Oberlin College
CAST 300/301
Fall 2007
Time: T 9:00 – 10:50
Location: King 121
Instructor: Dr. Meredith Raimondo
Phone: 775-5291
Email: meredith.raimondo@oberlin.edu
Office: King 141G
Office Hours: W 9 – 11, T 10 - 11 or by appt.
Teaching Assistant: Dan Gillespie
Email: daniel.gillespie@oberlin.edu
SITUATED RESEARCH
This Comparative American Studies course utilizes community-based learning to explore issues of
politics, ethics, practice, and positionality in interdisciplinary research. It offers participants an
opportunity to consider the commitment of scholars in ethnic, queer and feminist studies to integrate
critiques of knowledge production with the investigation of communities, issues, and questions often
overlooked, excluded, or misrepresented by professional researchers. Throughout the course, we
will explore the relationship between academic research and community activism.
There are two major components to this course. In the practicum, students will engage in
participatory research by volunteering on a weekly basis at a community organization or other
appropriate research site. The weekly seminar will provide a space for thoughtful reflection and
guide students through the steps of completing an academic research project. Readings will discuss
particular methods of data collection (participant observation, interviews, focus groups, etc.) and
introduce theoretical debates about research methodologies. We will pay close attention to issues of
social location and the power dynamics of community-based research. Monographs based on field
work in educational institutions, non-profits, and/or grassroots organizations will demonstrate
various approaches employed by scholars using qualitative methods to develop research questions,
collect data, and interpret their findings. These texts were chosen because they address one or more
of the three concentrations in the Comparative American Studies major—identity and diversity;
nation, transnationalism, and globalization, and theories and practices of social change.
Course Goals:
1) to think critically about issues of method and methodology by completing an original
qualitative research project
2) to understand ethical issues in social research, especially in relation to race, class, gender,
and sexuality
3) to articulate the role of critical interdisciplinary studies in higher education, social policy, and
activist movements
4) to develop an analysis of the politics of non-profit social service and educational institutions
5) to link theories of intersectionality to research design and methodology
6) to explore issues of accountability and collaboration in community-based research
7) to become more aware of what northeast Ohio might teach us about the central concerns of
the CAS major
This course has been approved by the Oberlin College Institutional Review Board for Research
Involving Human Subjects (#F07CMR-01).
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Required Texts:
Books (available at the Oberlin College Bookstore or Mudd Library Reserve):
Bettie, Julie. Women without Class: Girls, Race and Identity. Berkeley: The University of California Press,
2003.
Erzen, Tanya. Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement. Berkeley: The
University of California Press, 2006.
INCITE! Women of Color against Violence. The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit
Industrial Complex. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2007.
Lyon-Callo, Vincent. Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press,
2004.
Ong, Aihwa. Buddha is Hiding: Refugees, Citizenship, The New America. Berkeley: The University of
California Press, 2003.
Ramirez, Renya. Native Hubs: Culture, Community, and Belonging in the Silicon Valley and Beyond. Durham:
Duke University Press, 2007.
Articles marked with a * in the schedule of readings are available under the “Course Materials” tab on Blackboard.
Course Requirements:
Discussion: The academic study of social justice often raises issues that are controversial or which
evoke strong personal feelings. There are few “right” answers to the questions we are exploring; my
goal in this course is to identify the skill which will enable you to develop your own positions. It is
therefore critical that everyone commits to making this classroom a space for honest and open
expressions of difference. I ask that course members respond to carefully thought-out ideas and
questions with patience and respect.
Reading: It is important to cultivate the skills that allow you to manage lengthy reading
assignments. If you find you are having trouble finishing the reading, please see me so we can
identify effective strategies for completing the assignments.
Assignment Format: Written assignments should be word-processed, double-spaced, and use a
standard font type and size (12 point Times New Roman or the equivalent). Include your name, the
date, a title, and page numbers. If you are required to submit a paper copy, you must staple the
pages. For either electronic or paper submissions, please be sure to proofread carefully for style and
grammar. Papers that do not follow proper formatting instructions may receive a 1/3 of a grade
deduction.
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Late Policy: It is your commitment to this class and your classmates that you will be present and
ready to begin work at the start of class. Repeated lateness may result in significant deductions to
your final grade in this course.
Course assignments must be submitted on time in order to receive full credit. I will deduct 1/3 of a
grade for each day (24 hours) an assignment is late (i.e., from B+ to B). Late papers may not receive
written comments. Please save your work often to avoid computer-related disasters and be sure to
allow sufficient time to print in case of technical difficulties. Requests for extensions must be
submitted in writing at least 48 hours prior to the assignment due date and are generally available
only for extraordinary circumstances. If you receive an extension, you must attach my written
approval in order to receive on-time credit for your work. Papers due in class must be turned in at
the start of class—if you arrive late, the paper will be considered one day late.
