Articles & Publications

This page includes only abstracts, short excerpts, or links to full text publications. For a complete list see Academic Curriculum Vitae - Publications or Papers presented.

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Publications and presentations

Harper, Lynette. (2007), Sept. "Ethnography in the borderlands: Culture and power in educational partnerships". Oxford Ethnography and Education Conference, Oxford UK

Abstract: Is partnership a means for democratizing educational institutions, or a panacea for organizational difficulties? A moral responsibility, or a tool of neoliberalism? This presentation challenges normalizing and uncritical assumptions about partnerships and examines how culture and power shape these relations.

Harper, Lynette. (2007), April. "Tribal bellydance: Fusion or paradox?". International Bellydance Conference of Canada, Toronto ON"

Abstract: An exploration of tensions in North American transformations of Middle Eastern dance, focussing on Tribal Bellydance. Discourses of Tribal bellydance emphasize respect, tradition, authenticity, community and inclusions. Yet Tribal bellydance practices also support Orientalism, exclusion, and the reification of difference. Harper will explore these contradictions by unpacking assumptions about authorship, certification, the “branding” of teaching styles, and the complex social implications of Tribal Bellydance in North America.

Butterwick, Shauna & Harper, Lynette. (2006). "An ‘Inter-cultural’ view of community-academic partnerships: Tales from the field". Proceedings of the Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults, University of Leeds, Leeds.

Abstract: Community-academic partnerships are becoming increasingly popular in the development ofeducational policies, programs, and research. To obtain resources for research and programs, funding agencies are frequently requiring the formation of these partnerships with little or no recognition of the power differentials and inter-cultural dimensions (and conflicts) that shape these relationships. In this paper we draw attention to how power and culture shape these relations using cultural studies and feminist theory to consider two case studies from our own experience of community-academic partnerships."

Harper, Lynette. (2006), March. "Boundary crossing in the classroom". Society "mceHtmlReserved">for Applied Anthropology Conference, Vancouver, B.C."

Abstract: Teaching anthropology in a criminology classroom can be an encounter between two social worlds. As I began to teach a qualitative research class, my criminology students and I were crossing disciplinary borders of expectations and practices. To address the confusion and contradictions arising early in the term, the class became an action research project. My goal was to construct a border zone in the classroom, a space where we could safely explore cultural notions of identity formation, production and reproduction by studying ourselves. The students enhanced their research skills and experience while we investigated and improved our classroom dynamics.

Harper, L. (2006). A Multi-Site Ethnography of Culture and Power in Post-Secondary Education Partnerships. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Abstract: Partnership is perceived to be a means for democratizing educational institutions, and a panacea for organizational difficulties. This multi-site ethnography examines how partnership development influences power and social relations. It traces political, social, and cultural dimensions of a partnership project to explore the complexities of developing partnerships within and between post-secondary organizations.

Harper, Lynette & Hinbest, Jerry. (2002). “Anyone for parfait? Contradictions and discontinuities in participatory evaluation”. Proceedings of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education, OISE, 141-146.

Abstract: An evaluation process based on participatory ideals encountered contradictions leading to evaluation anxiety, a modified design, and two tiers of evaluation reports. The shifting dimensions of participation in this case study underscore the importance of context and negotiation in distributing power among participants.

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Harper, Lynette & Mira. (2001). “By My Own Eyes: A Story of Learning and Culture”. In P.Sissel & V.Sheared (Eds.), Making Space: Reframing Practice in Adult Education (pp. 242-256). Westport, Ct: Greenwood.

Excerpt: I am the grandchild of refugees, and in an effort to honour their lives, I began to study refugee learning and transition and the implications of this knowledge as it relates to program design. I have always valued personal narratives told by family and friends, so I turned to life history as a research method. This chapter facilitates an understanding of refugee experiences by interweaving my perspectives with those of a Lebanese woman named Mira. Our storires contribute to the growing awareness of the relationships between individual, culture, and society within the context of the life history of a refugee.

