So I’ve been tasked in one of my courses with an ethnographic exercise. I am to “use a tool to record what you see, observe a place and then write a one page description of it.” In that vein, I’ve decided that I’m going to observe the human swarm from way upon high. I’ll station a video camera on top of the student union, about 8 stories up. I’ll record the human swarm for 15 minutes, observing the baseline activity levels. I’m certain interesting dynamics will emerge, and look forward to observing that film. Then, I’ll place a large pile of clean, unopened candy on the ground .. you know, M&M’s, snickers, etc. I’m curious to see how people respond. I’ll collect that pile, and then place 120 condoms in a pile in the same place. It will be interesting to observe which pile interests the crowd more. After collecting that pile, I plan to place another pile of both candy and condoms in the same place … I have no idea what’s going to happen here.
I’m totally open to suggestions for other phenomena to observe … I’d like to avoid using actors as much as possible, but if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.
