Ethnographic Field Methods in Highland Guatemala

A three-to-four week intensive summer ethnographic field methods class that focuses on a specific research theme.

For information contact:

Walter Little, E-mail: wlittle@albany.edu

Course Description

This is an intensive three-to-four week field school in ethnographic methods based in Antigua and other cities. The course provides advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students with instruction in ethnographic research methods. The aim of the course is threefold: 1) to give students a unique cultural experience abroad, 2), to teach ethnographic field research methods by having students work on a research project and 3) to help students learn or improve their foreign-language skills. The course is organized into four parts: initial exercises on ethnographic field techniques, the practical application of those techniques, group sessions throughout the course for students to discuss fieldwork dilemmas, and short excursions to highland Maya towns.

Students proficient in Spanish have more options and flexibility with regard to research projects, than those who do not speak Spanish. Students with good Spanish language skills have the option of taking Kaqchikel lessons. Antigua, however, has a relatively large English-speaking population of tourists, businesspersons, and retirees.

Students are required to sign-up for AANT 480 (or AANT 608 if a graduate student). The course is limited to 14 students.

On-going Research Project: This collective research project inviestigates non-Guatemalan tourists' opinions about Antigua. Tourists’ opinions and tourism industry representations will be compared with the ways that they experience Antigua and interact with Mayas, Ladinos and foreigners living in Antigua. The objective is to learn what foreign tourists think about the place they visit, how that conforms to or diverges from the ways in which Antigua is represented in the tourism literature, and how their behavior conforms to or varies from their opinions. The focus is on general patterns of tourists’ opinions in conjunction with observations of their behavior. The following hypothesis is posited: tourists’ opinions about Antigua will vary according to how much touristic information they acquired prior to travel, what their reasons for travel are, and what their travel experience is. Tourists with the most negative opinions will be those whose prior knowledge most conflicts with their experience.

Pictures from the 2005, 2006, and 2007 classes

For information contact:

Walter Little, E-mail: wlittle@albany.edu

Summer 2006 Brochure

Summer 2007 Brochure

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