Observation Guidelines - Timeline
Site visits and interviews are designed to get you to experience first hand the people and behaviors linked to the Indian traditions studied in the course. On the course content page in SacCT, you will sign up for one of the celebrations featured in this course, held at a particular locat worship site; you will then then visit the site at the scheduled time, observe participants, and interview one of them to get a sense of what they are thinking. This experience will serve as the foundation for the observation report. Choose a local place of worship
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that you have NOT previously visited yourself and OR known much about from friends or family;
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that is reasonably accessible (see me if you have problems with transportation or commute from a distance);
- whose times of formal worship match your schedule. (I recommend going with at least one classmate, family member or friend.)
IMPORTANT: you must observe one of the celebrations at one of the times listed under Local Sites, not simply visit the site and talk to people. Although you may at other times have interesting informal interactions with community members there, it will be difficult to tell what they normally do when outsiders are not present based exclusively on such interactions.
Timeline
You will need to choose your site by Thursday, February 16 and indicate your choice on the sign-up sheet linked from the course content page in SacCT. Make sure that you call ahead to verify the time of the event if that is indicated and that you can commit to attending the event with another person at the time specified.
Once you choose a site, make sure you
- know where you are going so that you can get there on time.
- print out the Observation Report Worksheet (ORW --> PDF/MS Word) and start generating questions that you will attempt to answer when you attend the site.
I also recommend that you read my further advice about observing and interviewing people that you meet.
As listed on the schedule, your ORW will be due **IN CLASS** the first day of the unit during which we will studying that celebration. For example, if you visit Shivaratri, your ORW will be due at the beginning of Unit 2. See schedule for the exact dates and also when to submit the final Observation Report product.