Field Study -- Tamil Nadu, India 2012

By way of introduction, my name is Joshua Malyon. I will be traveling to Southern India this Spring/Summer through the Field Studies program at Brigham Young University. I am in my Junior year, studying Environmental Science with an International Development minor. For the duration of the 3 months in India, I will be interning at Shanti Ashram, a Gandhian NGO located in Kovai Pudur, Tamil Nadu. I will also be researching the influence of music on the lives of southern Indians.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Inquiry Conference Notes Summary - 4

Other presentations I was able to attend included Exploration of the Tongan Landscape, by Nick Tanner, Confessions of a Field Study Student: Conclusions Still in Progress, presented by Sarah Bowers, and "Stop Your Whining, Queen Elizabeth!": The Advantages of Field Experience over Library Research, by Averyl Dietering. Instead of going into each of these individually, I'll just give an overview of the principles I learned from these students that I feel will assist me in my own studies.

I will be able to network and connect better with people with the help of a translator. If people in the area are approached by a foreigner trying to learn more about their lifestyles, the chances are better that they will trust me if I am accompanied by a translator. Also, it is important to have a large pool of people to talk to and interview to gain a better perspective of them and their culture. I also need to seek out areas where people congregate so I have a better opportunity of interacting with them. When speaking with people, I need to allow them to open up to me by letting them talk about what they want to talk about, and simply try to direct the conversation.  

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