Field Methods and Ethics
ANTH 3500 (3 Credits / 45 class hours)
SIT Study Abroad Program:
Indonesia: Arts, Religion, and Social Change
PLEASE NOTE: This syllabus represents a recent semester. Because courses develop and change
over time to take advantage of unique learning opportunities, actual course content varies from
semester to semester.
Course Description
This course helps students learn effectively from living in another culture and challenges them to go beyond the
familiar confines of the home campus by taking full advantage of field opportunities. The concepts and skills
developed in the seminar underlie and reinforce all other program components. The seminar begins with an
initiation to field study techniques during orientation and continues throughout the program. Emphasis is placed
on grappling with cultural differences and on recording, interpreting, and analyzing information from primary
sources. Discussions, field exercises, and work journal assignments focus on observations and interviews and
include an examination of ethics in the context of fieldwork. The course facilitates students’ subsequent
development of an in-depth Independent Study Project (ISP) largely based on information obtained from primary
sources.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
 Engage in basic ethnographic and fieldwork methods that may include note-taking and transcription,
participant observation, kinship charting, mapping, collection of life histories, formal and informal
interviewing, and the use of simple surveys for qualitative data collection;
 Assess the impact of a researcher on local cultures being studied, using sensitivity and awareness;
 Integrate information gathered from primary sources with secondary source material to produce a
sound research paper as a material product;
 Demonstrate and articulate critical insights and knowledge on a particular topic in an oral
presentation;
 Demonstrate skill in a form of Indonesia art – music, dance or visual art – in Indonesia.
Course Requirements
Comprehensive Outline of FSME Briefings, Classes, Drop-offs and Assignments
*This syllabus is representative of a typical semester. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of unique
learning opportunities, actual course content varies from semester to semester.
1
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Orientation Period
Major Themes and Questions
1) Overcoming obstacles to cultural immersion: the FSME “drop-offs.”
2) Keeping a Work Journal: the all-important basis of successful field work and field study.
3) Understanding and using the Description-Interpretation-Evaluation framework for field study
observation and reporting.
Readings:
Batchelder, Donald. "The Green Banana," (1977) in Beyond Experience: The Experiential Approach to CrossCultural Education. Brattleboro, VT: Experiment Press, 1977.
Week One: Orientation
Major Themes and Questions:
1) The matter of positioning: Who are “we”? Who are “they”? How can we begin to think through
cultural difference without disadvantaging either ourselves (our ability to say anything about what we
are experiencing), or our host country friends, teachers, and ‘informants’ (their right to be the subjects
of their own lives).
2) Orientation in the program center (see Assignment 2).
3) “Thick Description” - an in-depth approach to ethnography and field studies.
Readings:
Koentjaraningrat (1987), “Anthropology in Indonesia” Source: Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol.
18, No. 2 (Sep., 1987), pp. 217-234 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of Department of
History, National University of Singapore Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20070968.
Ariati, Ni Wayan Pasek (2001), “The Courtship between Culture and Language”, a paper for the
KIPBIPA Conference in 2001, Bali Beach Hotel Sanur, Bali.
Geertz, Clifford (1977). “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” Chapter One in
Geertz, Clifford’s The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, pp. 3-31.
Week Two: Homestay Period
Major Themes and Questions:
1) Beginning to strategize an ISP.
2) Thick description and ethnographic methods.
3) What is “thick description”? Does it have particular relevance for field study in Bali?
4) Julia Crane’s description on how to make a kinship chart
Reading:
Bohanan, Laura (1977). "Shakespeare in the Bush." Natural History.
Crane, Julia and Michael Angrosino (1977). Field Projects in Anthropology: A Student Handbook. Prospect
Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Geertz, Clifford (1978). “Kinship in Bali”, University of Chicago Press.
Geertz, Hildred (2001). “How Can We Start Thinking About Balinese Religion?” A paper presented at the
Society for Balinese Studies Conference, Denpasar.
Week 3: Excursion to Yogyakarta, Central Java
Major Themes and Questions:
1) The cultural conditioning of politeness and behavior.
2) Religion and Inter-Faith Discussion
*This syllabus is representative of a typical semester. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of unique
learning opportunities, actual course content varies from semester to semester.
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3) Observation Participant
Readings:
Abu-Lughod, Lila (1997), “The Interpretation of Culture(s) after Television” Source: Representations,
No. 59, Special Issue: The Fate of "Culture": Geertz and Beyond (Summer, 1997), pp. 109-134, Published
by: University of California Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2928817.
Jones, Emily (1980). “The Courtesy Bias in Southeast Asia,” in Warwick and Bulmer (eds) Research in
Developing Countries. New York: John Wiley Press.
Week 4: Social Changes and Current Issues
Major Themes and Questions:
1) Negotiating the larger issues: What can our experience in Bali/Indonesia tell us about ongoing debates
in feminism, cultural critique, and the Social Sciences? Do Western constructions of nature-culture as
female-male have resonances in societies like those of Bali/Indonesia? How much can we learn about
such complexity in a relatively short period of time? What are the appropriate field study tools and
methods that can be used to provide access to how ‘larger issues’ are framed in local terms?