CR/NE or P/NP: If you are taking this course CR/NE or P/NP, you must fulfill all course
obligations and complete all assignments in order to receive credit for the course.
Honor Code: This course will follow the policies described in the Oberlin College Honor Code and
Honor System. Please include the statement “I affirm that I have adhered to the Honor Code in this
assignment” in all written work. If you have any questions about academic honesty, citation, or the
relationship of the Honor Code to your work in this course, please let me know.
Students with Disabilities: If you need disability-related accommodations for your work in this
course, please let me know. Support is available through Student Academic Services—please
contact Jane Boomer, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, for assistance in
developing a plan to address your academic needs.
CAST 300/Research Seminar Assignments:
1. PARTICIPATION (10%): In order for our time in class together to be as productive as
possible, you will be expected to contribute to three areas as follows:
Attendance: This course will be primarily conducted as a discussion course; therefore, your
timely and consistent attendance is required. After one absence, additional absence will
generally lower your final grade in the course (1/3 of a grade per each additional absences). In
case of illness or personal emergency, absences may be excused through a doctor or dean’s note.
Discussion: Your thoughtful spoken analysis and active listening will be a central component of
your work in this course. If you are uncomfortable speaking in class, please see me to discuss
strategies for increasing your participation.
In-class Activities: In-class activities may include small group discussion, writing assignments,
or other collaborative work. These assignments will not be graded but must be completed.
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2. READING RESPONSES. These assignments are designed to enhance the course reading
assignments and to facilitate conversation among course members.
Discussion Leadership (5%). Due various dates to be assigned. In groups of two, you will
prepare a brief presentation (approximately ten minutes) on the week’s reading which 1)
describes the argument of the work 2) describes its methodology and 3) identifies what you see
as the most interesting issues raised in this week’s Blackboard discussion.
Blackboard Posting (5%). Due each Monday by 10 p.m. Each course member is required to
post a paragraph (4 – 6 sentences) containing an analysis or analytical question about how this
week’s reading relates to course themes such as methodology, positionality, accountability, and
the relationship between theory and practice.
3. RESEARCH PROJECT. Each student will complete a research paper based on the practicum
placement. Further instructions will be provided in class for each component of the project.
Proposal (5%). 3 – 5 pages (2 - 3 pages description; 1 – 2 pages annotated bibliography). Due
Sep. 24 by 4 p.m. to Blackboard. Describe your research question and methodology and develop
a brief annotated bibliography.
IRB Project. Due Oct. 1 to your assigned Blackboard group by 4 p.m. Complete an IRB
application for your project. Class members will review applications in small groups. You will
not receive a letter grade for this project, but failure to complete it will result in a deduction of
one letter grade on your project proposal.
Literature Review (10%). 4 – 6 pages. Due Oct. 19 by 4 p.m. to Blackboard. Analyze key
scholarly texts from peer-reviewed academic journals and monographs in relation to your
research question.
Data Analysis Report (5%). 2 – 3 pages. Due Nov. 12 by 4 p.m. to Blackboard. Provide a
preliminary account of your data analysis including coding of field notes/interviews or other
forms of analysis as appropriate.
Initial Draft (10%) 8 pages minimum. Two printed copies due Nov. 20 at the start of class.
Initial drafts may not be in outline form and must include all of the required sections specified in
the assignment details.
Final Draft (40%) 12 – 15 pages. Printed copy due Dec. 19 at 11 1.m. in King 141-G. Final
drafts should demonstrate significant revision of initial drafts and include full citations and
bibliography in Chicago style.
4.
COMMUNITY RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM (10%). Dec. 8, schedule TBA (plan to be
available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.). Each course member will develop a research presentation for a
public symposium. Community partners will be invited to this event.
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CAST 301/Practicum Assignments:
Note: Assignments due to Blackboard should be uploaded by clicking on the relevant assignment
unless otherwise specified.
1. PRACTICUM ATTENDANCE (10%). 5 – 10 hours/week. You are expected to establish and
maintain a schedule of participation at your field site and to report your hours accurately. You
must arrange a placement by Sept. 14 and attend weekly with the exception of official and/or
religious holidays. Each student is responsible for ten weeks of fieldwork over the course of the
semester. In the case of excused absences, you are expected to make up missed time.
2. DOCUMENTATION OF PRACTCUM EXPERIENCE (60%). 5 pages weekly; due Friday
by 4 p.m. to Blackboard beginning Sep. 21. These materials will generally consist of
observational field notes, but depending on the methods you choose for your project may also
include other forms of data including interview transcripts, focus group transcripts, life histories,
and photographic or archival documentation. Please consult with me in advance about what
form of documentation is appropriate for your project.
