My Proposal

The place I want to study for the Ethnography is Jekyll Island in Glynn County, Georgia. The reason I chose it is because it has the upmost importance to my family and to the state of Georgia. It has a lot of history and helps protects the east coast as being part of the “Georgia Bite”. On the island, there is a district called the Millionaires’ Mansions that was created when the island became civilized. I want to study it history and why it is important to Georgia and possibly the United States. The questions I want answers to are “ What is the historical importance of the Island to the Country,”  “How does it contribute to the region around it,” “What is the appeal of the land,” and “Are there any hidden secrets or mysteries on the Island?”.

 The knowledge and experience I already have is that I have taken several visits there and my cousin’s wife is from the Island and as told my several stories of its past. My plans to conduct my research are to hold interviews with my cousin’s wife and her family and to visit the island at least two different times to get different perspectives during different seasons like now during the late winter when there is a slow tourist window and then in early and late spring when it starts to warm up.

            I will conduct the interview with my cousin’s wife in Athens where she lives currently and then I will conduct the interviews with her family when I make my visits to Jekyll Island because they still live on the island. First I will do research to get a feel for what I should ask and I will also ask for a tour of the Island so that I can take pictures and see what we are discussing personally and that way I can see and hear even more detail than I would just sitting in someone’s house. To record my interviews, I will use a tape recorder and afterwards I will take notes on what I heard, for my research, I will take detailed notes and pull pictures and diagrams, and for my observations, I will take notes and pictures to document my experiences.