Cultural Anthropology Final Exam
Write about Kath Weston’s Traveling Light, incorporating the following elements in about 500-550 words total. You must make specific use of examples (at least 2) in Traveling Light in your answer to get full credit. (20 points)
After reading Traveling Light, write an essay about your thoughts about the ethnographic research Weston presents and the key lessons that you’ve learned from reading the ethnography.
What did you learn about doing ethnographic research from reading this ethnography? What are some of the strengths and limitations of participant observation as a key method of ethnographic research? How do you think Weston’s positionality as a White woman or her childhood experience “living poor” affected her research and her interactions with the people she met taking cross country bus rides? In what way(s) did the ethnography enhance your understandings of the people who are living poor? Are there any lingering questions that you would explore further?
