Anthropology

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel's a bit sniffly today. Apparently he caught a cold over the weekend. Wonder how that happened?

"Good afternoon, guys," he says, sipping on a hot drink that - shock horror - isn't coffee! "Instead of a final exam, which was what I had been planning on giving you, I want to give you a project instead.

"Now, you remember talking about ethnographers, and how they undertake research? That's what I want to you to do, but instead of going and living in a tribe, or something, I'd like you to give me an ethnographic report on Fandom High. Lots of us have said that this is a unique place. I'd like for you to look under the layers and see why that is."

He pushes across a small booklet of methods. "That's just some ideas you can use. You'll need to do some fieldwork, so you can have class time to start it today, although I'd advise staying in here and asking me questions and planning your work. This will be due in a week on Friday; May 5th, so given the short period of time you've got, it doesn't have to be all inclusive. You can pick one aspect of the school that interests you and do it in some depth. Or, you may do a wider idea. It's up to you.

"On Wednesday, you can have most of the lesson, but I'd like for you to come here at the start so I can show you samples from an ethnography, providing the mun I can find out the book.

"Now. Questions? Comments?"

To finish off, he sneezes.

Comments

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

"This is sooooo cool!" Blair's desk is vibrating at the amount of bouncing he's doing.

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel grinned. "I'm glad you think so, Blair," he said. "Any initial thoughts on what you're going to do?"

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

"I've always been interested in the thin line that seperates the magic users with the non-magic users here. Or the non-human students maybe, or those who come from alternate dimensions or those who are older like Bel or Angel or those from the past like Pip and Walter and or maybe different classes and see how people are different in each class or..." Blair took a deep breath and shrugged.

"Um...yeah. I've got a couple ideas."

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

He laughed slightly. "All of those sound like great ideas, Blair," he said. "But try not to stretch yourself too thin. Maybe we could look into this further as a class or study next term in more detail? Or perhaps as a summer workshop."

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

"I love you, man."

Blair's jaw dropped and he nodded excitedly, just barely stopping himself from getting up and hugging the stuffing out of Daniel.

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel grinned and sneezed again. "Try to see if there are any other students interested," he said. "It probably won't be the first summer term, but for the second or fall semester, I''m sure we could manage something."

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Bless you," Kiki smiles. "I'm kind of curious about this 'Context mapping' concept. But could it be too static in terms of Fandom? There are some strong lines on this island - like the school being distinctly divided from the town."

"Also," Kiki flips open her notebook and pulls out a 6-page paper. "Since I was sick and didn't do my report on the Indian caste system," she explains. It's a fairly-well written analysis on the caste system, first giving an overview of each level of society with a summery of their interactions, followed by an analysis of possible reasons as to why and how the system began and developed.

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

"Thank you, Kiki," Daniel smiles. "Context mapping is probably something that won't be of much use here, no. Although there are different locations for different contexts within the school itself, what with the dorms and the school proper, and then with the gymnasium, and the library and, well, I'm not sure what else!"

Daniel took the paper and glanced down at it. "Thank you. This is much more than I expected, and I'll have it graded for you by Wednesday's lesson."

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Hmm," Kiki ponders, drumming her fingers on her desk in thought. "Could you tell me more about the Product Itinerary method? I'm not sure I really understand how that works."

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

"It's probably not going to be very appropriate in this situation," Daniel admitted. "It's used in consumer shopping research, and is usually done at the point of purchase to determine opinions and look at the purchasing in context. It's part of applied anthropology, and what some anthropologists do every day for a living."

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Ahh, ok," Kiki nods understandingly. "So probably the best would be just based on everyday observation for this project?"

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel nodded. "I've found that's one of the best ways to gather data, yes," he said. "As you're already particpating in the society, it's essentially participant-observation. You could also considering interviewing people, if you think that would be of any use."

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"An ethnographic study of an extremely diverse high school in a military-controlled town," Kiki reflected, scratching her head. "I'm not even sure where to start!"

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

"Well, break it down," Daniel suggested, "and just concentrate on one of the small bits that makes the high school so diverse."

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Certainly all the different places we come from - actually, that might be something good to study; after all, Lana does have a club for people who have come from odd home towns!" Kiki mused.