Ethnographic Arts of Noticing – Grange Food Court
Why is sensory awareness important for anthropologists conducting ethnography? How do anthropologists engage their senses as part of their ethnographic 'tool-kit'? The purpose of this assignment is to help students acquire basic knowledge of qualitative research practices. Students will gain hands-on experience in empirical data collection methods. At the end of this assignment, students should have an understanding how sensory awareness is put into practice by researchers in order to solve the challenges of presenting and representing the subjects they study.
Objectives
Students will conduct an observational exercise and write a brief report of their findings (Approximately 600 words or 2 pages double-spaced).
Students are asked to select one of the following spaces for their ethnographic study:
1. The Grange Food Court
- The AGO main lobby or any of the galleries
- The Grange Park and/or including the adjacent Butterield Park
Students should spend approximately 30 minutes 'on-site' and note their surroundings. Record your observations: indicate the location of your venue and the time of day that you visit the site, who is present, what sorts of activities are taking place? What is not happening? What do you notice? You are further encouraged to engage or use different senses in your observat ions (e.g., tell us what you see, hear, and/or smell during your encounter) .
Course and Section
Professor’s Name
September 24, 2023
Ethnographic Art of Noticing – Grange Food Court
1 Description of the Field Site
The chosen field site is the Grange Food Court, the site is enclosed and surrounded by stalls on both sides. I go to the site in the afternoon when the people are on their break and when the place is usually at its peak hour. Different people are present in the venue, students and also other people who are visiting. The initial feeling when entering the site is the heat and also the noise that is coming from people who are talking and also the sound of food being cooked and prepared.
People falling in line and people sitting and eating their food at their tables are most of the activities happening on the site. Noise is constant, during this time of day. As I stayed longer at the site I started to "accept" the site situation and started to adapt. I now feel that talking loudly is normal and will be accepted because it is also done by. The site is mostly dominated by students who are having their lunch break, other professionals are present on the site but it is rare.
Despite the noise from all the people and activities, I can see students who are doing their school work or reviewing for their upcoming exams or quizzes. They can manage to stay focused on what they are doing despite the noise and all the distracting activities that are happening around them. I think this is because they stay longer and adapt to the surroundings that they are in. They started to make adjustments to eliminate other distractions.
2 Data Collection
The method that I have utilized is mainly by observation and also feeling. As I entered the area I started remembering and noting the feeling that I had. Also, I spent more time in the area whe...