3. FIELD SITE DESCRIPTION (15%). 3 - 4 pages. Due Oct, 8 by 4 p.m. to Blackboard.
Describe the key features of your field site, including the location/physical space, organizational
structure and mission, participants (employees, volunteers, clients, etc.), the local context
(including relevant population and economic data). By way of conclusion, identify any
methodological and/or ethical issues and questions related to your position as researcher.
4. PRACTICUM REFLECTION (15%). 4 – 5 pages; due Dec. 11 at the start of class. Use this
assignment to reflect on what you learned from your practicum experience. You might consider
the specific social issues you encountered, a self-evaluation of your participation, or the ways
this experience shaped your understanding of the relationship between research, inequality, and
social change. Although you are welcome to use a personal voice, please ensure that your
reflection has an analytical thesis and a clear structure.
Summary of Deadlines:
Weekly
Weekly
Various
Sep 24
Oct 1
Oct 8
Oct 19
Nov 12
Nov 20
Dec 8
Dec 11
Dec 19
Documentation of Practicum
Blackboard Posting
Discussion Leadership
Research Proposal
IRB project
Field Site Description
Literature Review
Data Analysis Report
Research Paper Initial Draft
Community Research Symposium
Practicum Reflection
Research Paper Final Draft
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Summary of Grading Policy:
CAST 300:
Participation…………………………..10%
Blackboard…..........................................5%
Discussion Leadership…………….…...5%
Research Proposal………………….…. 5%
Literature Review. …………….….......10%
Data Analysis…………………..........…5%
Initial Draft…………………….……...10%
Final Draft…………………………….40%
Colloquium Presentation………….…..10%
CAST 301:
Practicum Attendance………….……..10%
Documentation of Practicum…...…….60%
Field Site Description………………....15%
Practicum Reflection……………….…15%
Schedule of Readings and Assignments:
T Sep 4:
Introductions
Th Sep 6:
Data Collection and Documentation
∙ Robert Emerson, Rachel Fretz, and Linda Shaw, “Fieldnotes in Ethnographic
Research,” 1 – 16*
∙ John Lofland, “Field Notes,” 233 – 235*
T Sep 11: Research Methods and Situated Knowledges
∙ Michael Angrosino and Kimberly Mays de Pérez, “Rethinking Observation,”
673 – 702*
∙ Linda Thuiwai Smith, “On Tricky Ground,” 85 - 107*
∙ Charles Gallagher, “White like Me,” 67 – 92*
∙ Kysa Nygree, “Reproducing or Challenging Power in the Questions We Ask
and the Methods We Use,” 1 – 26*
T Sep 18: Comparative Approaches to Qualitative Research
∙ Julie Bettie, Women without Class
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M Sep 24: ***Project Proposal due by 4 p.m.
T Sep 25: Ethics and Power
∙ Bruce Berg, “Ethical Issues,” 43 – 74*
∙ Ana Mari Cauce and Richard Nobles, “With All Due Respect,” 197 – 215*
∙ Gerald Mohatt and Lisa Thomas, “‘I Wonder, Why Would You Do It That
Way?,” 93 – 115*
∙ Naheed Islam, “Research as an Act of Betrayal,” 35 – 66*
M Oct 1:
IRB project due to Blackboard group by 4 p.m.
T Oct 2:
Activist Scholarship and Community Organizations
∙ Vincent Lyon-Callo, Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance
M Oct 8:
***Field Site Description due by 4 p.m.
T Oct 9:
Citizenship
∙ Aihwa Ong, Buddha is Hiding, 1 - 141
T Oct 16:
Citizenship II
∙ Aihwa Ong, Buddha is Hiding, 142 - 286
F Oct 19: ***Literature Review Due
T Oct 23: Fall Break
T Oct 30: Data Analysis
∙ Robert Emerson, Rachel Fretz, and Linda Shaw, “Processing Fieldnotes,”
142 – 168*
∙ Kathy Charmaz, “Grounded Theory in the 21st Century,” 507 – 535*
∙ Michelle Fine and Lois Weis, “Compositional Studies, in Two Parts,” 65 –
84*
T Nov 6:
The Politics of Agency
∙ Tanya Erzen, Straight to Jesus
M Nov 12 ***Data Analysis Report Due
T Nov 13: Transnational Methodologies
∙ Renya Ramirez, Native Hubs
T Nov 20: Qualitative Research and the Politics of Non-Profits
∙ INCITE, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, 1 – 52, 63 – 163, 185 - 234
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Th Nov 22: Thanksgiving
T Nov 27: Initial Draft Workshop
∙ ***Two printed copies of your draft are due at the start of class
T Dec 4:
Reflections on Community-Based Academic Research
∙ Davydd Greenwood and Morten Levin, “Reconstructing the Relationships
between Universities and Society through Action Research,” 85 – 98*
∙ Teresa Córdova, “Plugging the Brain Drain,” 25 – 53*
∙ Cheryl Rodriguez, “Invoking Fannie Lou Hamer,” 231 – 249*
S Dec 8:
Community Research Colloquium
∙ Presentations of research projects
T Dec 11:
Conclusions: Scholarship and Social Change
∙ BRE, “Hard Livin,’” 223 – 241*
∙ Dana-Ain Davis, “Knowledge in Service of a Vision,” 228 – 238*
***Practicum Reflection due at the start of class
W Dec 19: Research Project Final Draft is due at 11 a.m.
