So I'm considering looking at identity--possibly working with how identity and ability are intertwined. Maybe something along the lines of how people work to recreate their image after becoming disabled in some way? It's a topic that interests me and I feel could be potentially relevant.
Hope this is along the lines of what the blogging ordeal for ethno methods is all about. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Savage Minds is dead! Long live anthro{dendum}!
7 years ago
This sounds like a good topic, but dependent in some ways on logistics (finding the right people to talk to and observe). Would it also involve some kind of participant observation (maybe following your research participants around, shadowing them in certain situations, for certain events, in interactions with other people)? You don't have to, I am just trying to learn more about how you imagine this study.
ReplyDeleteI think this topic could be quite rich, and there should be some stuff already published that would help you structure and define your project even more. What you might find is that there is probably little work done by anthropologist directly on this topic, so you will have to get creative and branch out into other areas (like anthropology of the body if you are interested in physical disabilities), or medical anthro, or anthro of emotions, etc.
The healthiest way to approach this, if the project becomes too vague, overwhelming, fuzzy, is to basically ask the question of how an anthropological study of identity and ability might look like, and explore what would make for a productive line of inquiry.
I hope this helps!
Anybody any other ideas, thoughts?
This sounds really interesting! After having seen quite a few injured SU athletes lately, I was wondering if you could maybe approach one of them to talk about how their injury has altered their lifestyle, friendships, class work, etc? It might be a bit of a touchy subject and perhaps too close to home, but they seem like an accessible group. Perhaps my thinking is a bit cliched, especially given all the sports dramas about injuries.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this could also apply to people who have recently lost their jobs due to the economic crisis. Americans (and perhaps people all over the world) seem to associate so much of their identity and their perception of their own ability with their profession. When this profession is lost, how does their sense of ability and identity change? Perhaps again this is a bit cliche.
In any case, I think this topic sounds really interesting. Good luck!