Tour Guide Perspectives on Representations of Slavery at a Heritage Museum

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Velvet Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Tour Guides ◽  
Memorial Museum ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The Us ◽  
Museum Staff ◽  
Guided Tours

In recent years, scholars have called for greater recognition and representation of the role of slavery and the contributions of the enslaved at a multitude of heritage sites in, and outside, of the US. The framework of difficult heritage, as grounded in difficult knowledge, draws attention to the problems associated with the processes of heritage-making, including the challenges faced by those tasked with representing traumatic pasts as well as by those who encounter the representations. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory study was to obtain the perspectives of tour guides regarding a greater representation of slavery at one possible heritage museum, the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, Texas, USA. These guides are crucial actors because they are responsible for both representing the heritage of slavery and managing a potentially complex range of visitor responses to these representations. The study drew from participant observation of guided tours of the museum property and semistructured interviews with museum staff, including those individuals who are directly responsible for guiding tours or play a supporting role in tours. While the guides indicated that they felt slavery was, indeed, an appropriate topic at the site, they expressed concerns about expanding representation of the topic. These concerns included the logistical constraints faced on tours, their knowledge of and comfort with the topic, and their perceptions about visitor expectations for the museum.

Information Seeking, Sharing and Use on Religion among Afghan youth in Toronto

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Quirke
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Étude Qualitative ◽  
Etude Qualitative

This poster summarizes the findings of a qualitative, exploratory study on Afghan youth’s information seeking, sharing and use regarding religion. Data collection included interviews and participant observation. Findings included the key role of technology, the iKoran and social networking sites in particular, in facilitating information seeking and sharing on Islam.Cette affiche résume les résultats d’une étude qualitative exploratoire auprès des jeunes femmes afghanes sur leurs pratiques de recherche, de partage et d’utilisation de l’information concernant la religion. Les données recueillies proviennent d’entrevues et d’observation des participantes. Les résultats démontrent le rôle clé de la technologie, iKoran et les sites de réseautage social en particulier, et facilite la recherche et le partage d’information sur l’Islam.

Understanding Parents’ Approaches to Care and Treatment of Children With Cancer When Standard Therapy Has Failed

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (17) ◽  
pp. 2414-2419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra Bluebond-Langner ◽  
Jean Bello Belasco ◽  
Ann Goldman ◽  
Carmen Belasco
Keyword(s):  
Pediatric Oncology ◽  
Standard Therapy ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The Us ◽  
Care Models ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Care And Treatment

Purpose To examine US and United Kingdom (UK) parents’ approaches to care and treatment when standard therapy has failed and consider implications for clinical practice. Methods We conducted a prospective, ethnographic study of parents, patients, and staff, including participant-observation; open-ended, semistructured interviews; and review of medical records at a US and UK pediatric oncology center. Thirty-four children (n = 17 US, 17 UK), whose disease had recurred with less than 30% chance of cure, were enrolled between March 2001 and June 2002 and followed until death (n = 11 US, 14 UK) or close of study in December 2005 (n = 6 US, 3 UK). Results There were no major differences between parents’ approaches in the US and UK despite differences in health care systems, institutions, and parents’ religion or ethnicity. All parents continued to have or request meetings with the oncologist and investigative procedures. No parent initiated discontinuation of cancer- or symptom-directed interventions. In 28 of 34 cases (13 US, 15 UK), parents continued to pursue cancer-directed therapies; in 16 of 28 cases (seven US, nine UK), parents initiated inquires beyond what was offered. Conclusion Understanding parents’ behavior requires attention to the reason and emotion they bring to decision making and their children's care, their unique responsibilities as parents, and what they learn throughout the illness. Parents do not see cancer-directed therapy and symptom-directed care as mutually exclusive, alternative approaches. Parents will not be constrained by what the oncologist offers. Physicians and parents discuss and negotiate care and treatment throughout the illness. Our findings suggest developing integrative care models incorporating cancer-directed, symptom-directed, and supportive care throughout the illness; they are most consistent with parents’ approaches and advances in pediatric oncology.

