ANTH 450: Ethnographic Research Methods
ANTH 450-001: Ethnographic Research Methods
(Spring 2027)
01:30 PM to 02:45 PM T
Innovation Hall 328 - Hybrid
Section Information for Spring 2027
This course introduces students to ethnographic research methods (including fieldwork, interviewing, life histories, archival research, mapping, artifact collection, photography, and audio-visual methods) that generate data about people, places, and cultures. Students will learn what ethnography is and why it matters in today’s world. What can ethnographic methods tell us about people’s lives and world views? What are the problems and societal challenges that ethnographic research may address like no other method? What are the ethical considerations of this kind of research? And to what extent is the researcher part of the method? With its focus on everyday life, ethnography as a method emerged from the discipline of anthropology but has now been taken up by a range of disciplines, from literary studies to public health. This class will focus on how anthropologists employ ethnographic research methods; however, the methods themselves may be adapted to research questions in our discipline and beyond. This is a hands-on course where students will learn by doing and practice ethnographic methods for their own research projects, developed under the guidance of the instructor. The hybrid format includes required in-person attendance for lectures once a week and asynchronous materials to guide research projects.
This is a hybrid section with face-to-face meetings and asynchronous online coursework.
Course Information from the University Catalog
Credits: 3
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
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