Luke Eric Lassiter,
“The Other Side of Middletown: Building Bridges Between Universities and Local
Communities through Collaborative Ethnography”
Yeager Auditorium, 7:30
p.m.
In 2005, Eric
Lassiter received the prestigious Margaret Mead Award for his book The
Other Side of Middletown: Exploring Muncie’s African American Community, a work that brought faculty, students
and community members together to produce a collaborative ethnography of
Muncie, Indiana’s black community. On Thursday night, Lassiter will speak about
this work and how scholars and local communities can research and write
together to advance multicultural
understanding and social change.
Also, on Tuesday, September 11th, come see…
Screening of Middletown
Redux, a twenty-six-minute
documentary that captures the process of collaboration between Muncie’s black
community and Ball State University students and faculty. In their own words, students, faculty and
community members comment on the project’s evolution and the relationships
formed between the campus and community. This informative and compelling film
illustrates the process of creating a rich ethnography out of fieldwork and the
rewards of collaborating with local communities.
McEwen 011. 8:30-9:00 pm
Luke Eric
Lassiter is Professor of
Humanities and Anthropology and Director of the Graduate Humanities Program at
Marshall University Graduate College in South Charleston, West Virginia. Author
of several books, Lassiter’s research covers such topics as ethnography,
language and song, race and ethnicity, performance, social memory, and
religion. Lassiter has co-authored two books with Elon History professor Clyde
Ellis, both of which have been praised for their collaborative spirit.