Students as Writers-Researchers: the Ethnography of Diversity Project

by Karen Rosenblum, Sociology

The Ethnography of Diversity Project explores the construction and meaning of diversity in higher education, using George Mason as the research site. Research is conducted by undergraduate and graduate students, in collaboration with faculty affiliated with the project. The Project is an interdisciplinary umbrella, bringing together individual research projects and encompassing a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Students work with a faculty member to identify, design, and pursue a one- or two-semester research project; receive course credit through independent/directed study or as part of a course requirement; earn certification in research with human subjects; participate in a monthly colloquium with other students in the project; present their research at a university scholarship event, a Mason student conference, or a professional conference with funding provided for travel; present research-based suggestions for improving campus life at Mason; and/or have their research considered for publication in a collection of project papers.

In the first year of the Ethnography of Diversity project (2008-2009), 12 undergraduate students participated, most over two semesters. All students produced a paper about their research, many of which were published in a Summer 2009 volume, Diversity at Mason: Student Research on Student Identity. The research topics included the gendered sense of campus safety, the experience of Hispanic/Latino students, the effects of membership in the local LGBTQ organization, the experience of students with invisible illnesses, returning women students, and the experience of students returning to the U.S. after a significant period abroad including military service, called the Returnee Project.

Another 10 undergraduates enrolled for the 2009-2010 academic year. To date, their topics have included the interplay of national and religious identity among Iranian-American students; the connections between ethnic background, body image, and campus gym experience; and the campus exoticization of drag culture. Several students have returned to work for a second year on the Returnee Project.

In the first year of Mason’s project, about half of the students pursued their research through the two-semester course sequence, Feminist Approaches to Social Research and Gender Research Project. This sequence, taught by sociologist Amy Best, included graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Other students have pursued their research through courses such as Writing Ethnography (English), Comparative Perspectives on Immigration (anthropology), Education in Contemporary Society (sociology), and Contemporary Sociological Theory (sociology).

For more information contact krosenblu@gmu.edu or look at our website http://drg.gmu.edu/about/projects.php.