Borders And Boundaries: Barnes & Noble

Assignment, step-by-step

1.Re-read the lecture slides on borders and boundaries, as well as the relevant materialin the territoriality and space lectures.

2. Read “Fieldnotes in Ethnographic Research” and “In the Field: Participating,Observing, and Jotting Notes” by Emerson, Fretz and Shaw.

3. Choose a border and/or boundary location on campus, or in the immediate campusarea. Visit that location twice and create two sets of typed fieldnotes on the flows andblockages that constitute your selected border and/or boundary location. Use theEmerson et al reading to structure your fieldnotes.

4. Write a critical analysis of your chosen research location. Use what you have learnedin class to inform your translation of your chosen site into a written representation.

Assignment, details

You may write your border/boundary analysis in any written form: an essay, a short story, aletter, a screen play, a graphic novel exercise, a poem, etc. Whatever the format, you mustclearly and plainly explain how you interpret your chosen research location using yourhuman geography knowledge, and specifically what you have learned in this class aboutborders and boundaries.

You do not need to cite lecture material from the class slides, but please provide direct pagecitations to material taken from any of the class readings. You must also cite any othersources you are using. See the citation rules document on Carmen.

You must submit your fieldnotes, typed up. Your fieldnotes will not count towards thepage limit for the paper. Students will hand in 3-4 pages of comprehensive fieldnotes,double-spaced.

I very strongly encourage you to work in teams. For each member of the team, you mustproduce three pages of written analysis, i.e. I am expecting six pages of write up from twomember teams, nine pages of write-up from three member teams, and so on.

Objectives

• Get some experience taking fieldnotes.

• Apply theoretical concepts to your everyday life.

• Show that you understand the complexity of your chosen border/boundary location.

• Show that you have a clear grasp of key human geography concepts.

Evaluation

You will be evaluated for your ability to elucidate and apply the class concepts of bordersand/or boundaries through analysis of a specific site. In particular, I will be looking for a)your ability to provide an understanding of the complexity of your chosen site, b)effective and well-communicated use of human geography concepts, and c) goodwriting and composition skills. See the detailed grading rubric on Carmen for an explicitlist of the things I’m looking for.

Important

The fieldwork you are doing is not covered by the Ohio State Institutional Review Board’srules governing research on “human subjects”. As a result, you may not interviewindividuals in your border and/or boundary location. Your fieldwork data will consistsolely of your written fieldnotes.

If you want to use illustrations, such as maps (Google, hand-drawn, etc) or photos or sitesketches, please do so. Illustrations will not count toward your total page requirement.