PLEASE NOTE TIME: LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Citations for Articles on Blackboard
Angrosino, Michael V. and Kimberly A. Mays de Pérez. “Rethinking Observation: From Method to Context.” In
Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln. Second Edition. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2000. 673 – 702.
Berg, Bruce L.. “Ethical Issues.” In Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Fifth Edition. Boston:
Pearson, 2004. 43 – 74.
BRE. “Hard Livin’: Bare Life, Autoethnography, and the Homeless Body.” In Constituent Imagination: Militant
Investigations, Collective Theorizations, ed. Stevphen Shukaitis and David Graeber with Erika Biddle. Oakland:
AK Press, 2007. 223 – 241.
Cauce, Ana Mari and Richard H. Nobles. “With All Due Respect: Ethical Issues in the Study of Vulnerable
Adolescents.” In The Handbook of Ethical Research with Ethnocultural Populations and Communities, ed.
Joseph E. Trimble and Celia B. Fisher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2006. 197 – 215.
Charmaz, Kathy. “Grounded Theory in the 21st Century: Applications for Advancing Social Justice Studies.” In
The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln. Third Edition.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005. 507-535.
Córdova, Teresa. “Plugging the Brain Drain: Bringing Our Education Back Home.” In Latino Social Policy: A
Participatory Model, ed. Juana Mora and David R. Diaz. New York: The Haworth Press, 2004. 25-53.
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Davis, Dana-Ain. “Knowledge in Service of a Vision: Politically Engaged Anthropology.” In Engaged Observer:
Anthropology, Advocacy, and Activism, ed. Victoria Sanford and Asale Angel-Ajani. New Brunswick: Rutgers
University Press, 2006. 228 – 238.
Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. “Fieldnotes in Ethnographic Research.” In Writing
Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. 1-16.
Fine, Michelle. “Bearing Witness: Methods for Researching Oppression and Resistance—A Textbook for Critical
Research.” Social Justice Research 19, no. 1 (March 2006): 83 – 108.
Fine, Michelle and Lois Weis. “Compositional Studies, In Two Parts: Critical Theorizing and Analysis on Social
(In) Justice.” In The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln.
Third Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005. 65-84.
Gallagher, Charles A. “White Like Me? Methods, Meaning, and Manipulation in the Field of White Studies.” In
Racing Research, Researching Race: Methodological Dilemmas in Critical Race Studies, ed. France Winddance
Twine and Jonathan W. Warren. New York: New York University Press, 2000. 67-92.
Greenwood, Davydd J. and Morten Levin. “Reconstructing the Relationships between Universities and Society
through Action Research.” In Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln.
Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2000. 85 – 106.
Islam, Naheed. “Research as an Act of Betrayal: Researching Race in an Asian Community in Los Angeles.” In
Racing Research, Researching Race: Methodological Dilemmas in Critical Race Studies, ed. France Winddance
Twine and Jonathan W. Warren. New York and London: New York University Press, 2000. (35-66).
Lofland, John. “Field Notes.” In Social Research Methods: A Reader, ed. Clive Seale. New York: Routledge, 2004.
232 – 235.
Mohatt, Gerald V. and Lisa R. Thomas. “‘I Wonder, Why Would You Do It That Way?’: Ethical Dilemmas in
Doing Participatory Research with Alaska Native Communities.” In The Handbook of Ethical Research with
Ethnocultural Populations and Communities, ed. Joseph E. Trimble and Celia B. Fisher. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications, 2006. 93 – 115.
Nygree, Kysa. “Reproducing or Challenging Power in the Questions We Ask and the Methods We Use: A
Framework for Activist Research in Urban Education.” The Urban Review 38, no. 1 (March 2006): 1 – 26.
Rodriguez, Cheryl. “Invoking Fannie Lou Hamer: Research, Ethnography, and Activism in Low-Income
Communities.” Urban Anthropology 32, no. 2 (2003): 231 – 249.
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. “On Tricky Ground: Researching the Native in the Age of Uncertainty.” In The Sage
Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln. Third Edition. Thousand
Oaks; CA: Sage Publications, 2005. 85-107.