I'm not going to post it because it is so long and it's the first draft so I already know of things that are wrong with it but I really want feedback so.... I'll turn it in as written. I'm not quite sure on how much to include, not much not to, etc etc. But I will provide a link for it on here in case any of you are really dying to read a horribly written "first draft proposal".
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OSWn-xv1fW7rwwrKZY2kFZW1flKBJFCqcADdFpjSUBg/edit?hl=en&pli=1&authkey=CMnysPsC#
ENJOY!
So I'm just going to actually POST my final proposal that I turned in for my IAS 360R class...... Afterwards, I will post a link for my Anthro 442 proposal-- which is a little bit more anthropological you might say-- more focused on the theories behind my project.
________ . . . ________ . . . _________ . . . __________ . . . __________ . . . _________ . . . _________
Statement of Intent:
Background Significance and Literature Review:
The Field Studies have been going to Ghana for some time now. The community of Wiamoase is about one hour northeast of Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city. Wiamoase has around 11,000 people in it, with several schools and a hospital as well; many of the people are actually employed in those two places. The village itself is more rural, with many family farms and limited running water. It resides in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, where the majority of people are of that ethnicity and speak Twi, one of the major languages in Ghana. Besides those logistics, Wiamoase is as culturally rich as any other Africa village. Dancing is no exception to that culture, with many dances occurring either for a funeral or at the schools.
Dance in Africa has a long, long history. Pearl Primus, a renowned African dancer/ anthropologists once said, in regards to Africans: “Our throats are deep with music, our legs full of dance while our bodies tremor with rhythm” (Primus 1998: 9). Based on this description, dancing for Africans is a natural, innate desire that they posses; thereby making it an important part of their lives. Doris Green agreed with this observation when she wrote, in her article, Traditional Dance in Africa: “Dance is so vital to the everyday lives of people, that in Ghana if you are a chief and cannot dance the way of your people, you can be dethroned” (Green 1998: 26). In the literature of African dance, the purposes/ reasons for the dancing are also discussed quite frequently. Primus explains that Africans portray a wide range of events while dancing: her list includes such things as marriages, death, births, harvest time, legends, man/womanhood, puberty rites, etc (Primus 1998: 5-6). In short, “African dance translates everyday experiences into movement” (Green, Doris 1998: 14).
With dance being so vital, and was used to express so many different things, I was not surprised to find that dance was used for political purposes in Ghana’s early post-colonial days. To understand the reasons behind these political tactics, (which I will explain in the following paragraph), it is important to remember that when Ghana was created during the Berlin Conference of 1884, no regard was taken to local tribal boundaries; because of this, several different ethnic groups were all clumped together to create the nation of Ghana. Now, fast forward to 1957, Ghana has gained its independence from England and is now faced with the challenges of keeping their country running. The leading voice during Independence, and the first Prime Minister of Ghana was a man named Kwame Nkrumah. Based on the literature I’ve read on Ghanaian Independence, it was proven to be a“cultural/political program... aimed at retrieving the past in a rewritten history of African cultural contributions denied or obscured by imperial hubris.... In regard, to retrieve the past was... a means of achieving some rectification and cultural restoration of African” (Apter 2008: 17). In addition to restoring African identity, Nkrumah sought to create an entire “Ghanaian culture”. By creating a national identity, Nkrumah would help preserve, and keep the peace between ethnic groups.
The idea of a national identity is not new but has, in the last thirty years or so, come under intense study. The literature on “nationalism”, as it is called, regards it as more of a cultural system rather than a political idea (Anderson 1983: 13). Benedict Anderson, one of the discipline’s leading voices on nationalism, hypothesized that one reason for the emergence of ‘nationalism’ in society is the formation of actual borders. In early history, borders were more fluid, with the king’s reign focused on an epicenter as opposed to a territory (Anderson 1983). With the creation of borders, kings’ reigns were more identified, collectively grouping all who lived within them as the same. This unity thus lead to the creation of “imagined communities”-- which are socially constructed independent of language, race, or religion (Wikipedia “Imagined Communities”). Applying this idea to Ghana-- After England created the borders of the current Ghanaian state, the tribes within those borders would be known as Ghanaian. Nkrumah looked to create an “imagined community” out of this nation, independent of the different ethnic groups that were residing in its borders. The literature supports this theory; Green even commented in her article: “Nkrumah opted to work within this aspect of the colonial legacy, but to use the arts to forge a common identity based on unity in diversity” (Green 1998: 2).
Methods and Procedures:
In order to study the dances, and their meanings-- I first must gain rapport with the community members. This requires me entering the community in a culturally acceptable way. My primary source for entrance will be our host mother, Esther. She is a respected woman in the community and will be able to help us culturally as well as socially. By following her around, helping her with whatever I can, I hope to be able to met many people along the way. Another method I have planned for entering the community will be through the school. Upon talking with the headmaster, I hope to volunteer at the school for the three months I will be there. By doing these two things, I will be able to meet persons of all ages, economic classes, etc.