2) General ISP Brainstorming, with full group
Readings:
Geertz, Clifford (1984), “Culture and Social Change: The Indonesian Case” Source: Man, New Series,
Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1984), pp. 511-532 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2802324..
Ortner, Sherry B. (1996). “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?” in Ortner, Sherry B. Making Gender,
the Politics and Erotics of Culture. Boston: Beacon Press, pp. 21-42.
------. “So, Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?” In Ortner, Sherry B. Making Gender, the Politics and
Erotics of Culture. Boston: Beacon Press, pp.173-180.
Week 5: Interviews and Ethical Issues
Major Themes and Questions:
1) What kind of ethical issues do we have to implement in the field? What are the best strategies to
carry out interviews in the field?
Readings:
Liedtka, Jeanne M. (1992). “Exploring Ethical Issues Using Personal Interviews” Source: Business Ethics
Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2, The Empirical Quest for Normative Meaning: Empirical Methodologies for the
Study of Business Ethics (Apr., 1992), pp. 161-181. Published by: Philosophy Documentation Center
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3857569.
Handler, Richard (1991), “An Interview with Clifford Geertz”. Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 32,
No. 5 (Dec., 1991), pp. 603-613Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2743695.
Week Six: Village Excursion and Round-Bali Excursion, with initial two days in Bedulu
Major Themes and Questions:
1) Using field methods to gather information for a written report.
2) Carrying out an interview in the field; making maximal use of your language skills.
3) Getting oriented in the society and locale of the Village Excursion.
*This syllabus is representative of a typical semester. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of unique
learning opportunities, actual course content varies from semester to semester.
3
Copyright © SIT, a program of World Learning
Reading:
Mike Crang and Ian Cook (2007), “Doing Ethnographies” SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Mathura Road, Post Bag 7, New Delhi 110 044.
Week Seven: Interfaith Discussion
Major Themes and Questions:
Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja (1996). “Magic, science, and religion in Western thought: anthropology’s intellectual
legacy,” in Tambiah, Stanley Magic, science, religion and the scope of rationality. [Lewis Henry Morgan
Lectures Series] Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-15.
Other Recommended Readings for the Field Methods and Ethics course:
Becker, A.L. (1996). “Silence Across Languages,” in Beyond Translation, Essays toward a Modern Philology.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 283-294.
Bunker, Barbara Benedict (1982). “Using Feedback to Clear Up Misunderstandings in Important Relationships,”
in NTL Reading Book for Human Relations Training. NTL Institute. Borzack, Lenore (ed.). Field Study: A
Sourcebook for Experiential Learning. London: Sage Publishers, 1981.
Clifford, James (1988).“On Ethnographic Authority,” in Clifford, James’ the Predicament of Culture. Cambridge
(MA): Harvard University Press.
Geertz, Clifford (1977b). “Religion as a Culture System,” Chapter Four in Geertz, Clifford The Interpretation
of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, pp. 87-125.
------ (1983). “’From the Native’s Point of View’:on the Nature of Anthropological Understanding,” in Geertz,
Clifford Local Knowledge, Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. NY: Basic Books, pp. 55-72.
Hobart, Mark (1983). "Through Balinese Eyes, or How My Balinese Neighbor Became a Duck," Indonesia, no.
30 (Ithaca: Cornell Southeast Asia Program).
------ (1992). “Thinker, Thespian, Soldier, Slave: Assumptions About Human Nature and the Study of Balinese
Society,” Indonesia.
Lee, Richard B. (1960). "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari," in Anthropological Annual 86/87, ed. By Elvio
Angeloni. Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group.
Porter, Larry (1982). “Giving and Receiving Feedback; It Will Never Be Easy but It Can Be Better,” in NTL
Reading Book for Human Relations Training. NTL Institute.
Said, Edward (1978). “Crisis [in orientalism],” in Said, Edward Orientalism. Orientalism. Vintage Books
[Reprinted in Lodge, David Modern Criticism and Theory, a Reader. London and New York: Longman,
pp. 295-309.]
Sass, Louis (1986). "Anthropology's Native Problems: Revisionism in the Field," Harper's Bazaar.
Sears, Laurie (1996). “Fragile Identities: Deconstructing Women and Indonesia,” in Sears, Laurie Fantasizing the
Feminine in Indonesia. Durham (NC) and London: Duke University Press, pp. 1-46.
Evaluation and Grading Criteria
Assessment for the Field Methods and Ethics Seminar
Assignments and due dates for the Field Methods and Ethics (ANTH 3500 / 3 credits / 45 class hours) and ISP
(ISPR 3000 / 4 credits / 120 class hours)
Assignment
1) Assignment 1: Three Cultural Observation Journal Entries
 First Entry (10%)
 Second Entry (10%)
 Third Entry (10%)
 Fourth Entry (10%)
Percentage
10%
10%
10%
10%
*This syllabus is representative of a typical semester. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of unique
learning opportunities, actual course content varies from semester to semester.
