Semester-long Fieldwork Project
Investigating the Language Politics of Houselessness in Portland

The complex and inextricable relationships among language, culture and power are best understood through specific examples of language practice in particular, power-laden situations. In this semester-long ethnographic research project, you will get the chance to investigate language politics in Portland area organizations related to the ongoing crisis of houselessness in Portland and the larger municipal area. Such issues could include: urban housing policy, management of the houseless, gentrification, houselessness and mental illness, houselessness and addiction, race and gender/sexuality issues and houselessness, grassroots advocacy for the houseless, etc.

Since this course is an introductory course, consider this a "mini-ethnography", a chance to glimpse what ethnographic research on a high-stakes issue is like. For linguistic anthropological approaches, the ideal form of research includes observation and analysis of realtime interaction, which allows us to understand how verbal and nonverbal behavior co-create meaning and power dynamics. There are three potential forms of research you could do this semester:
 
1) Attend and analyze language dynamics at public meetings. Together with a partner, you will attend, in realtime, at least two public meetings (ideally meetings that are explicitly open to a larger public and routinely allow audience members to record the proceedings) of a chosen Portland government or NGO organization addressing issues related to houselessness. Your attendance can be either online, or in-person (masked and socially distanced as necessary or required). Partners should attend the same meeting together, so that you can benefit from multiple points of view. With the permission of the organization, you will observe, record, research relevant history and background, take notes/write "field commentary" blog posts, utilizing methods and theories we learn in class. You will need at least two recorded interactions to analyze in your final papers.

2) Volunteer and Participant Observe: As a way to give back to the community, develop networks, and deepen your understanding, you and your partner will volunteer for up to 4-5 hours each over the course of the semester in a chosen Portland NGO addressing issues related to houselessness. With the permission of the organization, you will observe, research relevant history and background, and take notes/write "field commentary" blog posts on your observations, utilizing methods and theories we learn in class. In addition, each of you will conduct at least one recorded interview, either with a fellow volunteer or an officer of the organization, OR: with a friend or acquaintance about issues related to the organization's work. You will need at least two recorded interviews to analyze in your final papers.
 
3) Last Resort: Conduct Online Fieldwork: If the first two options for research cannot work, then you and your partner can conduct online fieldwork on a chosen Portland government or NGO organization addressing issues related to houselessness. You and your partner will divide up research that could include examining relevant websites, online chat forums, news accounts, and recorded meetings. You will research relevant history and background, and take notes/write "field commentary" blog posts on your observations, utilizing methods and theories we learn in class. In addition, each of you will conduct at least one recorded interview, either with an officer of the organization, OR: with a friend or acquaintance about issues related to the organization's work. You will need at least two recorded interactions to analyze in your final papers.

The project will be ongoing over the semester and consist of several steps, including uploading and captioning selected audio/video clips from your research (no more than 5 min long, clipped from your longer recordings) to your pair's Google Drive project folder. While you will work as partners throughout the semester, your final analysis papers will be written and submitted individually (though you will have the option to submit a co-authored final paper).

Attending Meetings. You are looking for organizations with meetings open to the public, and ideally ones that routinely allow recording. This could include: City Council hearings and committee work meetings (the best are when there are testimonials scheduled by members of the public), NGO gatherings or street rallies and protests, Portland Neighborhood Association regular meetings. Since COVID, many city organizations' meetings will be online or hybrid, either livestreaming or on Zoom. Online meetings can be convenient, but from the perspective of linguistic anthropology, there are major limits on what can be conveyed on such platforms. In-person attendance is ideal for the richer possibilities for ethnographic observation of verbal and non-verbal interactions and performances. If you choose to attend a street rally or protest, please do not attend protests expected to become violent; the best street gathering for this project would be gatherings where there are scheduled speakers and it is routine for audience members to record).

You need to attend two meetings in realtime, but optionally, you can add a third from the same organization that was pre-recorded. The richest project in this track would be based on public meetings of the same group (like the City Council, a Neighborhood Association), so that you have a better chance to research the organizations' tactics, goals, and history. Stick to well-established organizations and avoid smaller niche ones where outside observers will not be welcome. Be sure you understand their rules for recording meetings. To get started, see the Course Research Guide.

Volunteering. Look for organizations whose work you want to support, and potentially network with for future relationships (you could imagine perhaps a senior thesis project related to their work, or a summer internship funded by Reed at the organization). These are wonderful ways to build your professional resume's! See the Course Research Guide for a list of NGOs working on the houselessness crisis in Portland. There is a wide array of work being done.

To help you navigate this project, we have multiple staff members ready to support your work. There will be in-class workshops with librarian Ann Matsushima Chiu and IT specialists Beth Platte and Tony Moreno. Our Student Assistant Emilio Elias-Marchevsky will be your support for finding and choosing a fieldsite/meetings to attend.

Beginning Week three, we will also be doing some readings and trainings on methods and ethics in anthropological research. In order to be transparent about your role as a researcher at organizations' meetings (vs. at public street rallies ), or while volunteering or interviewing, we will provide you with a letter explaining the project and our pledge to use the audio/video recordings for educational purposes only. Under no circumstances should audio/video recordings for this project be uploaded to public social media (like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, X/Twitter, etc).

See the Requirements page for a summary of project activities and deadlines across the semester.