In Class - Family Story

I like to brag about my grandpa.  Although, he is never really brought up at family get-togethers, his history is interesting to me.  He was the mayor of a town called Richfield in North Carolina.  He is the owner of the Carolinas Aviation Museum (http://www.carolinasaviation.org/), has an enormous house, including a two story garage.  In his garage he has an old ambulance from a war (I know, it's funny I don't know which war) that is army green and has real bullet holes in it.  He always drives it for the 4th of July parade.  His house is just as much a museum as one you would go to and pay to see artifacts.  He has autographs of pilots, including a picture of the Enola Gay (plane that dropped the first a-bomb on Japan) with the pilots signature.  He has an old scuba diver helmet (the huge metal helmet).  I loved history in high school, I think that is why I find my grandpa and his history so fascinating. 

Week 10

 I've had some difficulty in putting aside my beliefs and perceptions with my past papers. With that being said, I hope to structure my mini-ethnography using my voice and beliefs but not impose on other beliefs.  I don't want to be biased.  I would like to start the paper by addressing who I am in the subculture.  As anyone who has read my blogs know, I am an insider.  I want my readers to see why I chose this subculture by explaining my place then going in depth on what Cru is all about.  Again, I do not want to be biased and I want to respect others beliefs.  I plan on writing the paper chronologically but I don't want it to be like this is what I did first and here is what I did second, and third, etc.  I definitely would like the paper to flow and just transition paragraph to paragraph but I'm leaning towards using sections. For example: "History," "Rituals," and maybe something like "Cru Today."  I think a great way to conclude the piece would be writing the section "Cru Today."  I think the structure I am leaning towards would be the best way for me to keep my research in order and organized.

Glossary of Terms

• Cru - short for Campus Crusade for Christ
  
• The Gospel - The life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His death was the payment for the sins of the world. Only through his death could the world have a relationship with God and forgiveness of sins.
• Evangelize - spreading, sharing, telling The Gospel to the world
• Christians - people who believe in Jesus Christ, have accepted him as their personal savior, and live by the teachings in the Bible 
• Believers - people who believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted him as their personal savior
• Non-believers - people who do not believe in Jesus Christ and have not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior
• Savior - Jesus Christ (He died to save the world from their sins. He is Christians Savior.)
• KGP - Would You Like To Know God Personally? booklet. This booklet is an evangelism tool.
• Fellowship 

In Class: American Tongues Docementary

Answer to Question 1: If I were to do this documentary now I would have interviewed more people. For example, I was born in North Carolina and had an accent when I moved to Indiana at the age of 5. When I moved back to Indiana at 16 I was thrown into NC's culture. Since I lived in Indiana most of my life my background was "northern" and my accent was as well. I compared the people I met in NC to the people I interacted with IN and came to the conclusion that the people I encountered in NC were more rude than people in IN. As many people hear the South is supposed to have "Southern Hospitality" and I found "Southern Hospitality" rarely until I moved to Georgia. I lived about 20 miles east of Atlanta and met many African Americans. From growing up in Indiana and seeing crimes in Indiana, I developed a stereotype that most African Americans were bad but some were good. While living in Georgia for just a very short time, less than 3 months, I came to the conclusion that the African Americans that I met there were more hospitable than white people.

Answer to Question 2: There should have been a lot more diversity in this study. They should have went to more regions and interviewed different ethnicities. White people were definitely over-represented. 

Answer to Question 3: Based on a part of a clip a woman said she connected accents/dialect with hospitality/behavior. They way we talk reveals our personality and they way we live. For example when people talk fast maybe they are used to a fast paced life or if someone talks slower they are used to a laid back life.

In Class: Questions reflecting on interviews

At Pruis, I've talked to several informants. They always were polite and answered every question to the best of their ability. They never were "stand-offish" and always spoke directly to me. Usually these conversations (interviews) took place standing up either before or after the weekly Cru meeting. The informants I have have interviewed are also members of Cru as well as I am and have all been women.

