shitty first draft post (1/27/09)

Ok, shitty first draft, here I come. I have started my paper but have only written about what I know/expect the group to be like. I have not yet conducted any interview(s) but have gone to one Spectrum meeting. I plan to interview the president of the organization not only because I feel that he will be the most knowledgeable about it but also because he lives in my dorm on the floor above me (so I won’t have to walk out in the freezing cold and more than I have to). I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting from the meetings but when I went it was less of an informational session and more of a fun place for the people in the subculture to go on Thursdays. It was interesting because even though I was “the new kid” I felt free to ask questions and talk about any topic I wanted. There were, of course, guided decisions and the topic of the night was safe sex. Although I do not have homosexual tendencies, I felt welcomed to participate in games and things and not have to just sit and observe in a corner.
-Julia St. John

Beginning paper 1 (1/21/09)

According to the detailed website Spectrum has up, it “exists to provide an anonymous, safe, and friendly place for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students...provides social support to create a comfortable, confidential, and accepting atmosphere…[and] sponsors Spring Week in April and P.R.O.U.D. Month October, in addition to organizing speaker panels to raise awareness on campus and in the community.” I want to study this particular subgroup for many reasons: I have lots of gay friends, I want to know more about the group in general, I’m interested to hear what the people in this subgroup have to say about their sexuality, etc. Really, my only prior knowledge of this subculture would be my interactions with friends who chose a homosexual lifestyle. I have no real assumptions/biases for the people in this subculture other than the fact that I hate it when outsiders look down on these people without getting to know them. One issue that I have with this subculture (a minor one, but still an issue) is that they only meet on Thursdays and I’m not sure how many meetings I will be able to attend. I usually don’t have things on these days though so I should be alright.
-Julia St. John

Responding to two ethnographic essays (1/20/09)

-- What kinds of evidence or data did the authors use?
“Friday Night at Iowa 80” – This author uses a lot of interviewing
“House for the Homeless: A Place to Hang Your Hat” – This essay draws in a lot of personal experiences

-- What kinds of research did the authors do?
“Friday Night at Iowa 80” – Again, Rick conducted a lot of interviews for research but the essay also says he read some books about his topic.
“House for the Homeless: A Place to Hang Your Hat” – There is one rather informal interview in this essay but it mostly consists of small amounts of personal observation

-- Why is each group a subculture? Does the author convince you that they are each subcultures?
“Friday Night at Iowa 80” – In this essay, I believe that the particular subculture(s) Rick is talking about are truckers. I think these people make up their own subculture because they most definitely have a “ritual” that they do on a regular basis (driving long distances).
“House for the Homeless: A Place to Hang Your Hat” – This subculture consists of homeless people and people who are having a hard time “making it” in the world. I’m defiantly convinced that these people form a subculture because of the hardships and things they have to go through on a daily basis.

-- After reading the essay, do you understand what it would be like to be a member of this subculture?
“Friday Night at Iowa 80” – Yes, because Rick goes into so much detail not only about the people in this subculture but also about the places they go and the things they do.
“House for the Homeless: A Place to Hang Your Hat” – I’m not sure I exactly “understand” simply because my life is so different from the lives of the people in the essay. However, the essay does do an excellent job of description and explanation of the subculture.

-- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the essays?
“Friday Night at Iowa 80” – I think a major strength of this essay is its clarity and separation of subtopics with the headers in bold. It is hard to find a weakness in this work, but I am not particularly interested in this topic so would say that it would sometimes talk about a story or subtopic for longer than help my interest.
“House for the Homeless: A Place to Hang Your Hat” – I feel that the main strength and weakness I have for this essay are the same; personal stories. I believe that it is always good to use a lot of “I” statements but at the same time, I think this author used to many and not enough of what she researched/studied.

-- After reading both examples, what ideas or questions do you have about completing your own ethnographic research project?
Well, both of these papers have subtopics (as shown by their bold headings) and I have never written any kind of paper/essay where these were needed so one question I would have would be about the outline of the paper itself? Another question I need to ask myself is how I am going to separate my paper into these subtopic? Or, if I chose to only divide them by paragraph, then what are my main points?

-Julia St. John

Paragraph (1/19/09)

As I have previously stated, I have chosen the subculture of Spectrum at Ball State. I chose to study this subculture because it is all about helping kids at Ball State fit in. Although I am not gay, a lesbian, bisexual, or a transgender student here, I know what it feels like to not fit in at school. I used to be extremely overweight when I was younger and kids would make fun of me constantly. The kids in this subculture are just like you and me but some people chose to put them down for their sexual preference. I hope to discover many things when studying this subculture. For example, I want to find out what some of these kids have been through and how they overcame these obstacles. I also would like to other people (ones who might not ever consider going to this group) to understand that these kids are no different because of who they are and who they chose to have relationships with.
-Julia St. John

My Subculture (1/16/09)

Alright, if you’ve read my last blog entry you’ll know that towards the end I stated how “I’m glad that in this class we are allowed to pick what we research instead of being given topics or even guidelines.” However, looking farther into the assignments we will have to complete for this semester I see that MAJOR restrictions have been placed upon us in choosing a subculture. The largest of these limitations is that the subculture we select has to be one on Ball State University’s campus. There are, of course, many reasons for this but I will most likely delve into them in later blog posts. For now, I would simply like to tell you my subculture and a little about why I prefer it over others. I selected “Spectrum” as my subculture. It is not dangerous, it is legal, they hold free weekly meetings that I can attend, and I’m interested in the people who are part of this group.
-Julia St. John

First blog! (1/15/09)

Subcultures and interviewing/studying people are not exactly things that pop into my mind when I think of a typical English class. However, now that the assignment has been given, and will stick for an entire semester, I am rather excited to get started. I am personally interested in music. I love to perform, going to see concerts, and even taking music classes here at Ball State. Music, however, is too broad to be a subculture so I have tried to narrow it down in many ways. I could research a particular interment. I could also research a particular time period (such as the Romantic era). Thinking more along today’s lines (and not the history of music) I could write about music classes, concerts, or current performers. I am also interested in finding two different subcultures of music that have some connection and trying to compare and contrast them. No matter what I end up doing, I’m glad that in this class we are allowed to pick what we research instead of being given topics or even guidelines.
-Julia St. John