Author Archives: Melanie Hirsch

Tea and Solidarity discusses the desire among minorities of Hill Country Tamil workers to be free of the legend of colonialism. Similar themes of racial, economic, and social oppression can be seen throughout the book to other works we have … Continue reading →

The Land of Open Graves details the violent and dangerous experiences of Mexican migrants crossing the border to the US. Although this topic has been widely studied, De Leon brings a new perspective to the narrative. He states that historically, … Continue reading →

The theme that stuck out most to me in this reading, that has recurred in the ethnographies we have read time and time again, is the connection between people and the physical space that they occupy. The loss of control … Continue reading →

I think the theme that struck me the most was the concept of a patient-prisoner. Garcia states: “Addicts assigned to the drug court system are dually and contradictorily marked; the addict/offender is patient and prisoner. The patient-prisoner experiences the weight … Continue reading →

This has been my favorite ethnography to read thus far in this course for a few different reasons. First, I am very interested in the subject matter at hand: women’s reproductive health in developing Latin American countries. I wrote my … Continue reading →

In Hindustan is a Dream, Tanajea discusses the experience of Muslims living as a religious minority in India through three different mediums: the life and poetry of Juan Elia, a critique of Hindu nationalism by Maukana Abdul Hameed Nomani, and … Continue reading →

I really enjoyed reading Shang’s work, but what stuck out most to me was the structure she used to write about her experience in the Spanish classroom in chapter 3. Like other ethnographies we have read so far, she gave … Continue reading →

I think this reading really highlighted the concept of scale that we discussed in class last week. Thomas seems to be tackling many layers including but not limited to: violence, culture, community, and political structure. It seems as if the … Continue reading →

After reading these chapters, I began to understand the importance of participant observation in ethnographic research. I think Murchison’s suggestion of finding a regular meeting to attend is particularly salient for research on a college campus, as many affinity/interest groups … Continue reading →

As someone who is very unfamiliar with ethnographies, the aspect of this reading that first struck me was the style and tone of writing. Rather than assuming the tone of a scientific research paper, this read much more like a … Continue reading →