91ÑÇÉ« anthropologist Penny Van Esterik, co-author of a new book that examines 91ÑÇÉ« ethnographically, asks the essential question – what is life like in an academic community?  To arrive at the answer, Van Esterik and co-author Laurie Baker sharpened their qualitative research tools and dug in to capture the richness of culture at 91ÑÇÉ«.
The long-awaited result is the new book Trying The Way: Ethnographic Glimpses of 91ÑÇÉ«, Monograph series No. 1 from the Department of Anthropology, available through the 91ÑÇÉ« Bookstore. The book will launch Monday, March 2, from 3 to 5pm, in the Senior Common Room, 305 Founders College, Keele campus.
The co-authors will lead a roundtable discussion on the ethnography, and they invite the community to contribute to an interactive digital format intended to expand and update the content. The book will be available for purchase at the event. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Professor Emerita Penny Van Esterik approached 91ÑÇÉ« as she had approached communities in Thailand where she first did ethnographic fieldwork. Joined by Baker, an anthropology PhD candidate, and student members of the Kroy Collective (91ÑÇÉ« spelled backwards), Van Esterik used ethnographic methods such as participant observation around locations at 91ÑÇÉ« – the cafeterias and classrooms, libraries and laboratories, and other significant public spaces – in an attempt to provide a snapshot of the vibrant, diverse community of some 60,000 people who learn, work, teach, protest, administer and socialize in the institution. The authors also scoured archival materials to enrich their research base.
The Kroy project began in 2008, and was originally planned as a contribution to 91ÑÇɫ’s 50th anniversary. But the task was huge, as Van Esterik soon discovered. Even after working as a professor at 91ÑÇÉ« for 30 years, she understood why no other Canadian university has been subjected to such a detailed ethnographic observation.
Trying The Way positions itself as a first ethnographic study in a series. Although a wide scope is covered in its 274 pages, including photographs, it hardly begins to capture the fullness of life at Kroy/91ÑÇÉ«, a fast moving, forward and dynamic community. And the researchers do not pull any punches in depicting a community that has weathered controversies and growing pains.
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