Because of the general nature of my study, my requirements for subjects are non-specific. I will be targeting ages 14-60; both male and female. The overall background is that all will be community members of Wiamoase; as for their ethnicity, I do not see the need to narrow my study to only Ashanti since my main focus will be on national identity. I will be interested in interviewing those who are active dancers as well as those who participate through watching. My only requirement in that regard is that they do have interaction with dance on a fairly regular basis.
To more easily manage the all-encompassing nature of my project, I have divided the population into three groups: 14-18 years old, 19-30 years old, 31-60 years old. This will make sure that I have equal sampling from each age group; it also helps differentiate recruitment techniques. For the youngest group, I will work through the secondary schools I plan on volunteering at; this will be an ideal place to gain rapport with the younger kids. The second group I will most likely meet during participant observation; some may be teachers at the school or involved in local businesses. The older group, I imagine being recruited through a third party—whether that be our host family, parents of the children with whom I am working, etc.
As far as actual methods are concerned, after pinpointing my informants, I’ll be using four main methods: informal interviews, semi-structured interviews.participant observation, dance education,
The first method will allow me to first gain a general idea of the community. The informal interviews will consist mostly of domain analysis activities. Such activities will help me determine the correct vocabulary to use when speaking about dance, as well as national identity. The two main types of domain analysis I will be conducting are free listing and pile sorting. The free listing will be both: “when you hear the word ‘dance’, what comes to your mind?” or “what are all the components in a dance event?” as well as “what words would you use to describe a Ghanaian? an (insert ethnic group)?” With the data I collect from this activity, I will then use pile sorting to see if they do indeed see a Ghanaian as a separate identity from their ethnic group. This method will be done mostly with a more random sampling of people that I meet either at the schools, in the market, at a dance event, etc. By making the sampling more random, I will stand a better chance of obtaining a more holistic view of the community. This will be a one-time collection with each person involved. I hope to be able to survey at least 30 people.
The next method I will be implementing is semi-structured interviews. My aim will be to have 5 interviewees from each age group. The interviews lasting no more than 45 minutes will be conducted three times throughout the three months. The first interview will be mostly personal narratives; collecting stories of their own personal interactions with dance, experiences either watching or actually dancing. I will be able to compare these personal narratives against the other data/observations I have collected. Therefore, the second interview will consist of more questions and answers-- allowing me to take their experiences one step further by exploring the ideas with them that dance is helping create an identity for them. The third interview will be more of the same.
All four of these methods I hope will allow me to determine whether or not there is a correlation between dance and national identity. There may several barriers for my project that will prevent me from finding this correlation. One barrier will be the language, but I will have a translator to help me. I will also continue to study the language and hopefully be able to communicate somewhat on my own; I asked my Twi professor to tell me phrases and words associated with dance so I now have those (I figured that would help a lot). Even being invited to the funerals will be something that I will need to address when I get there.
I thought it would be helpful, since my project is more creative, to explain what my data analysis plan is-- to help connect my methods with that I will actually be looking for. The analysis for my project is mostly qualitative. For that reason, a lot of this is hypothetical however, I can explore some things I may be looking for when actually looking at my data.
For my participant observations, my codings will consist mostly of environment factors like “feelings while dancing is going on”, “what is present at the dance event”, etc. For the dance education portion of my methods, my data will first be categorized by dance-- divided into two groups of ‘ethnic’ and ‘national’. By dividing in such a way, I will be able to distinguish between the two types of dances, and perhaps look for certain moves or characteristics of each type. In addition, I can measure the responses of each dance within the people in attendance.
The informal interview data analysis will allow me to see what the people of Wiamoase characterize as “national” and “ethnic”; as well as how they categorize dance. By doing so, my coding will be more accurate according to their viewpoint, thus limiting the bias I might bring to the interpretation of what they say. The semi-structured interview analysis will consist mostly of my coding the interviews with flags for national/ethnic markers. thus allowing me to see what the people of Wiamoase characterize as “national” and “ethnic”. The coding may get more specific, as I see certain trends arise, if I see trends arise; for example, a trend may be that a lot of people mentioned “change” in regards to dance, or identity. By being more specific with my markings, I will be able to pinpoint certain things that these people contribute to dance/ the formation of an identity.
Ethics and IRB Approval:
IRB approval will be sought for this project. The holistic, common nature of my project allows me to be confident that there will be minimum risks; but on the other side, there are little benefits for the actual informants. The commonality should also make it easier to get consent (especially from the younger children). Consent for interviewing the above mentioned subjects will be obtained through written consent. After spending time, getting to know them and their history, I will ask if it be alright that I record much of this information for my study. Written parental consent will be requested when I am dealing with those children between the ages of 14-18 years old.
