Costa Rica is a good site both for learning ethnography as well as for studying the effects of tourism on the culture and environment . In this sixth summer of research we will continue to investigate the impacts of tourism development on the Pacific Ocean side of the country. Using anthropological theory and ethnographic methods and students study how and why Costa Rican is changing as it moves into the next millennium. Click here to see bibliographic references concerning Tourism and Ethnographic Methods. Applied research methods such as rapid appraisal will also be demonstrated.
Students learn research design, systematic observation, interviewing, fieldnote-taking, coding.
Applied Field Methods. This is a three credit field course focusing on tourism and the role of culture as it affects the interactions between hosts and guests. Students learn through seminar discussions and field work the problems underlying the achievement of sustainable tourism and maintenance of native cultural traditions. Prerequisites are two courses in anthropology, one of which must be in Cultural Anthropology. No previous experience in ethnographic fieldwork required.