Cultural Artifact

For my study I have decided to research the discourses within a college community on different campuses. For my cultural artifact I decided on the epic backpack. Its the sack that has one or two straps which wrap around the students shoulders(or torso in the case of just one strap, sometimes it just hangs from one's shoulder). This bag leaves their hands free while the weight that they carry is rested on their back and shoulders.
The bag usually comes in an assortment of colors depending on the student's preference and usually contains 1 to multiple zippers opening up to different compartments.Sometimes it has a flap which covers the zippers. The material may be different on each bag. Some maybe be sturdier than others. Some maybe be more comfortable to wear than others. Prices range widely.
According to e.how, the bookbag has been popular for students since the 1960's when they began carrying books to and from school. In college a bookbag carries more than just books for the students. Some athletes carry their sporting gear inside a bookbag, others have food, or musical gear, sometimes all three at once. In all aspects this artifact seems to be popular and necessary for the culture of the college student, especially during time spent on campus.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6599118_book-bag-safety.html
http://fashionsrevenge.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/jansport-bookbags-2/
http://northfacebookbags.net/
http://www.discount-briefcases.com/briefcases.htm

Mini- Ethnographic Account

I chose my roomates in my apartment to study. I live with three girls. Normal attire is usually sweat pants with t-shirt, no one tends to linger in work clothes around these parts. We always greet each other in motherly ways almost. "Hi, how was your day?" or "Hey, how was class?"etc. We have 2 bathrooms. 2 of us share a rather messy bathroom. Hair is everywhere, make up is scattered about. Nothing too gross, but could be cleaner. The other two share a cleaner bathroom. We speak to each other in soft tones, comforting tones usually with the occasionally breaking out of the stereotypical southern hick or ghetto voice that we might have heard on a tv show or something. Laughter takes place a lot. I have very musical roomates. A girl singing can usually be heard when you walk through the door, along with a guitar in the background depending on the day and the roomate. They create a home away from home environment. When we have company over it sometimes can get really loud with the enjoyment of a funny movie or baking cookies in the kitchen. I would describe it as a warm and inviting culture. I enjoy it.

Fieldworking Notes

For my first time note taking in the field, I chose the community at Hillsboro Village. I sat outside of Whole Foods for an hour and took about 6 pages of notes of what I observed.

What surprised me?- I think what surprised me most was seeing how many people were there on a cloudy Tuesday, and just how much there was to observe and write down. I love people watching as much as the next person, but when you actually go somewhere with that as your sole purpose, it feels pretty intense. I also felt protective over my notes. I tried to casually hide them from people if they walked by me too closely. For some reason I just didn't want anyone to know that I was people watching.

What intrigued me?- Well looking back through my notes, I notice couples. I have at least 4 different observations of pairs of people that I saw who I immediately thought to be a couple even though they might not have been. Maybe that's just a cultural thing, but its obviously something I was intrigued by and noticed most.

What disturbed me?- The assumptions I constantly make. If there is a child with a woman I immediately tied a mother-child relationship to it. If there was a guy and girl walking I immediately tied a couple relationship to it. If they had a baby with them I immediately thought married couple with child. If it were two of the same sex I thought friend relationship. All of these assumptions could have been completely wrong and yet I still make them almost subconsciously.

These are just 2 pages of notes I took.

Ethnographic Study

I would like to study the communities on different college campuses. I feel like there would be a major difference in the community on Belmont's campus compared to that of a state college such as TSU or MTSU, or even a community college such as Nashville State or Motlow College that is a little southeast of here (more where I'm from). There might even be a difference between two colleges that are relatively the same such as Belmont and Lipscomb. I just think it would be interesting to see the discourses within each and compare them.

I also think it would be interesting to study different shopping areas. For my first field notes, I went and sat outside of Whole Foods, in The Hillsboro Village in Green Hills. Seeing the different discourses in that area compared to an indoor mall or larger mall would be interesting or the discourses that take place in malls in different areas.