The purpose of this assignment is to expose you to another culture and develop your observation skills. You are asked to attend a cultural event, practice your observation skills, and write a reflection on your experience. Examples of such events might be cultural festivals or celebrations, invitations to religious celebrations, etc.
**For this paper, please write as though you have attended the Ukrainian Cultural Celebration at the Pelham Art Center on 4/10th in New York, USA. (This event is a free public celebration of Ukrainian culture with music and dancing in the Pelham Art Center. In this paper please include things you have learned/observed from “watching the Ukrainian dances and music and answer the following questions below. Do your best to explain the location of the event based on research of the Pelham Art Center in New York, write about the history as though you were able to interview one of the Ukrainian dance members)
PART 1: QUESTIONS THAT GUIDE UNFOCUSED OBSERVATION
Answer these questions in your report. They are a general guide to unfocused observation
Features of the physical land space:
1. What kind of space (or building) is this?
2. Is it typical of other buildings of this sort? Or is it somehow unusual?
3. How is the space organized?
4. Is the space usual or somehow strange?
5. What kinds of things are in this space or building?
Information about people and events:
6. How many people are there?
7. What are their ages? Genders? Ethnicity?
8. How are they attired?
9. Can you see signs of social status and rank or visibly discern whether or not people are
coupled or married?
10. Is there anything unusual or striking about these people?
11. How are the people in this space arranged or organized?
12. Can you discern connections or relationships among those present?
13. Are people arranged in patterns (such as age or gender)?
14. What are people doing?
15. What kind of gathering is it?
16. Is it discernibly unusual in some way?
17. What feelings do you get in this setting?
18. Do you have a sense of things that you are unable exactly to account for observationally?
PART 2: FOCUSED OBSERVATION
Tips for interviewing:
Avoid topics that are likely to be too sensitive.
Restate what informants say, using their language to test active listening
(feel free to look up music/dance/food videos to get a better understanding of the Ukrainian culture)
Please follow this paper outline and include headings, the 18
questions for unfocused observation (Part II), and the subheadings for the integrative questions
I) Introduction — Specify what you observed and when. Why did you choose this event?
II) Unfocused Observation — Include the 18 questions followed by their answers. Was there anything else of note that you observed?
III) Interviews with Cultural Informants (2) What did you want to learn about in your interviews (i.e., what did you decide to focus on?) Describe how you interviewed them and what you learned from them.
IV) Integrative Questions — Step back from what you observed and write about the process by answering these integrative questions:
a) What was it like to you to enter a different culture and be a participant-observer? What were your thoughts and feelings as you did this?
b) How would you critique and evaluate your own observation skills?
c) Share an action plan to improve your observation or cultural entry skills during the rest of the semester. A good action plan is specific and describes exactly what you are going to do and by what date. It also includes how you will measure your progress and know youre improved
Helpful sources:
https://www.pelhamartcenter.org/event/ukrainian-celebration/
