Self-introduction

[Holly Ogren]

Since I've just joined this list, I'll offer a brief introduction.  My name
is Holly Hari Kanta Ogren, and I'm a Ph.D. student in the Department of
Anthropology at the University of Texas-Austin.  I am in the subfield of
Linguistic Anthropology within that department, and work with Joel Sherzer
and Elizabeth Keating.  I did my Master's thesis on constructions of
community through communicative practices with a local social organization
targeted at Japanese nationals living (permanently or for short periods of
time) in the Austin area.

My dissertation work is focused on gender and language in Japan,
particularly the ways in which gender-marked language is used by native
Japanese speakers in changing gender roles. I will investigate, for
example, the linguistic practices of women in positions of authority,
positions which have in part resulted from the local community's efforts to
"revitalize" itself economically.

Most broadly, I take an ethnography of communication approach (developed by
such scholars as Dell Hymes, John Gumperz, and Richard Bauman and Joel
Sherzer) to my research.  In terms of my interests in discourse anlaysis, I
am particularly drawn to the discourse-centered approach developed through
the work of Greg Urban and Joel Sherzer.  Specifically, I am very
interested in effective and innovative ways of combining macro-methods such
as discourse analysis (discourse-centered analysis of language and society)
with micro-methods such as conversation analysis (CA-developed by such
scholars as Sacks and Schegloff).

I am currently preparing to take my qualifiyng (or comprehensive, I'm not
entirely sure that their official title is here) exams in a couple of
weeks, and will be heading into the "field" after the Spring semester ends
in May.  I will be conducting research in a small community in the northern
part of the main island (in Iwate Prefecture, for those of you who are
familiar with Japan's geography).

I look forward to sharing ideas, comments, suggestions, difficulties, and
successes with others on this list.

Holly Ogren