ANTHRO 1851 How to Tell A Story: Visions & Explorations in Ethnography

Dr. Damina Khaira

W 3:00-5:45pm

How are stories told? How do anthropologists render lived experiences into ethnographic text? How might ethnography - as a mode of witnessing and a way of knowing - be distinct from other genres of writing? 

Geared towards undergraduates at any level, this course explores the craft of storytelling within the genre of ethnography. In so doing, the course seeks to introduce students to the critical issues, limits and possibilities that underlie ethnographic writing as a particular way of representing social experience. It will also acquaint students with the rich heritage of innovative and experimental works within the discipline. 

Our classroom materials will include ethnographic and literary readings that allows us to consider questions of ethics, epistemology, conventions, politics, and representation that arise in the practice of ethnographic writing. Students will also learn key aspects of ethnographic writing by engaging in a variety of writing exercises informed by everyday lived experiences. 

Holding a vision of creative ethnography and transcending disciplinary boundaries, this course encourages students to not only write well and with pleasure, but to nurture an awe and attentiveness to the unexpected worlds that can emerge from the encounters that take place in and beyond the ethnographic text. 

*Note: Interested graduate students should contact course instructor. In your email, please outline your current project and motivations for the course.