Perspectives on Ethnographic Methodologies: Documenting "A Day," Linguistic Landscapes, & Geographical Mobility Across Diverse Settings

This presentation is based on a 14-month ethnographic study at an Islamic school in Medina Baye, Senegal that was established for African American Muslim youth from the U.S. It utilizes data from classroom observations, participant observations, and interviews. I argue that the school, the African American Islamic Institute Qur’an School, operates from an axiomatic stance of Black Muslim brilliance (Gholson et al., 2012; Leonard & Martin, 2013). I further argue that the school’s affirmation of students’ inherent capacities provides them with new ways of envisioning what it means to learn at the intersection of being young, Black, and Muslim.

A common graduation gift for high school students is Dr. Seuss’s book, “Oh, the places you’ll go.” Nice sentiments aside, it is time that educators and researchers consider the places they go prior to graduation. Urban youth have myriad experiences with dis/emplacement and everyday mobility. Especially in transnational, racially segregated cities like Los Angeles, these experiences with place and movement entail significant engagement with issues of race and racial formation across geographic scales. Using data from a larger study, this paper discusses key thematic findings and reflections on the need for updated methodological approaches to better understand these realities.