Author Archive for arussell

Commentary #10

Adam Russell Ethnographer as Storyteller   When I read Pryer’s article, I thought that she was making a case for fictionalization in the sense that events are fluid, and some things can be taken out all together while others are…

Commentary #9

Adam Russell Poverty Institutes the Division   Probably the most disturbing observation Ferguson makes in “Don’t Believe the Hype,” is when she points out the disparity between students at the Elementary level that continue onto high school: “Many of the…

Commentary #8

Adam Russell The Responsibility of the Writer   When I first read Pryer’s article, I lamented the fact that I did not have it as a powerful ally to back up the claims I made for the midterm.  However, the closer I read,…

Commentary #7

Adam Russell The Panopticon in the Classroom   When talking about Foucalut and the prison structure of the panopticon, we see it as an apt metaphor for the way people regulate behavior in society.  As James put it in class…

Midterm Responses

Adam Russell Midterm Responses   Question #2   When I did the paired observation with James, I thought that it meant taking myself out of the process.  After reading James’s post, however, I realized that my own circumstances and experiences…

Commentary #6

Adam Russell Learning Revealed   According to Walker Percy, the classroom is a filter that takes the real experience away from the student.  Students benefit when they “avoid the educator’s direct presentation of the object as a lesson to be…

2/24 Class Log: First Half of Class

Adam Russell 2/24 Class Log: 6:00-7:30   First on the agenda: Navigating the website: Professor De Vries stressed the importance of e-mailing her with any questions and concerns. (kdevries@csustan.edu)   In regard to the website, we discussed signing up as…

Commentary #5

Adam Russell Establishing Presence in the Classroom   As I was reading Goffman, I kept thinking about Harry Wong’s First Day of School.  In Wong’s book, he stresses the importance of presence in the classroom.  Throughout my 8 years of…

Commentary #4

Adam Russell Accepting Subjectivity in the Research Process   I liked Mike Calou’s use of the term “voyeur” to describe the role of the ethnographer and the subsequent guilt they feel for reducing their subjects to objects within a study. …

Commentary #3

Adam Russell Getting Familiar with the Subject   When Brueggemann took the assignment at Gallaudet University, she decided to exist between the two roles of participant-observer and occupy what she called the hyphenated world.  Through this process, Brueggemann created a…