Presenters

Faith in Stories

Poet Muriel Rukeyser stated that "the universe is made of stories, not atoms."  My work as an ethnographer is grounded in my belief that understanding the human experience necessitates accepting Rukeyser's poetic premise.  We as individuals and as cultures are what our stories reveal.  My faith in the power of stories guides my work and, as such, as an ethnographer, I "faithfully" work to "catch" stories.  In my brief presentation I will describe how this faith of mine manifests itself in my ethnographic projects.  I prod, push, invite, and call forth stories into the social world and ultimately "catch" them before they leave the social realm and return to the memory traces of those I encounter.  In the end, for me an ethnographer is first a "catcher of stories."