Preliminary Plans for Post-Field Application:
There are both short term and long term goals that my project will fulfill. All of my goals fit under the two purposes I mentioned at the beginning of my proosal: cultural as well as academic. My cultural short term goal is based on the idea that I have wanted to go to Africa for over seven years now, to experience their culture and share a life with them-- and that is exactly what I’ll be doing for these three months. As for my academic short term goal, not only does this field study fulfill the requirement for all Anthropology majors to complete an ethnographic project, but I hope to able to publish my final paper for the Inquiry Conference (and perhaps even a more academic journal).
Qualifications and Limitations:
Now for my limitations. I have never been out of the country for an extended period of time before. I have tried to combat this weakness by talking with all those I know who have been to Ghana-- asking them about their feelings, their impressions, having them show me pictures, how they personally overcame culture shock. The more I talk with people about it, the more comfortable I get with going to Wiamoase because I feel like it’s becoming familiar to me. Another limitation that I have is the language. However, as previously mentioned, I am taking an Intro to Twi class, and I feel that if I make it a goal to speak it as much as possible while I am over there, the people of Wiamoase will be appreciative of that and will be patient in speaking with me. Another limitation is more academic, in that I have never done an ethnography before, nor have I had any real experience with interviewing and participant observation. Taking the preparation classes as well as completing the assignments they have given me regarding practicing those skills has been my way of overcoming this limitation.
Qualifications of Faculty Advisor:
Justification of In-field Coursework:
I will be taking three classes while I am in Ghana. One is the one-credit IAS 201R class.
I will be taking Anthro 495R from Jacob Hickman-- this class is a requirement for my major. The work that I will be doing for this class is directly based off of this proposal. So by taking this class, it will help remind me of my academic obligations while in Ghana, as well as outline my data collection techniques and how much of that I’ll need to be doing. This class is 6 credits.
The last class I will be taking in from Karen Jensen, and it will be a Dance 500R class. The requirements for this class include learning dances and recording their history, what the movements mean, etc. As previously mentioned in the Methods section, learning the history is one of my methods as well as an essential part of understanding the dance environment of Wiamoase. This class will be 3 credits.
Schedule:
Daily
Weekly
Specific Dates
May 5: Leave for Ghana
May 6: Arrive in Accra
May 6- May 20: Adjust to living in Ghana. Work on entering the community, gaining rapport with community members. Sometime in there I would like to speak with the Headmaster about volunteering at the school.
May 21- June 6: Informal interviews (domain analysis)
June 7- July 31: Semi-formal interviews. These will take place in three stages, as explained in the Methods section.
August 1-9: Do any last minute interviews, participant observations, but mostly, just enjoy my last days there in Wiamoase.
August 9: Depart Wiamoase
August 29- December 15: Working on Field Study paper (aka my Senior Thesis)
September 12: Coursework for Dance 500R is due.
December 15: Final Paper due at Field Studies Office, as well as for Anthropology.
Budget:
The following will be a tentative budget for the expenses I will need for Ghana. The only outside help I am seeking is through the Field Studies. Other than that, I will be paying for this on my own, with help from my parents.
*Most of these numbers will be estimates for the exact amounts are not known.
Pre-Ghana Expenses:
Plane Ticket: $1500
Acceptance Fee into the Program: $125
Medical Insurance: $200 (I do not remember how much that was)
Shots/ Medication: $350
Tuition for Sp/Su classes: $1070
Visa: $60
Passport: $120
In- Country Expenses:
Travel: $15-250 total
Living Expense (food, rent, etc): $250 a month
Translation fees: $100 total
Souvenirs: no more than $100
Works Cited
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
Nationalism, Verso: London 1991.
Apter, David Ernest. "Ghana’s Independence: Triumph and Paradox". Transition 98:1 (2008): 6-22.
Buckland, Theresa. “All Dances Are Ethnic, but Some Are More Ethnic Than Others: Some Observations on Dance Studies and Anthropology”. The Journal of the Society for Dance Research Vol 17:1 (1999): pages 3-21.
Green, Doris. “Traditional Dance in Africa”. From: African Dance: An Artistic, Historical, and Philisophical Inquiry, Africa World Press (1996).
Green, Sandra E. "Developing the Arts for Development: Perspectives on Ghana". Africa Notes 1998: 1-8.
Hanna, Judith Lynne. "African Dance: the Continuity of Change". Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council 5 (1973): 165-174.
Hess, Janet. "Exhibiting Ghana: Display, Documentary, and "National" Art in the Nkrumah Era. African Studies Review 44 (1): 2001: 59-77.
Kaepple, Adrienne L. "Dance in Anthropological Perspective". Annual Review of Anthropology 7 (1978): 31-49.
Kraus, R., Hilsendager, K., Dixon, B. History of the Dance in Arts and Education. Allyn and Bacon: 1991.
Schramm, Kathrina. “The Politics of Dance: Changing Representations of the Nation in Ghana”. Africa Spectrum 35:3 (2000): 339-358.
For the ninety days that I will be spending in Wiamoase, I hope to grow both culturally and academically. I’ve been planning on going to Ghana on a field study for over two years now so this time will definitely be a highlight of my college career, as well as my life.
As mentioned, I will first be looking for a culturally-enriching experience. As an anthropologist, I would love to be able to immerse myself in the culture, being able to participate in all sorts of events ranging from funerals to cooking a meal. I would also love to better my language skills, being able to communicate more fluently when my trip is over. I know this experience will stretch me both emotionally and spiritually. Being able to witness this change and become involved in their everyday living will not only be exciting and enriching but will help fulfill my second purpose, which is more academic in nature.
The second purpose for this study will be an ethnographic research project centering on Ghanaian dance; fulfilling the requirements for the senior thesis project for my major. The main focus for the study will be if/how dance is providing an atmosphere that fosters a national identity. This will be my first time actually doing field work and will be great preparation for graduate school. The skills I will be able to use will include participant observations and interviews (both informal and semi-structured).
The following sections will outline why I’m studying Ghanaian dance, what specifically my methods are, qualifications for doing such a project, and finally a tentative schedule for my trip.
Background Significance and Literature Review:
The Field Studies have been going to Ghana for some time now. The community of Wiamoase is about one hour northeast of Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city. Wiamoase has around 11,000 people in it, with several schools and a hospital as well; many of the people are actually employed in those two places. The village itself is more rural, with many family farms and limited running water. It resides in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, where the majority of people are of that ethnicity and speak Twi, one of the major languages in Ghana. Besides those logistics, Wiamoase is as culturally rich as any other Africa village. Dancing is no exception to that culture, with many dances occurring either for a funeral or at the schools.
Dance in Africa has a long, long history. Pearl Primus, a renowned African dancer/ anthropologists once said, in regards to Africans: “Our throats are deep with music, our legs full of dance while our bodies tremor with rhythm” (Primus 1998: 9). Based on this description, dancing for Africans is a natural, innate desire that they posses; thereby making it an important part of their lives. Doris Green agreed with this observation when she wrote, in her article, Traditional Dance in Africa: “Dance is so vital to the everyday lives of people, that in Ghana if you are a chief and cannot dance the way of your people, you can be dethroned” (Green 1998: 26). In the literature of African dance, the purposes/ reasons for the dancing are also discussed quite frequently. Primus explains that Africans portray a wide range of events while dancing: her list includes such things as marriages, death, births, harvest time, legends, man/womanhood, puberty rites, etc (Primus 1998: 5-6). In short, “African dance translates everyday experiences into movement” (Green, Doris 1998: 14).
With dance being so vital, and was used to express so many different things, I was not surprised to find that dance was used for political purposes in Ghana’s early post-colonial days. To understand the reasons behind these political tactics, (which I will explain in the following paragraph), it is important to remember that when Ghana was created during the Berlin Conference of 1884, no regard was taken to local tribal boundaries; because of this, several different ethnic groups were all clumped together to create the nation of Ghana. Now, fast forward to 1957, Ghana has gained its independence from England and is now faced with the challenges of keeping their country running. The leading voice during Independence, and the first Prime Minister of Ghana was a man named Kwame Nkrumah. Based on the literature I’ve read on Ghanaian Independence, it was proven to be a“cultural/political program... aimed at retrieving the past in a rewritten history of African cultural contributions denied or obscured by imperial hubris.... In regard, to retrieve the past was... a means of achieving some rectification and cultural restoration of African” (Apter 2008: 17). In addition to restoring African identity, Nkrumah sought to create an entire “Ghanaian culture”. By creating a national identity, Nkrumah would help preserve, and keep the peace between ethnic groups.
The idea of a national identity is not new but has, in the last thirty years or so, come under intense study. The literature on “nationalism”, as it is called, regards it as more of a cultural system rather than a political idea (Anderson 1983: 13). Benedict Anderson, one of the discipline’s leading voices on nationalism, hypothesized that one reason for the emergence of ‘nationalism’ in society is the formation of actual borders. In early history, borders were more fluid, with the king’s reign focused on an epicenter as opposed to a territory (Anderson 1983). With the creation of borders, kings’ reigns were more identified, collectively grouping all who lived within them as the same. This unity thus lead to the creation of “imagined communities”-- which are socially constructed independent of language, race, or religion (Wikipedia “Imagined Communities”). Applying this idea to Ghana-- After England created the borders of the current Ghanaian state, the tribes within those borders would be known as Ghanaian. Nkrumah looked to create an “imagined community” out of this nation, independent of the different ethnic groups that were residing in its borders. The literature supports this theory; Green even commented in her article: “Nkrumah opted to work within this aspect of the colonial legacy, but to use the arts to forge a common identity based on unity in diversity” (Green 1998: 2).
To help build this national identity, as well as the nation as a whole, Nkrumah turned his attention to the arts. He “sought to incorporate the many different local artistic traditions, into a single concept of Ghanaian culture” (Green 1998: 2). There is specific evidence of dance being used, with the formation of the Ghana Dance Ensemble, as well as instituting the School of Music, Dance and Drama at the University of Ghana—both which happened under Nkrumah’s rule. My project will be focusing on Nkrumah’s philosophy of using dance to help create a national identity-- seeing if fifty years later dance is still doing that. My findings will be added to the literature of “nationalism” by bringing real- life applications from Ghana into the work.
I also hope to add to the literature works of dance anthropology; this particular focus of anthropological study has grown in popularity since the 1960s. It is argued in the limited literature that is available, that using a micro-cultural phenomenon, like dance, can help “assist in... understanding... the deep structure of a society and [can] bring new insights into understanding other parts of culture” (Kaeppler 1978: 32). In the textbook History of the Dance in Art and Education, used for the class Dance 260 (History of Dance) at BYU, the first chapter is on dance expression. The authors explain that dance is… an expression of deeper hidden psychological impulses and cultural influences” (Kraus, Hilsendager, Dixon 1991: 20). Perhaps the dancing in Wiamoase reflect a nationalistic influence that can help explain why/if national identities are still being formed today. Though this may sound relatively easy to study, or analyze, Kaeppler brings up the good point that dance is more than simply bodily movements but is actually a system; specifically, he explains dance as a: “structured movement system”. These systems are “systems of knowledge-- the products of action and interaction as well as processes through which action and interaction take place” (Kaeppler 2000: 117). Clearly, dance is affected (as well as affects) all other aspects of society.
One hole in the dance ethnography literature is the debate as to how universal dance movements are: can one truly understand the dance movements when being an ‘outsider’ or must one understand “the cultural movement language”? (Kaeppler 2000: 117). This statement help identify the complex issue that dance ethnography can be. Dance specialists strongly urge those studying dance to first learn the history of the dances, as well as the movements behind them-- hopefully, eliminating much of the debate over misunderstanding the movement language (Buckland 1999).
My methods, written about in the next section, will help explain how I hope to overcome the challenge mentioned above, as well as show that a micro-cultural phenomenon such as dance can reflect certain macro-cultural ideas such as nationalism.
Methods and Procedures:
In order to study the dances, and their meanings-- I first must gain rapport with the community members. This requires me entering the community in a culturally acceptable way. My primary source for entrance will be our host mother, Esther. She is a respected woman in the community and will be able to help us culturally as well as socially. By following her around, helping her with whatever I can, I hope to be able to met many people along the way. Another method I have planned for entering the community will be through the school. Upon talking with the headmaster, I hope to volunteer at the school for the three months I will be there. By doing these two things, I will be able to meet persons of all ages, economic classes, etc.
Because of the general nature of my study, my requirements for subjects are non-specific. I will be targeting ages 14-60; both male and female. The overall background is that all will be community members of Wiamoase; as for their ethnicity, I do not see the need to narrow my study to only Ashanti since my main focus will be on national identity. I will be interested in interviewing those who are active dancers as well as those who participate through watching. My only requirement in that regard is that they do have interaction with dance on a fairly regular basis.
To more easily manage the all-encompassing nature of my project, I have divided the population into three groups: 14-18 years old, 19-30 years old, 31-60 years old. This will make sure that I have equal sampling from each age group; it also helps differentiate recruitment techniques. For the youngest group, I will work through the secondary schools I plan on volunteering at; this will be an ideal place to gain rapport with the younger kids. The second group I will most likely meet during participant observation; some may be teachers at the school or involved in local businesses. The older group, I imagine being recruited through a third party—whether that be our host family, parents of the children with whom I am working, etc.
As far as actual methods are concerned, after pinpointing my informants, I’ll be using four main methods: informal interviews, semi-structured interviews.participant observation, dance education,
The first method will allow me to first gain a general idea of the community. The informal interviews will consist mostly of domain analysis activities. Such activities will help me determine the correct vocabulary to use when speaking about dance, as well as national identity. The two main types of domain analysis I will be conducting are free listing and pile sorting. The free listing will be both: “when you hear the word ‘dance’, what comes to your mind?” or “what are all the components in a dance event?” as well as “what words would you use to describe a Ghanaian? an (insert ethnic group)?” With the data I collect from this activity, I will then use pile sorting to see if they do indeed see a Ghanaian as a separate identity from their ethnic group. This method will be done mostly with a more random sampling of people that I meet either at the schools, in the market, at a dance event, etc. By making the sampling more random, I will stand a better chance of obtaining a more holistic view of the community. This will be a one-time collection with each person involved. I hope to be able to survey at least 30 people.
The next method I will be implementing is semi-structured interviews. My aim will be to have 5 interviewees from each age group. The interviews lasting no more than 45 minutes will be conducted three times throughout the three months. The first interview will be mostly personal narratives; collecting stories of their own personal interactions with dance, experiences either watching or actually dancing. I will be able to compare these personal narratives against the other data/observations I have collected. Therefore, the second interview will consist of more questions and answers-- allowing me to take their experiences one step further by exploring the ideas with them that dance is helping create an identity for them. The third interview will be more of the same.
Also during my three month stay in Ghana, I will be attending as many dance events as time will permit. I will find out about these dance events by looking at the schedule at community centers, third part, and perhaps even from the schools. When actually at a dance event, I will be engaged in two activities-- observing the dances/people and engaging in conversations. In observing the dances, I will be noting what dance they are doing (where it is from, what is the meaning), who is dancing (age, gender, and profession), as well as the emotional atmosphere. I will be able to gain a better feeling for the atmosphere by talking with the people in conversation. I will be able to ask people questions regarding the dancing, how they are feeling at said event, what is the purpose of the event, etc. My main data collection technique will be jotting, both my observations and the conversations I had.
Dance education is participant observation taken to the next level; I will be actually learning the dances I see being performed. My goal is to learn 5 ethnic dances, 5 national dances (ethnic meaning from a certain group; national meaning highlife or hiplife dance). The purpose of my learning the dance, if permitted, would be to experience it myself. If someone in the community were to teach me the dance, they would include the history of where it came from, what the purpose of the dance is, what the moves represent. This simple act would not only help me gain rapport with the community members but would also give me some personal insight on the feelings the come from doing specific dances.All four of these methods I hope will allow me to determine whether or not there is a correlation between dance and national identity. There may several barriers for my project that will prevent me from finding this correlation. One barrier will be the language, but I will have a translator to help me. I will also continue to study the language and hopefully be able to communicate somewhat on my own; I asked my Twi professor to tell me phrases and words associated with dance so I now have those (I figured that would help a lot). Even being invited to the funerals will be something that I will need to address when I get there.
I thought it would be helpful, since my project is more creative, to explain what my data analysis plan is-- to help connect my methods with that I will actually be looking for. The analysis for my project is mostly qualitative. For that reason, a lot of this is hypothetical however, I can explore some things I may be looking for when actually looking at my data.
For my participant observations, my codings will consist mostly of environment factors like “feelings while dancing is going on”, “what is present at the dance event”, etc. For the dance education portion of my methods, my data will first be categorized by dance-- divided into two groups of ‘ethnic’ and ‘national’. By dividing in such a way, I will be able to distinguish between the two types of dances, and perhaps look for certain moves or characteristics of each type. In addition, I can measure the responses of each dance within the people in attendance.
The informal interview data analysis will allow me to see what the people of Wiamoase characterize as “national” and “ethnic”; as well as how they categorize dance. By doing so, my coding will be more accurate according to their viewpoint, thus limiting the bias I might bring to the interpretation of what they say. The semi-structured interview analysis will consist mostly of my coding the interviews with flags for national/ethnic markers. thus allowing me to see what the people of Wiamoase characterize as “national” and “ethnic”. The coding may get more specific, as I see certain trends arise, if I see trends arise; for example, a trend may be that a lot of people mentioned “change” in regards to dance, or identity. By being more specific with my markings, I will be able to pinpoint certain things that these people contribute to dance/ the formation of an identity.
Overall, I will be looking for correlations between the dances themselves and how people react/identify with them. There may several barriers for my project that will prevent me from finding this correlation. One barrier will be the language, but I will have a translator to help me. I will also continue to study the language and hopefully be able to communicate somewhat on my own; I asked my Twi professor to tell me phrases and words associated with dance so I now have those (I figured that would help a lot). Even being invited to the funerals will be something that I will need to address when I get there.
Ethics and IRB Approval:
IRB approval will be sought for this project. The holistic, common nature of my project allows me to be confident that there will be minimum risks; but on the other side, there are little benefits for the actual informants. The commonality should also make it easier to get consent (especially from the younger children). Consent for interviewing the above mentioned subjects will be obtained through written consent. After spending time, getting to know them and their history, I will ask if it be alright that I record much of this information for my study. Written parental consent will be requested when I am dealing with those children between the ages of 14-18 years old.
Confidentiality is another keep component to ethical research. I will be kept because no one besides myself will be looking at my data. The transcripts of interviews, free listing activities, tape recordings will all be typed into my computer each week; my computer has a password to ensure that it
Preliminary Plans for Post-Field Application:
There are both short term and long term goals that my project will fulfill. All of my goals fit under the two purposes I mentioned at the beginning of my proosal: cultural as well as academic. My cultural short term goal is based on the idea that I have wanted to go to Africa for over seven years now, to experience their culture and share a life with them-- and that is exactly what I’ll be doing for these three months. As for my academic short term goal, not only does this field study fulfill the requirement for all Anthropology majors to complete an ethnographic project, but I hope to able to publish my final paper for the Inquiry Conference (and perhaps even a more academic journal).
My long term goals as well fit under those two categories. For my future career, as an anthropologist and a developer, my focus is very much international, so having this be my first experience going abroad is a great introduction, I feel like, into another culture and experiencing that culture shock, etc. My academic long term goal is graduate school; having this field experience will really help prepare for my graduate work, and will give me valuable experience that many of my peers will not have.
Qualifications and Limitations:
Since this field project will be a first time expereence, it is important to understand my qualifications as well as my limitations. I feel like my personality is one of the biggest things that qualify me to handle/ thrive in a field study situation. In entering a new situation, I am able to quickly access the situation, what my role is in it, and how I should be responding. My attitude toward different cultures/ beliefs is one of tolerance and acceptance that I know will be invaluable as I am dealing with culture shock and being in a foreign place. I served a mission for the LDS Church and on that mission I learned the skills of teamwork, goal setting, and conflict resolution. All of these skills will help keep me on track with my schedule, keep the peace in my group, as well as working with the local members of Wiamoase.
My biggest qualification academically is that I am an Anthropology major. I have taken a separate course, Anthropology 442 (Ethnographic Skills), which has taught me skills for fieldwork, how to conduct interviews, how to be culturally sensitive, etc. IAS 360R (Field Study Prep) has taught me skills such as how to enter a community, several methods such as free listing, etc have been discussed. In both of these classes, I have had the chance in both of these classes to actually practice interviewing and participant observation.
In addition to field study preparatory classes, I have also taken several Anthropology
courses in which we have discussed African culture (especially Anthro 330: Peoples of Africa), which has helped me gain a foundation regarding African, and in some cases Ghanaian, culture. I have taken Dance 260 (History of Dance) that I feel has prepared me for studying the dance portion more in depth; being able to understand the effects dance has on one’s identity. I am also currently registered in a beginning Twi class which not only teaches us the language but also cultural details specifically regarding Ghana. Now for my limitations. I have never been out of the country for an extended period of time before. I have tried to combat this weakness by talking with all those I know who have been to Ghana-- asking them about their feelings, their impressions, having them show me pictures, how they personally overcame culture shock. The more I talk with people about it, the more comfortable I get with going to Wiamoase because I feel like it’s becoming familiar to me. Another limitation that I have is the language. However, as previously mentioned, I am taking an Intro to Twi class, and I feel that if I make it a goal to speak it as much as possible while I am over there, the people of Wiamoase will be appreciative of that and will be patient in speaking with me. Another limitation is more academic, in that I have never done an ethnography before, nor have I had any real experience with interviewing and participant observation. Taking the preparation classes as well as completing the assignments they have given me regarding practicing those skills has been my way of overcoming this limitation.
Qualifications of Faculty Advisor:
Due to my limited academic experience, I’m happy to have my primary mentor be an Anthropology professor-- Jacob Hickman. Hickman is a doctoral student at the University of Chicago who is visiting faculty here at BYU. His experience doing field work includes doing his own undergraduate field study here at BYU, and working on his dissertation for his doctorate in Anthropology. That is what qualifies him for overseeing my 495R class (Ethnographic Field Projet) that I will be taking from him this summer. What qualifies him for actually overseeing my personal project would be his knowledge regarding post-colonial, nationalistic theories. He is also my Anthro 442 professor so he has been the one helping me develop my proposal from the beginning.
Another professor I will be working with is Karen Jensen. She is a part-time dance professor here at BYU. I met here when I took Dance 260 (History of Dance) from her. Her knowledge about dance/expression is very much there so she is qualified to help me with the dancing aspect of my project. Another qualification that she has, and was the main reason why I went to her, is several years ago, Karen went over to Mampong, Ghana (which is a neighboring village to Wiamoase) to teach dance at the local deaf school they have there. Her experiences there with African dance, as well as Ghanaian culture, has helped me tremendously in forming my project.
