Spring semester has held several surprises for me thus far, one being in the form of a class I never knew would bring my life so much meaning. I registered for COMM 381 simply because the professor had positive ratings on ratemyprofessor.com, and I had a time slot in my schedule that needed to be filled.
Within the first few sessions of the class, I knew I was going to love ethnography. Ethnography is defined as the study and documentation of culture and people; it can be applied to everything. Ethnography really forces you to look beyond what you know, to go outside of your comfort zone, and expand your perspective.
One of our assignments was to conduct a silent interview. Students were to answer questions about a stranger based on their observation and opinion. After analyzing the person’s behavior, the student had to interview the person and compare their answers with the stranger’s.
The academic exercise was geared toward making students aware of their own prejudices and biased opinion. These perspectives often stem from our environment, past experience, and the opinions of others.
Today’s class focused on the ethnography of college life, specifically dorm décor. Some students prefer to plaster flowers, pictures, or aesthetically pleasing and often Pinterest-inspired decorations to their doors in addition to RA-created name tags. Others remove the RA name tags, leaving a blank canvas.
There are those who spend hours arranging and stacking furniture in hopes of making such a small living space feel like home. There are students who spend hundreds of dollars making their space look like it came from a college dorm magazine advertisement.
Ethnography gives writers and students the opportunity to study humanity and try to understand what it means to be human. There are a plethora of different people, each being unique in their own way.
Next time you go to the COG or Hemm Den, check out your surroundings. People-watch for a while and notice if you make any immediate judgments. Try to understand that person before even having a conversation with them, and when you feel ready, go talk to them. Document your experience and, most importantly, ponder the why and the how you formed opinions on people. Next time you head to classes, walk around campus with an open mind.
Everyone has a story to share, and ethnography reminds us of this.