The Nightly Round: Space, Social Capital, and Urban Black Nightlife

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Anthony Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Spatial Mobility ◽  
The Social ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Spatial Isolation ◽  
Urban Blacks ◽  
Black Lesbians ◽  
Using Data

Using data generated from participant observation and semistructured interviews, I consider the ways in which nightlife, or what might be imagined as the nightly round—a process encompassing the social interactions, behaviors, and actions involved in going to, being in, and leaving the club—is used to mitigate the effects of social and spatial isolation, complementing the accomplishment of the daily round. Through an analysis of the social world of the Spot, I argue that understanding the ways in which urban blacks use space in the nightclub to mediate racial segregation, sexual segregation, and limited social capital expands our current understanding of the spatial mobility of urban blacks as well as the important role of extra–neighborhood spaces in such processes. Further, I highlight the ways that urban blacks use space in the nightclub to leverage socioeconomic opportunities and enhance social networks. While I found that black heterosexual and lesbian and gay patrons used space in similar ways at the Spot, black lesbians and gays were more likely to use the club as a space to develop ties of social support.

The Prayer of a Married Man Is Equal to Seventy Prayers of a Single Man

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 617-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
BAHIRA SHERIF
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
Upper Middle Class ◽  
The Life Course

This study examines the central role of marriage among upper-middle-class Muslim Egyptians in Cairo, Egypt. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out over a total of 20 months by the author between 1988 and 1996. Using religious and legal sources as well as semistructured interviews and participant observation among two generations of 20 households, this study indicates that marriage continues to occupy a significant place in the life course of both upper-middle-class Muslim men and women. This article indicates that societal norms, as well as family structure and expectations, influence the prevalence of marriage as a necessary rite of passage for achieving adulthood among this class of Egyptians. Furthermore, this article describes the actual customs, beliefs, and practices associated with Muslim Egyptian marriages to counteract the Western bias that often obscures studies of this area of the world.

Control before shape - on mastering the clarinet: A case study on commonsense teaching

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland S. Persson
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Applied Music ◽  
Traditional Performance

This article reports an exploratory study into applied music teaching at a tertiary level. The study was staged as a case study where the case comprises one performance lecturer of clarinet and eight of her students. The focus of the study is how a performance teacher with no formal teacher training fares in the training of musical performers, how students respond, and what are the particular successful or unsuccessful issues in ‘commonsense teaching’. The data were gathered through participant observation and questionnaires. The findings suggest that the distinction between the role of the pedagogue (skilled in the dynamics and principles of teaching and learning) and the role of the expert performer (skilled mainly in the domain of performance) is an essential distinction to make. However, it is also a distinction that traditional performance teaching at a tertiary level seldom makes. The article concludes by tentatively proposing some pedagogical considerations for applied music teaching, as drawn from the case study.

A Phenomenological Investigation Into How Twitter Has Changed the Nature of Sport Media Relations

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 394-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Gibbs ◽  
Richard Haynes
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Phenomenological Method ◽  
Media Relations ◽  
Sport Media ◽  
Job Functions ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Media Professionals

This article uses the phenomenological method to explain how Twitter has changed the nature of sport media relations. The research was based on semistructured interviews with 18 Canadian and U.S. sport media professionals having an average 16 yr of experience. This exploratory study uses the lived experience of sport media professionals to identify 3 clusters that help explain how Twitter has changed the nature of sport media relations: media landscape, “mechanical” job functions, and sport media relations. The results of this research are significant because they help explain how the practices and norms related to the role of sport media relations are changing as a result of Twitter. This research presents a new argument: that Twitter has flattened the sport hierarchy and could be considered the most influential social-media platform in sport today.

