Doctoral Dissertation Research: An Ethnographic Study of Memory Entrepreneurship and Community

该奖项支持的研究调查了社区如何驾驭遗产旅游业。2016年，非商务旅行为全球经济贡献了7.6万亿美元，为美国经济贡献了5000亿美元。然而，对于一些社区来说，遗产旅游既可能是好事，也可能是坏事。一方面，它承诺提供必要的经济支持和文化保护。然而，这些经济机会有时可能需要贬低当地身份的商品化和标准化。了解人们参与遗产旅游的原因以及他们用来有效地引导其机会的策略，将为项目和政策提供信息，以更公正地代表美国当地社区不同的经济、社会和文化利益。这项研究的发现还将帮助社会科学家更好地理解遗产创业的影响和美国文化多样性的未来。这项研究将由印第安纳大学博士生道格拉斯·D·佩奇在丹尼尔·B·里德博士的支持和监督下进行。这项研究将在南卡罗来纳州沿海地区进行，那里的非商务旅行是该地区最大的雇主。研究人员将把重点放在Gullah Geechees，一个拥有独特文化和语言的非裔美国人社区，并将以音乐及其表演作为调查的主要镜头。为了了解Gullah Geechees与新兴遗产旅游行业之间的关系，联合-PI将重点关注以下问题：Gullah Geechees在遗产创业中使用哪些表演性策略(如品牌、美学、历史叙事)？是什么因素决定了古拉·吉奇人如何参与围绕其文化遗产的倡议？这项研究还将调查来自非洲的非裔美国人旅行者和游客以及国家、州和地方政治当局如何影响古拉·吉奇参与的遗产旅行的背景。本研究采用三种方法收集数据：参与观察法、访谈法和媒体收集与分析法。这项民族志研究将解释少数民族社区如何在不断变化的话语和文化上适当的手段中管理他们的遗产，以实现社会、经济和政治的流动。这项研究将有助于将文化多样性作为一种刻意构建的理论，而不是当代社会的静态或给定特征。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The research supported by this award investigates how communities navigate the heritage travel industry. Non-business travel contributed $7.6 trillion dollars to the global economy and $500 billion dollars to the United States economy in 2016. However, for some communities, heritage travel can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it promises needed economic support and cultural preservation. Yet, these economic opportunities may require sometimes demeaning commodification and standardization of local identities. Understanding why people participate in heritage travel and the strategies they use to channel its opportunities productively, will inform programs and policies to represent more justly the diverse economic, social, and cultural interests of local communities in the United States. Findings from the research will also help social scientists better understand the effects of heritage entrepreneurship and the future of American cultural diversity. The research will be undertaken by Indiana University doctoral student Douglas D. Peach, with the support and oversight of Dr. Daniel B. Reed. The research will be conducted in coastal South Carolina, where non-business travel is the region's largest employer. The researcher will focus on Gullah Geechees, a community of African Americans with a unique culture and language, and will use music and its performance as the primary lens of investigation. To understand the relationship between Gullah Geechees and the emergent heritage travel industry, the Co-PI will focus on the following questions: What are the performative strategies (such as, branding, aesthetics, historical narratives) used by Gullah Geechees for identification in heritage entrepreneurship? What factors shape how Gullah Geechees participate in initiatives surrounding their cultural heritage? The research will also investigate how African-American travelers and visitors from Africa, as well as national, state, and local political authorities influence the contexts of heritage travel in which Gullah Geechees participate. The research uses three methods for gathering data: participant observation, interviews, and the collection and analysis of media. This ethnographically informed study will explain how a minority community manages their heritage, amidst shifting discourses and culturally appropriate means, for social, economic, and political mobility. The research will contribute to theories of cultural diversity as a deliberately constructed rather than a static or given feature of contemporary societies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.