RESEARCH

Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico
July-August 2007

I spent one month during the summer of 2007 doing applied anthropological fieldwork in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico (the sister border town to Douglas, Arizona).

During my time in the economically distressed border colonia Ladrillera, I was the assistant to Dr. William Smith, the leader of the Western Oregon University Agua Prieta Field School. I also took footage for a documentary that I presented at Western Oregon University's Academic Excellence Showcase on 29 May 2008.

This short film, entitled, "Far from Home: The Field Experience," displays the often challenging field experience for the participating students (who had never done field work), and for Dr. Smith, the advising professor (who had never managed and advised students while in the field), while also introducing the harsh realities of life on the border, and the people who survive it every day.

In addition to working on an ethnographic documentary film, I was able to help assess needs in Ladrillera, the barrio in which we worked. One of our goals for the future is to begin an asociacion civil (civil association) to help several families begin personal gardens.

This project would be important because gardens would aid in healthy food production, and we would teach sustainability--i.e., planting native seed and using water-efficient plants--which is imperative as Agua Prieta is situated in an arid desert environment, where the soil is less-than-perfect.

Ideally, we would work in tandem with DouglaPrieta Trabaja, a binational organization that ties together people in both Agua Prieta and Douglas, Arizona.

 

Silverton, Oregon
April 2006-May 2007

During my year in Silverton, I examined how the community newspaper of Silverton, Oregon, helps to construct the cultural identity of the town’s residents as being a part of a small-town American community. The citizens of Silverton generally hold the Silverton Appeal-Tribune in high esteem, despite complaints about lack of coverage, improper grammar, and missed deliveries.

Although the newspaper itself (as a product) may construct the identity of the Silvertonian culture, those who produce the newspaper are actors in the same community that is portrayed. Therefore, it is the actors behind the Appeal-Tribune that construct not only the cultural identity of other residents in the town, but also their own.

Viewed through the lens of practice theory, the Silverton Appeal-Tribune becomes a channel of communication between the news reporters and the community. This study takes an actor-based approach, examining not only those who consume the product, but also those who construct it and perpetuate the town’s culture.

My thesis based on this research was presented twice during the 2006-2007 academic year at Western Oregon University: once with the WOU Honors Program, and once with the WOU Anthropology Department for the Academic Excellence Showcase.

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