accompanying their presentation), or you can just click here for Section 054 and click here for Section 065.