Autumn 2022 – Week 1
BCM 241 –
MEDIA
ETHNOGRAPHIES
WHAT’S ON FOR WEEK 1?
• Welcome Back
• Media Ethnographies Appetizer
• The Work
WELCOME BACK
• In your small groups, talk about what you did over the
summer
• Anything cool, fun, exciting, boring??
ETHNOGRAPHY • To start off, what do we mean by ethnography?
APPETIZER
(WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY?)
Ethnos ἔθνος Grapho γράφω
Folk, People, Nation I Write
Ethnography then is the
writing (and study) of
and about people
WHAT IS
ETHNOGRAPHY?
Ethnography is both a type of research, and the
product of the research
Ethnographic studies seek to learn about a specific
group of people within society, a community, a
country, region, etc.
WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY?
• Ethnographic studies are generally done by
researchers (You) immersing yourself in the
community being studied
• We are really trying to understand people, their
culture, their beliefs, their way of life, and their way
of doing things
Description of cultures, groups,
TYPES OF Descriptive patterns and typologies. Very well
known and used in most
Ethnography
ETHNOGRAPHY ‘traditional’ ethnographic studies
Uses critical/social theory as a key analytical
Critical
tool, focusing on political and power
Ethnography structures within communities and groups
The researcher (YOU) puts
themselves inside the research,
Autoethnography including personal experiences,
feelings, thoughts, behaviors, etc.
TYPES OF
ETHNOGRAPHY
Thick Thin
Contextual and Analytical
Thin descriptions are
People are the experts, patterns superficial, lack depth, and
and traits are studied and don’t provide the context
documented needed to begin to understand
meanings and reasons behind
In depth, detailed accounts of the actions and behaviors
lives of the ‘target’ group
TYPES OF Etic
ETHNOGRAPHY
Emic
Observations by the
researcher, direct
observations by the
Informants are the ‘outsider’
experts; the researcher
understands the
community through the
eyes of the community
members
AUTOETHNOGRAPHIES
• Ethnographies are, by nature, somewhat subjective,
or have been criticized as having subjective
tendencies
• Instead of trying to hide these subjectivities,
Autoethnography seeks to embrace these personal
experiences and thoughts in the study of
communities, places and people
AUTOETHNOGRAPHIES • We experience the people we are immersing ourselves
with, and it seems valuable to recognize this experience,
and include it and make it part of our work
• Autoethnography is the ‘type’ of ethnographic approach
you will be using for your digital artefact projects
”…we
were l
In t e r n ike th
e t , it w e mall
as t h e before
one p the
lace to
be…”
QUICK
PAUSE…
• What online communities are you
part of ?
OR
• What ‘communities’ do you want
to be part of ? Ex. True Crime,
Fashion, Food, Travel, Books,
etc…
• 2 main assessments
THE WORK • First is the Blog assessment
40% of 400
overall grade words/post
Four Blog Four
Posts Prompts
Post #1 Friday, October 7th
Post #2 Friday, October 14th
Post #3 Friday, October 21st
Post #4 Friday, November 18th
THE WORK • 2nd is the Digital Artefact
• First – Project/Topic/Field Site Pitch
Due 20% of overall
Week 6 grade
2-minute video+ 400-word
contextual blog post
More
The about
pitch willthis in tutorial
be developed
from your
and in theprevious
coming blog
weeksposts
THE WORK • And finally, the final Digital Artefact
40% of
December 7th overall grade
Your DA for BCM 241 will have
more definition or parameters
than previous digital artefacts
What does this mean?
THE WORK
It means you will be writing about your community/field
site, but in a creative, engaging, interactive and non-
traditional way
You are completely free to choose your ‘topic’ or more
appropriately, your community/field site
Your output, however, will take on a creative writing format
THE WORK • The creative story will be shared on your blog
• You will also make a short (2-minute) video to
accompany your story
• And finally, you will have a short (max 400 words)
reflective/contextual essay
More details about the DA, story,
reflection and the video will be
discussed in tutorial and in the
coming weeks
FINAL THOUGHTS
• We’ve been saying for…well since forever…
• Studying and practicing and making media is about
people and stories
• Who people are, where they come from, what they
do, why they do what they do, their experiences,
our experiences, and our shared existence
FINAL
THOUGHTS
• In this subject we will explore
what it means to live in the
media, how we ‘are’ in media
and technology places and
spaces, and how we can tell
and share stories about the
experiences ‘in’ these places
FINAL THOUGHTS
• That’s A LOT for Week 1
• Readings, materials, assessment information, etc., is
all available on Moodle
• Have a look, try to come to an understanding of the
assessments and what’s required from you
• AND then, have a great WEEK 1!!!
IMAGE CREDITS
• Slide #2: https://unsplash.com/@chestmax • Slide #11: https://unsplash.com/@tomasmartinez
• Slide #12: https://unsplash.com/@pelayonly
• Slide #3: https://unsplash.com/@chestmax
• Slide #13: https://unsplash.com/@kazaks
• Slide #4: https://unsplash.com/@ana_petrenko
• Slide #14: https://unsplash.com/@cookiethepom
• Slide #5: https://unsplash.com/@documerica
• Slide #15: https://unsplash.com/@designecologist
• Slide #6: https://unsplash.com/@derekleej • Slide #16: https://unsplash.com/@girlwithredhat
• Slide #7: https://unsplash.com/@nickpage • Slide #17: https://unsplash.com/@marvelous
• Slide #8: https://unsplash.com/@anniespratt • Slide #18: https://unsplash.com/@ryoji__iwata
• Slide #9: https://unsplash.com/@smile_man • Slide #19: https://unsplash.com/@brandgreen
• Slide #10: https://unsplash.com/@saxon_white • Slide #20: https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema
