Comments on: Win a Copy of Kevin Roose’s Book

By: April in Autumn

April in Autumn — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:02:00 +0000

@Lesley … They definitely will let you stay at a convent for a few months! Not join the order, but… I am a single, lay woman with no interest in becoming a nun that lived with nuns out of dumb luck for 6 months. I never thought of it as ethnography, but maybe I should have. I learned quite a bit about these amazing women! You can get books on staying in monastic guest houses and convents all over the world.

As for my ethnography, I’d go stay with a different group of empty nesters for a few days at time over the course of two or three months. I’m in my mid-twenties so maybe I would still be able to look at them as if they were my parents. I would stay with people in different stages, with kids close to home and kids far away, in different states, maybe even countries. I love the idea of not staying with a group of people radically different from society, but rather looking at the differences we find in what we consider the norm.

By: Lesley

Lesley — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:44:00 +0000

I would like to spend a few months at a nunnery. I’m pretty sure they won’t let you join for just a few months, but I know that they will let you come stay and study with them. Having visited a cloistered nunnery in CT, I think that it would be interesting to spend some time learning from them (both religiously and craft-wise, they have their own dairy and blacksmithy). As one of the few cloistered orders left, I think that it would be interesting to see what about that lifestyle drew these women to it, and how the adjustment was. There are a wide variety of women there, from chemists to former movie stars (if you read articles about the Oscar voting system, she is the nun who is allowed to vote for Best Picture that they always talk about. The nuns like that because they like to watch the DVDs that they are sent).

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:25:00 +0000

I would love to spend a few months traveling with and exploring the inner workings of a traveling circus. In the old days, circus folks had a culture all their own, with unique slang, rules, and attitudes, as well as a sense of “family.” I am curious to see what the culture is like today — how it has changed in a world that is increasingly technological, connected, and politically correct. What are their thoughts on ethical treatment of animals? As they travel around, what sort of bonds are formed among the performers and other staff? What sort of people are attracted to this environment?

I have always been fascinated by eccentrics, and the circus is full of them. I would love to get in there, participate, study, and report back to the rest of the world.

By: Kevin Beeson

Kevin Beeson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:38:00 +0000

I would spend a semester following around and aiding the compassionate ministries of the world. I want to know how they do it, how they maintain their sanity in the face of injustice, and how they finance their ventures. My son just spent a week at an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota, and now I feel like I need to follow. How does Habitat for Humanity work, or Compassion International? I want to know more so I can do more.

By: Kev in GA

Kev in GA — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:19:00 +0000

Maybe to serious but…
I would head out to the mountians in the Copan region of Honduras. There the people are in villages living in mud huts farming the land with little knowledge of a global economy or world conflicts. I would like to document not just how they spend their time but if they do things for entertainment. The rest of the world seems obsessed with being entertained or taking part in some global concern yet these people are seperated from all of that. I’m also interested in their views of God or gods as they are mostly descendants of the Maya Indians. What stories have been handed down or have been brought in from outside villages.

By: pearl

pearl — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:02:00 +0000

i would do a study on the local group of underground enforcers in davao city. they are called the “davao death squad” or the dds for short and they are supposedly backed by the city government in an attempt to unceremoniously exterminate “snatchers, pushers, and drug addicts”. they are a highly secretive group and of course the local officials deny any knowledge of their existence. they definitely do exist though, since the hits on the ‘evil doers’ are not uncommon.

if i were to study them i would secretly infiltrate their ranks and determine: their group identity, or what their cohesive self concept is; their individual self concepts and what motivates them to administer their personal justice on this society; the method by which they find and destroy their targets; whether there is any basis to the claim that they are in direct collaboration with the local government. it would also be cool to see a hit go down.

these people would make a fascinating study because they are like a larger, more shadowy local version of batman. like batman, these people ride the line between illegal vigilante and public savior. even though they have no legal basis and we have no way of knowing if the people that they kill are legitimate “evil doers” they enjoy the respect and gratitude of the people who endured excessive amounts of street violence before the group’s inception.

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:01:00 +0000

I’d go live and document THE GERMANS. It might sound like a strange subject for an ethnogrophy, but there is a lot to the Germans we don’t understand and can’t comprehend. In my experiences with Germany and Germans, I can’t figure them out at all. They like to squaredance, they’re all EXTREMELY nice, very academic, and they genuinely care about what you have to say. Many Germans have few inhibitions when it comes to showing off their nakedness, persuing their dreams no matter how unachievable they may be, and experimenting with off-kilter sexual conduct. Some 50% of Germans live their lives on Beer, Sausages, Krauten, and chocolate. Its true, I’ve seen it myself. I’m completely in awe of this new society where even after Hilter took over and ruled and turned the country into aryan hell; The Germans have been able to not only recover and prosper, but flabberghast many with their Charm, demenor, and overall peculiarness. To me its worth a little attention because the Germans are an example to us all, and I can’t think of ONE PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD who has met a modern German and hasn’t liked him/her. Weird they may be, but worth a good conversation.

By: NT4thBook

NT4thBook — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:22:00 +0000

Don’t laugh!
I would spend a summer partying in a major city’s entertainment district with a goal to better understand the Nightclub culture, so prevalent in our society.

What is the lure? What is really being sought? Is it the buzz of alcohol? The chance of sex? To develop camaraderie? Or are they seeking something greater… like the chance to be “happy”? Or the escape from life as they know it? Do they really ever find it? Or is it just an unending ritual of self indulgence or self-denial?

With a keen eye, I would study the summer crowds… the college regulars, the after-work winos, the weekend revelers and the night club newbies, watching for the rituals or rites that reveal themselves over the course of observation.

I might write a chapter on the “Miso-myths of Moonshine Meccas” listing things like: “The hot chicks aren’t paid to be here!”, “My picture in the weekly city mag, flashing gang signs and otherwise, is cool!”, “Because I look good in these jeans, I am; and that means something in my life!” or “My stanky-legg is the classiest!”

It is possible I would present a multi-media presentation titled: “Roulette of Reality”, in which every sixth bar-hopper gets photographed. Will my the slide show complilation compare to the glossies I keep finding on my windshield?

In these times of economic uncertainty, where time is no longer equal to money, why do we want to keep seeking something we never seem to find? Especially when we have to stand in line behind velvet ropes, getting ID’d, having our hands stamped and paying cover-charges to boot! If my ethnography could save just one person from this vicious circle of life. It would be worth it, no? Surely, the highly esteemed Mental Floss judges in their infinite wisdom would agree!

But this does leave the question… where do we find what we are looking for and what is it? But that is another Book…

By: Cameron

Cameron — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 05:04:00 +0000

It’s not necessarily where WILL I go, it’s where AM I going… This August my wife and I are moving to Turkey where we will be spending the following two years as teaching English. The combination of being an expat living in a new culture while trying to teach members of that culture about the American Lifestyle (we have been told we will be teaching mostly “conversational English”) should provide enough material…

By: rilo89

rilo89 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:08:00 +0000

Iâ€™d seek out the bad asses and â€œcorruptâ€ secular kids that go to bible institutions. I know a girl who went to one university and came back angry with Christianity. Iâ€™ve heard of some interesting things that were done in order to live normally haha. From making the adjustments to trying to balance out religion and the rest of the world. Sneaking around, things on the down low. There has got to be more of these kids! The struggle between this cloistered community and those not. And wonder why they are at their school. Not that itâ€™s a bad thing, but there has GOT to be more kids there quietly living with â€œsinfulâ€ objects tying them to every other college student across the nation. Itâ€™s sneaky, itâ€™s sinful. Itâ€™s deliciously intriguing.