University Presentation Showcase: Undergraduate Poster Gallery
Preview
Creation Date
Spring 2015
Major
Anthropology
Department
Anthropology, Sociology, and Social Work
Degree
Undergraduate
Mentor
Jennifer R. Wies
Mentor Department
Anthropology, Sociology, and Social Work
Abstract
This poster presents participant observation data from two field sites: Eastern Kentucky and Madagascar. Coming from my interests in cultural anthropology and ethnoprimatology, I examine the process of anthropology fieldwork through contrasting photographic examples. The work presented will also be in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Wies and her ANT 377S: Medical Anthropology Course; while other resources will come from participating in the 2014 SIT Madagascar Summer: Traditional Medicine and Healthcare Systems, and conducting independent research in Northern Madagascar.
My poster presentation for EKU’s showcase will be strictly photo based to demonstrate an artistic and symbolic representation of the variety of fieldwork methods implemented within anthropology and the overarching themes associated with each. The work here will help intertwine my love for photography and emphasize three different personalities while collecting data as: a student, an anthropologist (or the researcher), and an individual. This poster will demonstrate how the researcher obtains information and the role each method has on data collection, and the complexities with implementing such methods in group-based settings as well as in a different geographical setting. By comparing these field experiences and methods it will provide a deeper (or holistic) understanding to how to better equip and prepare students for conducting research and integrating themselves into a social setting (e.g. cultural sensitivity) which can in return effect a researchers health and how they interpret data.
Keywords: anthropology, ethnographic, methodology, participant observation, holism, role of the researcher, experience, fieldwork, data collection.