The meaning behind the recorded words is the truth of the subculture. I wanted to get information directly from the subculture which is why I've video recorded as well as voice recorded at Cru. The class of the informant and how long they have been involved in Cru influences their answers to my questions as well as their family and church background, whether or not their family is religious or if they attended church before joining Cru.

When I am listening to an informant I hear their passion, excitement and the impact on their life at BSU being a member of Cru as well as the struggles they've endured being a Christian. Sometimes it is hard for the informant to explain their struggles because it is an emotional experience. Also, a gap that has come to my attention is how careful the informants are of choosing their words.

Week 9: Reflecting on my research

Reflecting on my research, I think the hardest thing has been trying to find valuable, pertinent sources that I approve of.  I've found myself searching hours on end for sources that I like.  I read several sources that I didn't even use for my Annotated Bibliography because I didn't think they were good enough.  The easiest thing has been describing my personal experiences with Cru.  If I could start my research process over, I would have read a lot more of the book I borrowed from Bracken.  I couldn't read it all because another student needed it and I had to return it.  The book I borrowed was pretty much an ethnography about Cru.  What I read of it never stated: "this is an ethnography of Campus Crusade for Christ" but the author did mention that he was an outsider of Cru. 

Having kept a blog I can look back at questions I had and see if those questions were answered for my research.  Also, my blog entries will aid me in writing my mini-ethnography because I can look back at the things I was struggling with, the things I was confident about, etc.  For example, I could compare the amount of information I knew at the beginning of my research process to the information I obtain at the end.  In addition, I could see how difficult I thought the research process would be and what my perception of Cru was then, compared to the time I end my research.

In class -- Considering Audience

1. Why will my readers care about this issue? 

There are two different ways I look at why I believe my readers might care about Cru. I'm sure Christians will care about Cru because it is an organizations that desires to spread the Gospel and is a place for students to have fellowship, learn more about Christ, and grow in the relationship with Him. I might be going out on a limb here by saying I think non-believers might care about Cru because Cru tries to promote morals from the Bible which could create a better environment for campuses.

2. What will my readers want or need to know about Cru? 
I believe that readers might want to know about rituals or behaviors of Cru, as I wrote in my Annotated Bibliography about prayer and worship. Readers might want to know why Cru desires to share the Gospel with not only their campus but the world. 

3. What do my readers already know about Cru?

I'm sure they obviously know it is about Christ, hence the name Campus Crusade for Christ.

4. What do I want my readers to learn about Cru?

I want my readers to know that anyone can be involved in Cru and why Cru desires to reach campuses and the world with the Gospel.

5. If I am trying to persuade my readers of something, how easily will they be persuaded?

Of course readers have their own experiences before reading my writings and may have preconceptions of Cru so those experiences and preconceptions will definitely play a role in persuasion. I think it will be extremely hard to "persuade" someone to join Cru, dispel their stereotype(s) of Cru, or even accept Christ as their personal Savior. 

6. What will my readers use my writings for?

Maybe a reader would use my writing for their research for a class or if they, personally, would like to know more about Cru.

Week 8 Posting

I find that in my research I keep wanting to share with outsiders of this subculture that Cru is an organization with people who really care and are welcoming. I guess the theme of my research is disbanding the stereotypes outsiders have of Cru. In conducting surveys and interacting with outsiders of Cru I've found that most individuals are stand-offish. They don't want to know about Cru or allow themselves to look at Cru in a different perspective, such as ignoring their stereotypes. I haven't necessarily found that the theme runs through the fieldsite but this question definitely makes me want to find out. I know that some outsiders do not even want to go to Pruis because the Cru meetings get out rather late, between 10:30 and 11 pm. I'm not sure if that bit of information connects with the fieldsite but I feel like it does in some way, which is why I decided to write it. Honestly, I can say that the research I've conducted has been rather difficult to swallow, since I was an insider coming into this and still am, it's hard to hear outsiders talk about their stereotypes. Even walking around campus and hearing outsiders talk about Cru effects me negatively but shows me that I have to put aside my biases, perceptions, and beliefs to conduct fieldwork.