Autoethnography

Pre-reading: Pages 137 - 141 Insider/Outsider Research in Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith.

and Autoethnography: An Overview by Carolyn Ellis, Tony E. Adams & Arthur P. Bochner.

It's a writing method that sits in the middle path of autobiographical and ethnographical; a mix of personal and interpersonal. Tell your story, but follow it up with proof. It's not just what the world is telling you, but your own understanding of it. Don't be limited by both sides of research.

What is referred to as an 'epiphany' sounds a lot like what I call 'insights'. The turning points of understanding.

Insider/Outsider

Reflect on my positionality as an insider. When my enter the sphere of my research, I automatically influence it. I change an aspect, a reaction. However, being an outsider and overserving will leave gaps in my research. I have to be aware of how much I am changing by simply taking up space in the area I'm researching. Even if I was part of the insider crew, the more information I find, the more I will become an outsider. When the change I want to see start to happen, I'm shaking the whole foundation. Then the results will change *insert evil music*

Be ethical and respectful - Insider

Be reflective and critical - Outsider.

Anthropological gaze: When you think of historians, you think CIS, white male, middle class. When it came to this question, my first thought was Asha De Vos. When I mentioned this to Zuleika, she said 'Maybe you are more decolonised than others'. This made me think about the way I see the world where it's quite different from others around me. I don't see colour, race, religion... I always thought this is because of how I was raised. Now I'm wondering what happened in my life for me to be this way. Was this nature or nurture?

How will people see my project in 10 years?

What is changing in the academic world?

Can I use first thought/second thought to test my Gen Z?