Abstract
In this essay, I describe a conflagration stemming from a field-based ethnographic exercise I utilize in one of the courses I’ve designed and regularly teach. In my estimation, the contours of the conflagration I describe illuminate the institutional and ideological parameters of a paradigm that currently dominates contemporary American campuses. I suggest that my experience points to frictions between that seemingly hegemonic academic paradigm and the core values and practices that the discipline of anthropology endeavors to carry into the new millennium. I conclude that this experience portends a difficult future for an anthropologically-moored practice of ethnography — one that seeks to systematically and empathically explore the experiences of diverse others in this world.
Highlights
I began teaching anthropology at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington in 2005
As a member of a small joint Sociology-Anthropology department offering courses only in sociocultural anthropology, teaching an introductory course in the discipline has been a mainstay in my perennial duties
In the years since my arrival, I’ve settled on a basic architecture for my rendition of an introductory course in anthropology: students learn about the long and storied history of the discipline, have a chance to ply some ethnographic methods out in the surrounding city, and read and discuss two ethnographic monographs during the second half of the semester. This course is the only time in their lives they will explore the discipline I love
Summary
I began teaching anthropology at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington in 2005. In the years since my arrival, I’ve settled on a basic architecture for my rendition of an introductory course in anthropology: students learn about the long and storied history of the discipline, have a chance to ply some ethnographic methods out in the surrounding city, and read and discuss two ethnographic monographs during the second half of the semester.
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