You will attend a local religious event or ritual occasion you are very curious about for at least one hour. You may go to a local temple or interfaith center of worship. (HINDU TEMPLE, PLEASE) This writing exercise introduces you to a core element of ethnographic or folkloric methodology – fieldwork documentation. Using a pen, paper, camera, and audio recorder (if you choose), you will make careful observations of a religious event/space. Submit your audio, images, and text (between 500 and 1000 words maximum) ***Be sure to address all of the questions below or create a script or edited set of files to avoid rambling too much without analysis. ***Since this project resembles an ethnography, you must write up this project by using subheaders from the list of Project Questions below. Guidelines for Taking Field-notes: Bring your phone or camera (or notebook) to your interview and/or the religious site. Describe what you have heard, felt, and observed, noting interesting, unusual, or repeated actions, significant moments or experiences, and any patterns in activity. You should draw upon any conversations you conducted during your interview/observation sessions. Suggest questions that emerged from your fieldwork that you believe should be further pursued. Explain why you think these questions are meaningful and worthy of further investigation. Reflect upon your role as researcher in the field. Submit your field-notes, sketches, and any photographs along with your final field project. Project Questions (Required Prompts): 1. Time/Space/Process (WHEN AND WHERE?): When and where does this event take place? How does this event proceed from one moment to the next? What are we witnessing as we observe this social interaction over time? 2. Identity/People (WHO?): Who are the people involved? In what ways are they interacting? What are the “roles” or social identities they are taking on? In what ways is identity marked or embodied throughout this event (positioning, movement, dress, etc.) 3. Experience/Bodily Movement (HOW?): How are the participants experiencing the event? How are their bodies positioned? How do they move? What do you or they see, hear, feel, touch smell, taste (or other senses: temperature, pain, humor, etc.)?
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