Justification of In-field Coursework:
I will be taking three classes while I am in Ghana. One is the one-credit IAS 201R class.
I will be taking Anthro 495R from Jacob Hickman-- this class is a requirement for my major. The work that I will be doing for this class is directly based off of this proposal. So by taking this class, it will help remind me of my academic obligations while in Ghana, as well as outline my data collection techniques and how much of that I’ll need to be doing. This class is 6 credits.
The last class I will be taking in from Karen Jensen, and it will be a Dance 500R class. The requirements for this class include learning dances and recording their history, what the movements mean, etc. As previously mentioned in the Methods section, learning the history is one of my methods as well as an essential part of understanding the dance environment of Wiamoase. This class will be 3 credits.
Schedule:
I will be breaking this section down into three parts: daily, weekly and specific dates.
Daily
- Journal entries (both of my observations for the day, any particular experiences that I had, etc). This will be essential in helping me not fall behind on my data collection, because I will not only be recording my last minute notes but also I will code each day the notes I take, with the codings explained in the methods section.
- I want to make a goal of talking with 5 new people each day. This will help force me to be out and about, talking with people, becoming more comfortable with that as well as allowing people to see me and become more comfortable with me.
Weekly
- Blog entry (mostly my blog updates will be dealing with cultural experiences that I’ve been having while there)
- Email professors. I will be required to email both Karen and Jacob about a page or two of my work for that week, what I discovered, observations I have made, etc.
- Email Andrew
- In line with my cour contracts, I will be needing to learn about one dance each week. This will require me to learn the dance, the history behind it, etc.
- Attending dance events that I have looked up, or were invited to. I do have a set number to attend because I do not know what the community will be doing, or where these dance events will be taking place.
- I would like to make it a goal to go to a new place in town each week. I feel that my doing this, I will see different people and help experience all of Wiamoase.
Specific Dates
May 5: Leave for Ghana
May 6: Arrive in Accra
May 6- May 20: Adjust to living in Ghana. Work on entering the community, gaining rapport with community members. Sometime in there I would like to speak with the Headmaster about volunteering at the school.
May 21- June 6: Informal interviews (domain analysis)
June 7- July 31: Semi-formal interviews. These will take place in three stages, as explained in the Methods section.
August 1-9: Do any last minute interviews, participant observations, but mostly, just enjoy my last days there in Wiamoase.
August 9: Depart Wiamoase
August 29- December 15: Working on Field Study paper (aka my Senior Thesis)
September 12: Coursework for Dance 500R is due.
December 15: Final Paper due at Field Studies Office, as well as for Anthropology.
Budget:
The following will be a tentative budget for the expenses I will need for Ghana. The only outside help I am seeking is through the Field Studies. Other than that, I will be paying for this on my own, with help from my parents.
*Most of these numbers will be estimates for the exact amounts are not known.
Pre-Ghana Expenses:
Plane Ticket: $1500
Acceptance Fee into the Program: $125
Medical Insurance: $200 (I do not remember how much that was)
Shots/ Medication: $350
Tuition for Sp/Su classes: $1070
Visa: $60
Passport: $120
In- Country Expenses:
Travel: $15-250 total
Living Expense (food, rent, etc): $250 a month
Translation fees: $100 total
Souvenirs: no more than $100
Works Cited
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
Nationalism, Verso: London 1991.
Apter, David Ernest. "Ghana’s Independence: Triumph and Paradox". Transition 98:1 (2008): 6-22.
Buckland, Theresa. “All Dances Are Ethnic, but Some Are More Ethnic Than Others: Some Observations on Dance Studies and Anthropology”. The Journal of the Society for Dance Research Vol 17:1 (1999): pages 3-21.
Green, Doris. “Traditional Dance in Africa”. From: African Dance: An Artistic, Historical, and Philisophical Inquiry, Africa World Press (1996).
Green, Sandra E. "Developing the Arts for Development: Perspectives on Ghana". Africa Notes 1998: 1-8.
Hanna, Judith Lynne. "African Dance: the Continuity of Change". Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council 5 (1973): 165-174.
Hess, Janet. "Exhibiting Ghana: Display, Documentary, and "National" Art in the Nkrumah Era. African Studies Review 44 (1): 2001: 59-77.
Kaepple, Adrienne L. "Dance in Anthropological Perspective". Annual Review of Anthropology 7 (1978): 31-49.
Kraus, R., Hilsendager, K., Dixon, B. History of the Dance in Arts and Education. Allyn and Bacon: 1991.
Schramm, Kathrina. “The Politics of Dance: Changing Representations of the Nation in Ghana”. Africa Spectrum 35:3 (2000): 339-358.
442 Proposal::
