Topic: Fieldwork Assignment Sheet

COMS 3500: Contemporary Issues in Comm + Media Theory Fall 2017 || Dr. Liam Cole Young

Fieldwork Assignment Sheet

The Fieldwork assignment invites you to go out in the world in seek of data, impressions, observations, photographs, sound recordings, drawings, maps or any other material that furthers your understanding of the hidden infrastructure of digital networks and logistical systems. In consultation with me or your TA, you will choose a specific site for fieldwork—this can be on campus or off, but must be a public place. Brainstorm sites that you typically take for granted, but which—like the port lands, loading bays, shipping containers, and warehouses we will discuss in the course’s second half—are essential to our systems of civic, commercial, and communicative life. Regarding content and form, keep in mind:

(1) Your chosen site must be a public place and you must remain a passive observer. You may collect notes, draw sketches, take appropriate photographs, and make sound records of the area. However, you must ensure your site is not one where any people you encounter have a reasonable expectation for privacy (e.g. do not observe a public change room or make sound recordings in a lecture hall while class is happening). The idea here is that you are scouting infrastructure, not people, so it should be very easy to follow these guidelines. If you have an idea for a site that would require access or permission for entrance, please talk to Dr. Young well in advance to discuss.

(2) Successful projects will require careful planning. Start thinking early and do some research. Where might communicative, logistical, other kinds of infrastructure be located? A few ideas to get you thinking: shopping malls, Industrial districts and/or ports, University campuses, waterways, public libraries, etc.

You will compile your findings in a written report to be submitted on or before Nov. 27. This piece of writing is expected to be more expansive and rigourous than the podcast assignment. It is to be not less than 2000 words and must engage with at least 7 scholarly sources (at least three of which need be external to the course). Superior reports will include notes, drawings, photographs, or sound recordings as appropriate (either in-text or as appendices). You need to show us evidence that you actually did the fieldwork and weave it into your report. The goal here is to ground ideas from readings and discussions with the ‘dirt’ of place, history, and labour. A good way to think about the assignment is that it has three steps:

1. Conduct research about logistics and infrastructure (starting with course texts and working your way to sources external to the course)

2. Choose a site that you think will help to you learn more 3. Gather data and observations from that site 4. Synthesize preliminary research with findings from fieldwork in a way that allows you to draw

conclusions and/or make an argument about the infrastructure of culture, communication and/or commerce

 

 

COMS 3500: Contemporary Issues in Comm + Media Theory Fall 2017 || Dr. Liam Cole Young

Fieldwork marking guide A-range: Exceptional. Your fieldwork assignment shows evidence of care, thought and planning. Your research site is well chosen and allows you to explore themes from the course. You’ve collected a trove of interesting impressions, observations and other data. You weave them together in your research brief in thoughtful and compelling ways. Your analysis of the experience is grounded in keywords and themes from the course. You use relevant sources and have done solid research into the topic. It is clear that you’ve used the assignment to push your thinking about digital media networks and culture into exciting new directions. Overall, the assignment shows evidence of considerable effort over an extended period of time and a high level of engagement with course themes. You’ve taken this very seriously and put your best foot forward. B-range: Average or slightly above. Your fieldwork assignment checks most of the boxes but does not move much beyond minimum requirements. Your site is fine but perhaps a bit obvious. You’ve collected some interesting impressions, observations and other data, and you try to weave them together in your research brief in thoughtful ways. But your analysis is overly reliant on a few concepts, applies ideas from the course in superficial ways, or doesn’t show evidence of much research. There are some good insights here, but you don’t explore them with enough depth or sophistication. Overall, the assignment shows evidence of some effort but feels rushed and/or underdeveloped. Your take on infrastructure and fieldwork relies on commonplace understandings, though there are flashes of creativity. You’ve taken this seriously enough to check the boxes, and that’s fine, but this had the potential to be much more than it was. C-range: Below average or poor. Your fieldwork does not meet minimum requirements, or just barely scrapes by. You’ve gathered some material, but your site is not particularly well chosen and one gets the feeling this was rushed at the very last minute. You have not conducted a minimum standard of research into the topic. There is virtually no evidence that you sought to explore course themes in a creative way. Overall, the assignment shows little evidence of care or attention. There’s enough here for us to grade, but it’s disorganized and unconnected to the course. It’s disappointing to see almost no evidence that you tried to think about the assignment in a serious or creative way. D-range: Unacceptable. You did not follow assignment instructions and have instead slapped something together seemingly at the last minute. It’s a mess, but you probably know that.