Students conduct an ethnographic interview with someone they know who has experienced “illness” in their life.

The illness narratives are used to support student learning about the methods of ethnography. Students must follow the ethics of ethnographic research including, informed consent, anonymity/confidentiality, and rapport.

Before students approach this project, the class reads parts of Arthur Kleinman’s “Illness Narratives” and also read “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman, which provides an example of how medical professionals have used the Eight Questions. Class time is used to practice asking good anthropological interview questions, establishing rapport, and engaging in active listening through”mock” interviews in class.

This is assigned in a “Medical Anthropology” course but could also be done in other anthropology courses where the topic of health comes up. Instructors could also adapt the assignment to focus on other lived-experience concepts with similar methodological learning goals. For example, a Sociology professor could have students do an interview about “gentrification” with related readings.

Courses: Medical Anthropology

Assignment