Site Visit
This week you collaborate with your group members on
a two-part assignment: a site visit to an assigned location in the
metropolitan Washington area and the subsequent development of a web
site that analyzes the visit.
Site Visit Guidelines
Some of you will visit Latino and Asian organizations; others will
visit memorials or other sites. One of the primary goals of this assignment
includes the formal application of Geertz's concept of "thick description."
You will look beyond the surface in all of these instances to understand
the underlying ideologies.
Through appropriate questioning, listening and observing,
you have the opportunity build on your understanding of the liminal
zones some Latinos and Asian Americans occupy because they are part
of two worlds, two cultures. You will want to ask yourselves what
forces in their homelands pushed them to leave family and friends
to become a part of a totally different culture and what conditions
pulled them toward the United States.
Site Visit Tips
Respect is the watchword for the site visits: respect for the people,
the organizations and the space. Please remember that you are not
a tourist; you are a guest. Your faculty members have made special
arrangements for you to visit these sites and to talk to the owners
or directors. Use their time judiciously by preparing questions ahead
of time and thinking through your strategies for the visit.
Be sensitive to the people in the establishment by not
taking photographs without asking the subjects for permission and
by not cracking jokes that could be misinterpreted or misunderstood.
Brainstorming Points
When you meet with your group to plan your strategies, you may want
to consider some of the following ideas. Your goal is to learn as
much as you can about the group you visit. We expect you to use these
ideas as springboards for your own ideas for your specific assignments.
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What is the relationship between the places people
come "from" and where they live?
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Are there specific Latin American ties among the
people or is there a "Pan-Latin-American" environment? Are there
large Asian communities, or are there Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese,
etc.?
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What is the relationship between the group and the
dominant "cultures" and to what extent do they offer resistance
to the dominant ideology.
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Consider the structure of the organization as an
institution. What is the dominant ideology, and how does the structure
support that ideology?
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Think about how the most recent immigration laws
may have affected the people at your site. Consider the structure
of immigration policies and what it tells us about our society's
attitudes? For example, you may think about the differences between
the northern and southern borders of the United States.
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What did you learn from your observations? What
surprised you most?
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When viewing the memorials, think about the purpose
for the memorial. How is it similar to or different from other memorials
in Washington?
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What is the relationship between the memorial and
the dominant culture in this country?
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What underlying ideologies are represented by the
memorials?
Use the links below to access specific instructions for your site visit,
and directions to your group locations.
