December 30 we spent the day at the Valley House, as our folk education came to us. We started the day with Emma Fallon, a native Irish (Gaeilge) speaker who came to give us a bit of history of Gaeilge and the status of language in Ireland. We capped the discussion with a basic lesson …
Continue reading Folk Dance, Gaeilge, and walking Achill Island
We arrived in Dublin, tired but in good spirits. Only one student had travel problems--her plane was delayed in Newark and she had to fly in a day late. We're well into day 2 and she's expected to arrive (after a series of delays, missed buses, etc) later this afternoon. I met with the field …
Today we traveled to Beckley to tour the exhibition mine. We rode a small train deep into the earth. The site included several coal camp structures: a camp house, bachelor shanty, one room school, church and the superintendent's house. The students have been reading about and interviewing coal mining families before and during the field …
Continue reading Field School tour of the Beckley Exhibition Mine
The Field School has been progressing nicely--the students have interviewed about 35% of the 70 gardeners at Lang Street Garden--it's been fun, intensive and exhausting. One of the fun parts of working with community gardens is the distinct opportunities for participant-observation research. Some of the students have "dug in" to the experience by …
From today's Book World in The Washington Post: Thank you, Matthew Desmond. Thank you for writing about destitution in America with astonishing specificity yet without voyeurism or judgment. Thank you for showing it is possible to compose spare, beautiful prose about a complicated policy problem. Thank you for giving flesh and life to our squabbles …
Continue reading The Latest & Greatest in Ethnography: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Last weekend I began fieldwork for the Summer 2016 Field School. I'm back along the Columbia Pike, this time studying community gardens along Four Mile Run and Douglas Park. The project stretches me in new and exciting ways. I'm an avid "urban farmer"--I cleared the azaleas alongside my house to create three 8X10 garden beds. …
Two years ago I wrapped up a two-year ethnographic project along Northern Virginia's Columbia Pike in Arlington, VA. The project provided a great site for the Field School for Cultural Documentation, but tensions in the community were running high. Long-term residents reported being ignored by their county board members. Small business owners said they were …
We're into the second week of fieldwork with the field school. I've been meeting with research teams and talking about their progress I find that students have two major obstacles to overcome. The first is moving into the field. The second is setting up and completing interviews Moving Into the Field The first week of …
Field School students are learning to sail as part of the Alexandria Waterfront Project. This photo by student Ashlee Payne was taken during one of the Sailing Club of Washington's (SCOW) social sails on Thursday evenings.
Students just completed the second week of the field school; the first week of actual fieldwork. I've met with each team and they're doing a fantastic job. I will be posting photos from the field this weekend to keep readers up to date on their activities. What we've discovered so far: that Alexandria has a …
Living Ethnography 