In order to capture “A Year in the Life of Africana Studies at Williams College,” I would choose to hone in on various student perspectives in order to construct my ethnography. As a student who is one class away from completing the Africana Studies concentration, I believe that it is necessary to be conscious of my lens, and to shift myself into the position of someone who is more of a “neutral” party: someone who has not taken any Africana Studies classes and who is not familiar with the material. Referring to anything encompassing Africana Studies at Williams College as “the field,” it is known that “field workers can become desensitized to the details of a setting after they have become regular participants in that setting.”[1] It is my job to “set aside culture-bound questions that prevent discovery of [another] person’s point of view.”[2] Coming from the point of view of an outsider who is delving into the foreign topic of Africana studies, there are a variety of questions that need to be asked. What is Africana Studies? What is the history of Africana Studies as it relates to Williams College? What are takeaways from courses in the Africana Studies program? What is the main purpose of the Africana Studies program at Williams? How do students navigate Africana courses and coursework? What changes should be made to the program, if any? My goal is to “avoid presenting [a] timeless account“[3] of Africana Studies since it is a fairly new program and continues to change with the passing years. These questions not only serve the purpose of providing the ethnography with a historical basis, but also of highlighting the experiences faced by students as well as the professor-student and student-student dynamics inside and out of these classes.

When it comes to immersing oneself in the lives of dozens of Africana Studies students, I believe that “there [is] no reality that individuals share…there is no stable reality.”[4] I don’t believe that there is a collective, agreed-upon Africana Studies student experience, or even a collective interpretation of what Africana Studies is. For this reason, the aforementioned questions would be extremely difficult to answer without presenting multiple student perspectives. My research would involve “collecting and presenting comprehensive wide-ranging accounts.”[5] I would solely use the perspectives of students, as opposed to of professors who serve as the backbone and vessels of the program. I believe that the given time constraint of one year would be used most effectively to focus on one of these extremely diverse groups. Africana Studies students range in all aspects of their lives; these include but are not limited to race, gender, socioeconomic status, interests and majors. My ethnography would encapsulate the story of the Africana concentrator in a senior seminar as well as the freshman who is using an Africana class to fulfill the Exploring Diversity Initiative requirement. As Spradley explains, “all ethnography must include inquiries to discover the interests and concerns of informants.”[6] While I want my introductory questions to revolve around my inquiries, I want my project to be molded around the different experiences of my informants. My field notes based on observation and speech events should also tell me the similarities in the way that very different students navigate Africana courses and content. Do many students feel like they are gaining the same thing from taking Africana Studies classes? Are there similar professor-student dynamics amongst the group? Are there students from starkly different backgrounds who interpret the content in the same manner? My research should be able to tell me the trends, or lack thereof, of students engaged in Africana Studies.

In order to obtain the information to construct my ethnography, I would have to conduct both interviews as well as observations inside and out of the classroom. I firstly would have to decide whom I want to play the role of my informant, as well as a foolproof method to get thorough answers from these people. This is one area that I can use my previous knowledge in. I know that students at Williams College often take part in studies or events when it benefits them economically or academically. Since I want to collect such a wide variety of student experiences, making sure that I give my informants “fair return”[7] is crucial. This can include asking professors if they would consider giving students extra credit points for participating to raffling a gift card for their time. After recruiting my informants, preferably students from different paths of life who have varied interactions with Africana Studies coursework, it is important to gain consent from the students and professors as well as the department and the College.

I will gain consent from the department, as well as any professor or student who I observe or who plays the role of the informant. I would have to make it my priority to inform all persons involved that they can speak “off the books” in order to promote honest conversation and interactions. For example, a student who is struggling with certain topics in a class might not want to admit it to me as an observer, due to the prestigious reputation of the college. I believe that is very important to get written consent from all parties since the subject matter heavily involves the perception of one of the College’s programs.

After my recruitment, one more issue comes to mind that needs to be addressed. Aside from my internal debate of limiting my knowledge and experiences, there may also be confusion with traditional roles that may transpire between ethnographer and informant. Spradly thoroughly explains the logistics of this issue in “The Ethnographic Interview.” It is difficult to determine the extent to which I should ignore my background knowledge in this field. My informants who know that I am an Africana Studies concentrator are more likely to skim over important details and logistics concerning the program; these details may be necessary for an “outsider” to really understand where the informants are coming from. For this reason, I am more likely to get unenthusiastic or bland answers from informants. To avoid this problem, I may want to recruit someone who isn’t as familiar with the field to conduct speech events that are parallel to mine. I believe that this would allow students to give more informational perspectives to this other person, while I would still be able to question their experiences and perceive their intonations and body language while they answer. Along with these dual speech events, I want to also split my data and notes into three different categories to compare student experiences and expectations in another way. These categories include introductory classes (100 level), intermediate classes (200, 300 level) and senior seminar classes (400 level, thesis and dossier students). I believe that this will give a little bit of structure to my ethnography. While implementing a smidgen of my own knowledge to structure my ethnographical research, I ultimately want it to be led by the varying experiences and actions of Africana Studies students at Williams.

[1] Pattilo-McCoy, Mary and Reuben A. Buford May. “Do You See What I See? Examining a Collaborative Ethnography.” CP 125

[2] Spradley, James. “Informants” CP 83

[3]Murchison, Julian. “What is Ethnography” CP 64

[4] Pattilo-McCoy, Mary and Reuben A. Buford May. “Do You See What I See? Examining a Collaborative Ethnography.” CP 135

[5] Murchison, Julian. “What is Ethnography” CP 62

[6] Spradley, James. “Informants” CP 84

[7] Spradley, James. “Informants” CP 86