Fieldwork Prep

     I left last weeks class feeling kind of emotional. The walking tour of Poppleton, the video of Angela Banks speaking, and our discussion all weighed heavily on my mind. I guess if I had to describe the feeling it would be a combination of sadness, worry, and excitement. Feeling sadness about what has happened to the current and former residents of Poppleton. Not to mention the countless others affected by these development practices across the country. Worrying about not saying or doing the right things as we being our fieldwork. Yet also some excitement about being involved in this project and doing more than just writing from behind a desk.  

    This week's readings covered the importance of oral history and how to prepare for the fieldwork involved in a project like the one will be conducting this semester. I found the oral history reading to be particularly interesting. I have yet to utilize oral history for a project in my academic career. This is partially because my senior project in undergrad was interrupted by the covid-19 pandemic. One of our assignments in my capstone course was to conduct an oral history interview. Given the circumstances this was scratched from the syllabus and we instead focused on digital research to complete our final papers. I thought it was interesting to read about the imprecise nature of oral history, in both its definition and interpretation. This complexity makes this whole process feel simultaneously exciting and intimidating.

    In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower was probably my favorite piece that we read this week. I immediately recognized the similarities between the Checkerboard lounge story and the universities that have shaped Baltimore City. Last semester I read an article about Hopkins use of eminent domain in East Baltimore around the hospital. Now its clear to see that this is the same process occurring in Southwest Baltimore around the University of Maryland BioPark. Prior to reading this I guess I had never put together the fact that higher education institutions have such a powerful position in the development of cities. I really liked Bernard Lloyd's phrase "town-gown friction," to describe this relationship.  

    As we move into the fieldwork I imagine my role in this project being primarily behind the scenes. I think that would include operating the video or audio equipment during the interviews. Conducting historical research as needed to supplement the stories and narrative that we will be creating. Writing some of the profiles and the narrative for the final project.