Analysis
The analysis of the architectural and ethnographic data continues after the field school. This year, incoming undergraduate students Maia Stack and Jayne Iken joined the BLC field school as summer research fellows. Stack and Iken were part of an undergraduate research program sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research. This program invites a small group of incoming students to campus for four weeks during the summer to engage in research with UWM faculty. Students spend 25-35 hours a week participating in research projects.
Here is a summary of Stack and Iken's research:
Here is a summary of Stack and Iken's research:
Jayne Iken
Semantic Analysis: The objective of my project was to interpret some of the oral histories produced during the field school and recognize the shared values that the interviewees discussed. Despite being shared, these values express diverse view points of the residents of the Historic Water Tower neighborhood. I used semantic analysis to determine how different people defined and classified these concepts during their interviews. The terms I focused on, included STEWARDSHIP and HOMES. There are many interpretations of these concepts, just a few of which are depicted below.
Semantic Analysis: The objective of my project was to interpret some of the oral histories produced during the field school and recognize the shared values that the interviewees discussed. Despite being shared, these values express diverse view points of the residents of the Historic Water Tower neighborhood. I used semantic analysis to determine how different people defined and classified these concepts during their interviews. The terms I focused on, included STEWARDSHIP and HOMES. There are many interpretations of these concepts, just a few of which are depicted below.
Conclusion
Many people talked about shared values of STEWARDSHIP and HOMES during their interviews, but they also had many different interpretations. These two seemingly simple terms turned into something more complex. Discovering community members’ interpretations of these concepts and hearing the oral histories of those involved in the Historic Water Tower neighborhood let me understand the complex history of this community, discover what is currently happening, and examine how people interpret important social and cultural concepts. |
Stewardship
During the interviews, the topic that people talked about the most was stewardship. There are many different interpretations of the term, including the concepts of passion, caring, and preservation. More specifically, the interviewees discussed the historic value of stewardship and the economics attributes that frame such practices. Homes Another major topic of conversation in the interviews was homes. Why do individuals choose the houses they live in? How and when were the buildings made? What renovations were made to keep these homes intact? Common concepts that many interviewees discussed were craft, design, structure, personalization, and history of their homes. |
Maia Stack
Spatial Ethnography: In the weeks following the field school, I worked together with Jayne Iken to continue the analysis process that was started during the field school. Together we coded the remaining interviews, explored themes in-depth, and started constructing the final monograph. In the BLC field school, I used a method called spatial ethnography to study Bradford Beach. Spatial Ethnography is studying space as a way to understand human culture. Or simply, studying the physical and immaterial aspects of a place to understand the culture.
I found that Bradford Beach is made of subtle and complex social territories. These territories are delineated by physical and symbolic boundaries maintained by people who recognize (often subconsciously) their import. At the beach, I found three types of boundaries: personal, physical, and atmospheric. Personal boundaries, marked by towels and other personal belongings, clearly denote territories others may not walk through. Physical boundaries are made with a wall, door, or tent and they demarcate more permanent areas. Atmospheric boundaries are formed by sound, light, and temperature and they define transient zones. Together these boundaries give form to Bradford Beach.
Spatial Ethnography: In the weeks following the field school, I worked together with Jayne Iken to continue the analysis process that was started during the field school. Together we coded the remaining interviews, explored themes in-depth, and started constructing the final monograph. In the BLC field school, I used a method called spatial ethnography to study Bradford Beach. Spatial Ethnography is studying space as a way to understand human culture. Or simply, studying the physical and immaterial aspects of a place to understand the culture.
I found that Bradford Beach is made of subtle and complex social territories. These territories are delineated by physical and symbolic boundaries maintained by people who recognize (often subconsciously) their import. At the beach, I found three types of boundaries: personal, physical, and atmospheric. Personal boundaries, marked by towels and other personal belongings, clearly denote territories others may not walk through. Physical boundaries are made with a wall, door, or tent and they demarcate more permanent areas. Atmospheric boundaries are formed by sound, light, and temperature and they define transient zones. Together these boundaries give form to Bradford Beach.
Physical Context
A place’s surroundings affect its culture. Were Bradford Beach surrounded by dense forest, there would be a much smaller number of visitors, most likely comprising a different demographic. Here, a road along the beach makes it quite accessible. Social Context Bradford Beach attracts many different types of people for various reasons: business people buying a drink, families with young children, older singles there to socialize, friends out for an afternoon, young adults out to practice volleyball, and many others. Here, a boy and his mother order food from the Tiki Bar. Use
People use the beach in a wide variety of ways. While some use it as a place to tan, others use it as a pool to splash around in, and others still incorporate the beach as part of their exercise routine. Here, a man and his daugher use the beach as a place to relax and spend time together. Individual Context
Whether people view the beach as a place of relaxing with friends, or as a place of childhood memories with mom and dad (as it does for Ringo, the man in this 1970s picture), every beach-goer has a connection to Bradford. Time
The beach morphs from a quiet place in the mornings when sand groomers flatten the sand, to a bustling place on a sunny afternoon. Here, the beach is empty at 8 AM, so the sand groomer can move unobstructed. |