Stakeholders' consciousness of cultural heritage and the reconciliation of different needs for sustainable development

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Selena Aureli ◽  
Mara Del Baldo
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Unesco World Heritage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Italian City

PurposeThe paper aims to investigate the approach and tools adopted by an Italian city, included amongst the UNESCO World Heritage sites (WHS), to involve different stakeholders in the protection and valorisation of its historical centre to achieve the goals of sustainable development. The paper focusses on the role of local authorities as the key actors that should engage different city users to jointly achieve heritage conservation and socio-economic development.Design/methodology/approachData were collected, thanks to the researchers' direct participation in a project launched by the municipality of Urbino, which involved several local stakeholders and lasted about a year. Participant observation allowed the authors to collect informal interviews, join collective discussions and reflect on the direct observation of the activities undertaken.FindingsThe case study analysed suggests how participatory governance may be effective in fostering responsible principles in “asset usage” by any type of city users and how citizens actively co-design and co-implement initiatives of heritage revitalisation when engaged in cultural heritage (CH) policies.Originality/valueThe paper addresses a long-standing problem that has never been solved: how to enhance the consciousness of the CH amongst stakeholders and reconcile their different and conflicting needs in the historical urban environment in the process of revitalisation.

Brilliant performers as teachers: A case study of commonsense teaching in a conservatoire setting

1996 ◽  
Vol os-28 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Persson
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Formal Training ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Applied Music

This article reports an exploratory study into applied music teaching at a tertiary level. The study was staged as a case study where the case comprises one performance teacher of piano and nine students. The focus of the study is how a performance teacher with no formal training fares in the training of musical performers, how students respond, and what are the particular successful or unsuccessful issues in what could feasibly be termed ‘commonsense teaching’. The data were gathered through participant observation, informal interviews and questionnaires. The findings suggest, after content analysis, that the distinction between the role of the instrumental teachers and the role of the expert performer is an essential distinction. In spite of good intentions the participating teacher failed to provide a successful instructional strategy. The article concludes by tentatively proposing some instructional considerations for applied music teaching, as drawn from the case study.

“Real Change Comes from Within!”: Towards a Symbiosis of Human and Digital Guides in the Museum

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Angeliki Antoniou ◽  
Maria Vayanou ◽  
Akrivi Katifori ◽  
Angeliki Chrysanthi ◽  
Filippia Cheilitsi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
User Study ◽  
Museum Of Modern Art ◽  
Tour Guides ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Guided Tours ◽  
Productive Discussion

Extensive research on mobile guides for museums has explored the potential of technology to offer some of the services that have been traditionally provided by human guides, including guiding visitors in the museum space, providing information about the exhibits, and using more advanced interpretative approaches such as digital storytelling and gamified techniques. However, the majority of these approaches either ignores or tries to substitute entirely the role of the human guide. In this work, we present a user study with 10 experienced tour guides, currently working in the museum of modern art of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation. Based on a three-phase procedure, the study is designed to empower professionals into envisaging their work in symbiosis with current technological developments. First, we attempt to identify existing challenges guides face and to capture their tacit knowledge in addressing emerging problems in guided tours. In the second and third stage, through a reflective and productive discussion, we employ a set of contemporary innovative digital applications as a starting point to elicit their views on their role in an envisaged symbiotic future of human-led hybrid digital experiences.

scholarly journals Universities and Wineries: Supporting Sustainable Development in Disadvantaged Rural Areas

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 378
Author(s):  
Chiara Aleffi ◽  
Sabrina Tomasi ◽  
Concetta Ferrara ◽  
Cristina Santini ◽  
Gigliola Paviotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The University

This exploratory study focuses on the role of the university in supporting sustainable development in rural areas, focusing on small wine producers, particularly those located in remote and disadvantaged areas. Disadvantaged areas have distinctive features. Firstly, they are fragile areas from a sociodemographic point of view because of population ageing. Secondly, they are unstable from an environmental (physical, eco-systemic) point of view, as a consequence of insufficient maintenance of their seminatural capital. University–business cooperation with companies located in those areas thus needs to be designed by considering the specific characteristic of the place. Therefore, this exploratory study sought to understand how the university can work with small wineries and support them and their rural area to face inequalities and low growth, and foster social innovation. We present a case study based on field research in Italy. The results—based on the analysis of 26 semistructured interviews with small wine producers—are discussed by exploring the potential form of cooperation between rural stakeholders and universities, beyond the concept of knowledge transfer. Conclusions highlight the need for the university to act as a facilitator of dialogue at a territorial level, as a first step toward to formulation of shared sustainable goals.

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