Huckabay Teaching Fellowship Application Student Background

Daniel Renfrow, Department of Sociology
 

Academic Background

 
In May 1999, I graduated Summa Cum Laude and as an Honors Scholar from Eastern Kentucky University where I studied sociology, religion, and women’s studies.  I am currently finishing my MA in sociology at the University of Washington.  My research triangulates several methodologies—including written narratives, surveys and qualitative interviews—to extend Erving Goffman’s work on passing, or techniques of self-presentation where a discrediting identity is masked by some other less threatening identity.  The thesis explores the various dimensions of passing, the motivations for doing so and the consequences of these practices. Aside from rigorous coursework in study design and the experience with my own research, I have learned greatly from working as a research assistant for Dr. Ross Matsueda (University of Washington) and Drs. Rodney Engen (North Carolina State University) and Sara Steen (Vanderbilt University).  In addition, I have worked part-time and as a volunteer on projects with several professors in the Department of Sociology at the University of Washington.  This research experience, as well as my interest in identity and the intersection of race, gender and sexuality, will be great assets in designing a qualitative methodology course focusing on AIDS narrative.
 

Teaching Experience

Thus far in my academic career I have been a teaching assistant for multiple courses.  As an undergraduate, I served as mentor and teaching assistant for an introductory sociology course.  Since joining the Department of Sociology at the University of Washington, I have been a graduate teaching assistant for several courses—with topics ranging from social problems to the sociology of murder.  This range of experience has helped broaden my general knowledge and challenged me to adapt to different methods of instruction.  In addition to grading assignments and gaining experience lecturing and leading small group discussions, I have gained experience designing presentation materials and creating assignments.  However, I have not had the opportunity to completely design a course.  Such an experience would be particularly invaluable when I enter the job market for a teaching position.
 

Other Relevant Experience

Over a year ago, I received an invitation to join the Board of Directors at the Seattle Gay Clinic (SGC), which is an independent non-profit organization established in 1979 to address the health care needs of Seattle’s gay male population. The clinic provides free and anonymous HIV testing and counseling, STD screening and treatment, and Hepatitis screening and vaccination. SGC’s primary focus continues to be on educating and providing outreach services to the gay community.  Since joining the board, I have served as chair of the Volunteer and Program Development Committee, and I am currently seated on the Public Relations Committee.  I designed the clinic assessment survey used at SGC. I believe that the connections I have created through my work with the clinic, as well as the practical knowledge that I have gained, will be beneficial in designing a course dealing with AIDS and sexuality.  I will encourage students to interview my colleagues at SGC, as well as those at other AIDS organizations, with an eye towards identifying issues important to the lives of people living with AIDS and those who serve them. 
 

Project Tasks

As a  Huckabay Fellow, I would perform the following tasks:

 

·         Develop a syllabus with course goals and objectives

·         Create a reading packet and media archive

·         Draft lectures and presentation materials

·         Use and adapt new technologies to engage students’ learning

·         Design course assignments and criteria for the final project

·         Develop a service learning component for the course

·         Create and strengthen ties to relevant community agencies

·         Meet regularly with Dr. Judith Howard

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Huckabay Teaching Fellowship Application Course Prospectus
Daniel Renfrow, Department of Sociology

Course Title

Using AIDS Narrative as Sociological Data:  Qualitative Approaches in  Sociology

Project Motivation

Many of the classic works in American sociology have relied on qualitative approaches.  Becker (1963) and Thomas (1967) exemplify how narratives can provide important insights about social interaction by linking individual-level processes to larger social structures.  The past few decades, however, have witnessed much debate about the role qualitative methodologies should play within the social sciences—sociology in particular.  Flipping through the pages of the top academic journals (e.g., American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces), it becomes quite obvious that qualitative methods have been vastly underrepresented in recent years, and as a result, this exclusion has given rise to several specialty and interdisciplinary journals as alternative outlets. 

Unfortunately, curricula at numerous sociology departments across the country reflect this move away from qualitative approaches and, thus, fail to provide adequate training in methodologies that stress the importance of personal experience and the connection of biography to broader social structures and processes.   The Department of Sociology at the University of Washington is no exception. Qualitative methods are conspicuously missing in the course catalog.   Although several courses cover the  methodology of sociological research (SOC 220, SOC 328, SOC 329 and SOC 426), these courses could more appropriately be called quantitative techniques in sociology because qualitative methods receive minimal—if any—coverage.   To fill this gap, we will design a qualitative methods course examining techniques of using narrative accounts as sociological data.  Along with many other social scientists, we believe that narratives lend to our understanding of the social world (Coffey 1999; Plummer 1995).  As Richardson (1990) says in her piece on the significance of qualitative approaches within sociology, narratives are “quintessential to the understanding and communication of the sociological”.

The Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS) creates an interdisciplinary community of quantitative  researchers on campus; such a community of scholars does not currently exist for researchers who use qualitative  methodologies. This course will mark a first step toward creating this community.  We feel this course will help fill this gap by bringing students from various disciplines into dialogue with one another and encouraging them to exchange ideas.

In addition to the call for more training in qualitative methodologies within the field of sociology (and other social sciences) and the need to create a community of qualitative researchers, this course also is motivated by campus-wide call for classes that explore issues of diversity. The President’s Task Force on Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian and Transgender (GBLT) Issues released a report in January 2001 outlining the need for course offerings that explicitly address sexuality and social marginalization.  For this reason, we have chosen to use AIDS narratives as a vehicle for exploring how sexuality, as well as race, gender and social class, work jointly to influence levels of inequality in society.  Recent medical advances have improved the quality of life for people living with AIDS, and as a result, individuals with AIDS are living longer lives and are telling their stories.  These stories cross all numerous social boundaries.  While the AIDS epidemic has slowed down in recent years, its impact now extends to all groups within society, and because of this impact, the AIDS narrative provides an excellent vehicle for exploring how race, sexuality, gender and other identifications come together to influence individuals’ lives.   For these reasons, we believe this course will address the campus-wide need for classes on diversity and focus on important real-life issues, while at the same time, provide much needed training in qualitative methods. 

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Project Goals

The first step of the research process is to identify sociologically relevant questions.  Too often research courses simply assume that students know how to link sociological questions with the appropriate methodologies needed to adequately answer these questions. Our first goal is to help students identify sociologically interesting questions and then help them assess which of these questions can be best answered using narratives.  Since we believe that the most effective way to teach methodology courses is to place students in the field “doing sociology”, another primary goal is get students out into the community doing their own research. With this accomplished, the class will work towards answering students’ research questions through the use of narratives—in all forms from written narrative to documentary to visual narratives.  The focus on community service highlights a unique benefit of qualitative techniques.  Unlike basic statistical methods, narratives allow us to explore real-life issues in their natural context.  This approach, grounded in everyday interactions, will help students identify relevant intervention strategies and policy implications through their field observations.  Ultimately, our hope is that this course will make the city of Seattle our classroom and create a community between scholars that bridges the humanities and social sciences.   In sum, our primary goals include:

·         Help students learn how to ask research questions

·         Help students identify which questions can be addressed with narratives

·         Provide students with the skills to answer their research questions

·         Facilitate interdisciplinary discussions and research that merges disciplines

·         Encourage students to identify real-life implications of their research

·         Encourage students to “do sociology” through service learning

 

Implementation

Daniel Renfrow, working with Dr. Judith Howard, will develop course goals and objectives.  Once clearly defined objectives are established, he will fashion reading lists, design class activities, draft lectures and outline criteria for the final research project during the winter quarter of 2002.  Dan will incorporate the new web-based services available through the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology.  These will include Catalyst web tools that will allow students to peer review one another’s work online, to carry out discussions online, and to turn in assignments via the internet.   Dan will teach the course during the spring quarter of 2002.
 

Assessment

The effectiveness of the course, as well as the fellow’s performance, will be assessed several ways during the spring quarter of 2002.  First, students will provide evaluations via the internet several weeks into the quarter.  Daniel will use WebQ, offered through the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology to carry out anonymous evaluations.  These evaluations will provide valuable feedback that will be used to change or redirect the course to meet students’ needs.  At various points throughout the term, students will complete in-class and out-of-class assignments that will be used to gauge the effectiveness of the course.  The most telling of these assignments, of course, will be the final research project, which will include both written and oral components. Thirdly, both the instructor and the students will keep journals during the course of this educational experience.  These informal writings undoubtedly will provide useful comments and reflections on the course that will not only provide a measure of effectiveness but are likely to pique ideas for improving the course in the future.  Dr. Judith Howard will visit the class and then will provide comments and suggestions.  In addition, I will invite instructors, who teach related courses in other departments, to visit and evaluate the course and my performance.  Finally, the students will provide written evaluations at the end of the term.

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References:

Becker, Howard S.  1963.  Outsiders.  New York:  Free Press. 

Coffey, Amanda 1999.  The Ethnographic Self.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage. 

Plummer, Kenneth.  1995.  Telling Sexual Stories.  New York:  Routledge.

Richardson, Laurel.  1990.  Narrative and sociology.  Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.  19(1):  116-35.

Thomas, W.I.  1967.  The Unadjusted Girl.  New York:  Harper & Row.

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