Harper, Lynette, Niks, Marina, & Tom, Allison. (2000), June. "Collaboration anxiety: What do we do about it?" Proceedings of the Adult Education Research Conference, University of B.C.

Abstract: The growing momentum of collaborative and participatory research initiatives is raising new issues in social science research. Collaborative research projects differ dramatically in their theoretical and methodological approaches, but they all involve personal risk-taking by the researchers as well as the researched. We believe that the most critical topic in collaboration is the commitment to changing the power dynamics in a research relationship.

Harper, L. (1999). "Beyond the beautiful umbrella". In K. Roberts, A. Thakur & G. Tunnell (Eds.), Culture shock: Experiencing 'The Other" (pp. 121-129). Lantzville BC: Eletheria Press.

Excerpt: "For any immigrant, you know, this is the main topic. Culture shock. Whether you are aware of it or not, it's there." . . . Is culture learning always transformative? Must a transition process be traumatic, to effect profound changes in meaning perspectives? The process that emerges in Mira's life story is reflected again and again in this volume. Ethnographers, like Mira and myself, share a common goal; to make sense of individuals and of culture. In the process of getting there, researchers can expect to experience culture shock, those personal crises which offer an opportunity to develop new meanings, to better understand others and ourselves.

Harper, L. (1996). "Building for success: Collaborating with our communities". Muse, 14(2), 22 - 29. (English pdf) (French pdf)

Why do some museum collaborations succeed brilliantly, while others wither into obscurity?

Harper, L. (1995). Making choices - Part I & II. Museum Round-up, May/June 1 & July/August, 7.

[The] assimilation perspective defined the original shape and conventions of museums. It is perpetuated by ethnic stereotyping and unwritten rules that hinder working with people who are different.

Tom, A., Fingeret, H. A., Niks, M., Dawson, J., Dyer, P., Harper, L., et al. (1994). Suspended in a web of relationships: Collaborative ethnographic evaluation. Ottawa: National Literacy Secretariat.

Excerpt: This report is one of two generated as a result of the National Literacy Demonstration Project. The project was initiated to ask questions such as these of two exemplary Canadian adult literacy programs (the Literacy program at the Invergarry Adult Learning Centre and the Vancouver Municipal Workplace Language Program) and to create and demonstrate constructive ways of asking questions about program effectiveness and goals. The evaluation report, Lives of change: An ethnographic evaluation of two learner-centred literacy programs, provides an evaluation of these two programs. It gives readers an overview of the basic characteristics of both programs, of instruction within the programs, of the impact on learners of participation in the programs, and of the role of culture in each of the programs. It also provides recommendations for program staff and learners to consider. The purpose of this, the other report generated by the project, is twofold. One purpose is to allow others who want to carry out evaluations like this to benefit from our experiences - to share our successful strategies and be warned of pitfalls and hidden dangers we found in the research process. The second purpose of this report is to take part in the conversation about educational evaluation and to contribute an example of how collaborative ethnographic evaluation can address educational issues. More specifically, it is the intent of this report to demonstrate how this way of talking about achievement and evaluation in adult education matches the goals of the people we studied. This report documents an approach to evaluation that is consonant with the practice of learner-centred adult education we witnessed in the two programs and discussed in the evaluation report.

Fingeret, H. A., Tom, A., Dyer, P., Morley, A., Dawson, J., Harper, L., et al. (1994).Lives of change: An ethnographic evaluation of two learner centred literacy programs.

Harper, L. (1993). "From temple to battlefield: Conflicting ideologies in the Museum". Muse, 11(3), 20 - 21.
(English pdf) (French pdf)

Excerpt: From its very beginning, the museum has conserved objects which represent an individual or collective past. It has become a symbol for the preservation of historical values and aesthetic judgments, and has thus come to represent and attract conservative elements in our society, those interested in maintaining the status quo. This image of the museum may dominate popular discourse, but it doesn't accurately reflect changes in the modern museum community. Or does it?

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