Much of this semester’s class has reinforced one belief: research is personal. There is seldom, if ever, such a thing as truly objective research. Because of this, being able to understand the researcher’s biases about and positions in relationship to the subjects and communities they study is vital in order to trust in the [...]
Abstract of Personal Research Narrative
Research Ideas, 12/4
1. Peer Review Among Grad Students: There have been several ways in which we’ve done peer review through the semester…it might be interesting to study the feedback that we gave, and then interview each of us about the process. To further complicate the project, a comparison between our grad feedback and comparable undergrad feedback could [...]
11/27 Questions
1. I absolutely LOVE the interweaving of narrative and strong sense of location in “The Personal as Method and the Place as Archives.” I’ve done work that tried to be like this (though nowhere near as good!), and I’ve had very mixed responses to it within the academy. What have Rohan’s experiences with this been [...]
Annotated Bibliography: Needlework, Rhetoric, and Feminism
Arnott, Sigrid. “Knitting Socks for the Revolution.” For the Love of Knitting: A Celebration of the Knitter’s Art. Ed. Kari Cornell. Stillwater: Voyageur P, 2004. 125–130.
The wider work from which this comes is a coffee-table book that showcases images of knitted projects, vintage advertisements, and luscious yarn. However, the mix of essays contained within belie [...]
Questions 10/23
1. Lauer and Asher emphasize the amount of time that an ethnography takes. What’s the shortest amount of time in which one could do a “valid” ethnography? Would it be possible to do an ethnography-esque assignment with students in any meaningful fashion? (And, hey, what would “valid” mean in this case anyway?)
2. Smith’s piece spends [...]
Questions 10/16
1. I was particularly interested in the Charney piece, as I can be one of those people who has a knee-jerk anti-empirical reaction, if not for *exactly* the reasons she gives. Does anyone else in here have this kind of reaction? If so, has Charney changed your mind?
2. On 569, Charney says, “With the means [...]
Observation Part 2–The People
When I first came into the club, there was only one couple there, dancing together in a salsa animation. This same couple remained throughout, however, a solo woman joined them on the dance floor for some time. She started out with an animation of hiphop dancing that looked a little weird with the Indian dance [...]
Observation Part 1–The Surroundings
9/24, 10:10 pm
Online Observation done in Secondlife
The observation took place in the Taste of India Mall and Desi Beatz Club in Secondlife, an online community with which I am involved. This is an area I love to visit, since the club has great ethnotechno/world music, and the shops have great clothing, some of it made [...]
Journal Analysis #5: JAC
Editor: Lynn Worsham
Publication Schedule: Quarterly
Purpose and Scope: JAC, according to their website, “provides a forum for scholars interested in theoretical approaches to the interdisciplinary study of rhetoric, writing, culture, and politics [...with] four book-length issues a year, featuring articles, interviews, essays, review essays, and reviews. ” While this journal did start off as explicitly writing-based, [...]
Journal Analysis #4: Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Editor: Gregory Clark
Publication Schedule: Um, quarterly?
Purpose and Scope: RSQ is the journal for the Rhetoric Society of America. The journal covers a wide array of topics in rhetoric, alternating history, pedagogy, theory, and criticism. Submissions are blind reviewed and required to “exhibit high standards of professional scholarship,” per their website.
Audience: Their website explicitly lists students [...]