4
Copyright © SIT, a program of World Learning
2) Assignment 2: Choice of Balinese Calendar, Map of
Family Compound or Village or Kinship chart
3) Assignment 3: Pre-ISP Interview included in Village Study Paper
4) Assignment 4: ISP proposal
5) Assignment 5: Art Project paper and presentation
6) Participations in all drop-offs and other FME exercises
10%
15%
15%
10%
10%
A variety of tasks and assessments are assigned in this course. These include the following – numbers indicate
the percentage of the final grade:
1) Assignment 1: Cultural Observations and Current Issue in Bali, Indonesia (40%)
The students have to complete three Cultural Observations Entries and one report on the Current
Issue in Indonesia during the eight weeks of the Seminars period. Each of the four entries will be
graded, and so should included in your Observation Journal and marked as a specific, dated entry of
between 2-4 pages in length. Each entry is worth 10 % towards the final grade for the FME class. We
recommend that students keep in mind the Description-Interpretation-Evaluation (D-I-E) format for
completing the entries.
2) Assignment 2: Choice of Balinese Calendar, Map of Family
(10%)
Compound or Village or Kinship chart
The main objective of this assinment is to make the students get familiar with their homestay by
working together with their homestay family members about their family compound or calendar
system they use for any important events or to find out their family members by making kinship chart
of their homestay. We expect the students to write about 2-3 pages paper on one of the topics of the
assignment 2.
3) Assignment 3: Pre-ISP Interview included in Village Study Paper
(15%)
This assignment consists of two parts. The first part is to create a questionnaire with 10-15 questions
designed to help you gather information for the Analytical Village Study paper. We expect that the
students will initially compose this questionnaire in English and seek translation assistance of the
language teachers and/or the Indonesian peers who will join the students on the Village Excursion. The
Interview is part of the Field Methods and Ethics course where the students should write down about
the best strategies, challenges they face in the field while the result of the interview is part of the
Thematic Seminar analytical paper. The second part of the assignment—to be completed during the
ISP field studies period—will be to draw up a similar questionnaire and carry out a 2nd interview
designed specifically to support the students ISP work.
4) Assignment 4: ISP Proposal
(15%)
This assignment is very important to guide the students to think about their ISP. We started very early
in the program by carrying out individual ISP Brainstorming. Each student has to send the AD about
their ISP idea electronically before the meeting in order that the AD and the LRB members can assess
the ISP for its ethical issues.
5) Assignment 5: Art Project Paper and Presentation
(10%)
We expect the students to produce any art forms to spend their afternoon time. We provide them
with many options to choose. The students also must interview their art teacher to support their
paper. By the end of the homestay period, the students must present their art(s) in the classroom
followed by submitting their paper of 2-3 pages about their art project and life story of their art
teacher.
4) Participation in all Classes, Discussions and Activities of the Seminar
(including drop-offs and Description-Interpretation-Evaluation discussion)
(10 %)
*This syllabus is representative of a typical semester. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of unique
learning opportunities, actual course content varies from semester to semester.
5
Copyright © SIT, a program of World Learning
Grading Scale
94-100%
90-93%
87-89%
84-86%
80-83%
77-79%
74-76%
70-73%
67-69%
64-66%
below 64
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
Expectations and Policies
Show up prepared. The course is based on group learning so you must participate fully. Be on time for all
lectures, workshops and field trips. There are many long days so you must be well rested and have a clear head
and have your readings completed and points in mind for discussion or clarification.
Complete assignments on time. Assignments are due by 5pm unless otherwise instructed. Assignments are
docked 5% for each day or part of a day that they are late. Contact the Academic Director in advance if health
or other issues prevent you from submitting an assignment on time. All assignments must be completed to
receive a passing grade. Graded assignments will be returned within two weeks of submission.
Field Trips/Excursions. Eight hours in a day are expected to be spent doing field work and visits. You are
expected to act appropriately; by taking notes, paying attention, and engaging the host through careful listening,
making eye contact and asking questions. You should refrain from using cell phones, iPod, the internet and
engaging in side conversations during learning sessions. Photographs should be taken at the end of a session only.
Comply with academic integrity policies (no plagiarism or cheating, nothing unethical).
Respect differences of opinion (of classmates, lecturers, local constituents engaged with on the visits). You are
not expected to agree with everything you hear, but you are expected to listen across difference and consider
other perspectives with respect.
Further Information & Policies
Students are expected to attend and participate in all class and field sessions. Specific information on
assignments will be handed out during orientation and also discussed during the semester. This syllabus including
the course schedule is subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances. If you are late to or absent
from any activity, it is your responsibility to get in touch with the Academic Director and other students to
check on announcements made while you were absent.
Please refer to the SIT Study Abroad handbook for policies on academic integrity, ethics, warning and
probation, diversity and disability, sexual harassment and the academic appeals process.
*This syllabus is representative of a typical semester. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of unique
learning opportunities, actual course content varies from semester to semester.
6
Copyright © SIT, a program of World Learning