ERIC Number: EJ1455649
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0092-055X
EISSN: EISSN-1939-862X
Taking Ethnography to Court: Pedagogical Reflections on a Collective Field Study
Josh Seim; Jamie Adams; Jiayu Huang; Gabi Celia Ortiz; Tiago Franco de Paula; Jier Yang
Teaching Sociology, v53 n1 p3-15 2025
Ethnography is an exceptionally difficult subject to teach and learn in a classroom setting. This article, written by an ethnography professor and five graduate ethnography students, reflects on how a short-term and collectively executed fieldwork study can help alleviate this problem. Within three months, we logged over 100 hours of observations on district court proceedings in greater Boston. Our field notes, memos, and seminar discussions brought to life three key topics in ethnography: theorization, positionality, and intervention. While not without its challenges, we ultimately found this exercise to be an effective and efficient way to sharpen our ethnographic sensibilities. We close with a general defense of collective fieldwork as a practical method for teaching and learning ethnography.
Descriptors: Ethnography, College Faculty, Graduate Students, Federal Courts, Field Studies, Cooperative Learning, Experiential Learning, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Theory Practice Relationship, Attitudes, Intervention, Teaching Methods
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A