Ethnographic Field School in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia
| Six students lived with Alleghany County families July,
1998, during the Ethnographic Field School taught by Susan Keefe. Coming
from states such as Maine and Illinois as well as North Carolina, students
learned about daily life in the Appalachian mountains employing methods
such as participant observation and interviewing.
Amer Awad, a graduate student at the University of Texas, found the culture similar to rural Texas. "I have come to find out that the people in the Appalachians and Alleghany County are rich in traditions and rich in values," he said. "It's vastly different from California," said Jason Sumich, a student from the University of California, Santa Barbara. "The people, the language, religion, hobbies, values - you name it. We both have cable. That's the only similarity." Alleghany has provided the students a glimpse of hard working, honest Appalachian people who care about their family, their churches, and their communities, says Keefe. "I appreciate the Southern hospitality extended by the host families to my students."
In this field school, students had the opportunity to practice field methods while immersed in mountain culture. Students were placed with local families and became familiar with life in Allegheny County, a rural county in western North Carolina. Students gained an appreciation for Appalachian culture and how it is different from as well as similar to other regions of the United States.
In weekly classes, students learned to use standard ethnographic techniques for the analysis and interpretation of cultural groups, including participant observation, interviewing, and various qualitative methods for studying social organization and cultural meaning. Weekly class field trips introduced students to the local Christmas tree/tobacco manufacturing economy, the variety of religious life, and the rich tradition of folk music. Daily field notes were required, as well as weekly methods assignments, and a student-designed ethnographic research project. In this supervised field-based class, students became familiar with the problems typically experienced by ethnographers including culture shock, shifting researcher identities, and the importance of building rapport. The papers compiled from their research are available in the Electronic Library. Although the field school will not be offered in Summer 1999 or 2000, it may be offered again in the future. |