After an epically disappointing experience with AI-generated essays, I realized that the term paper was as dead as a doornail. I needed an alternative assignment and chose a term-long community-based research project.

During the fall of 2025, I worked with Portland State University’s Director of Emergency Management (PSU-EM), the Community Preparedness Manager at the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM), and the Anthropology Career Readiness Network (ACRN) to implement a client-based class project.

To commemorate the five-year anniversary of the 2020 Labor Day Fires in Oregon, 22 students in Anthropology 412/512, Ethnographic Methods, sought to understand people’s awareness of and preparedness for air quality hazards related to wildfire smoke. Their research took place between September and December of 2025. Students compared interview data gathered from Portland residents who did and did not experience the Labor Day 2020 wildfires. Their goal was to determine how prior experience with air quality hazards due to wildfire smoke affected levels of awareness and preparedness. The research focused on three key questions:

  • How aware are people of air quality hazards related to wildfire smoke?
  • How prepared are people for air quality hazards related to wildfire smoke?
  • What information and services would people expect from campus and city emergency managers in the event of future wide-spread smoke in the air?

What do anthropology instructors, students, and partners gain from a community-based research project?

Students worked in literature groups to collect background information and theoretical perspectives, with a focus on environmental trends, health effects of air quality hazards, and policies that shape environmental regulation and public health. They also explored the social science research related to how people understand and react to risks and consulted the literature for best practices in effective public outreach.

Next, students gathered ethnographic data from 56 people. They conducted focus groups with volunteers from PBEM’s Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NETs) and firefighters to capture their well-informed views about risks, especially from smoke. They interviewed individuals with asthma—those exceptionally vulnerable to particulate matter. They spoke with older, low-income residents at two Meals on Wheels locations. They also interviewed PSU dormitory residents and first-year students—those new to the area, young, and/or less aware of air quality hazards.

Students used the web version of ATLAS.ti to collect, organize, and code 43 documents of field notes and transcripts from interviews and focus groups. They used the software to analyze themes and establish patterns.

During the 11-week quarter, students met with our partners four times. We kicked off the project with a tour of the City of Portland’s emergency management “bunker” and a listening session to capture partners’ concerns. The students met partners again in Week 5 to talk about research design and methods. In Week 8, students presented the findings from their ethnographic research, and during Week 11 they presented oral recommendations and a 39-page written deliverable.

PSU’s motto, “Let Knowledge Serve the City,” emphasizes the university’s commitment to increase student success and workforce readiness through local collaborations. The class produced a good deliverable, which partners have acted on; for example, students recommended gamifying disaster preparation, and in March 2026, PSU-EM will bring to campus the Shaky Grounds Café, an escape room that provides an earthquake preparedness experience. PBEM will send NET volunteers to table at the installation.

Students benefited from the project. Their literature review informed their understanding of an emerging hazard facing the campus and the city. They used the training in ethnographic methods to gather data, learned new software for coding themes, applied theory during analysis, and made policy recommendations. They took the assignments seriously. Students worked under strict timelines and made professional presentations. Everyone came away from with a resume-worthy experience. They glowed with pride at what they had accomplished.

Community-based projects introduce an element of uncertainty and challenge into the classroom. They can revolutionize student-teacher interactions and upend the cannon. Despite a few hurdles we faced along the way, I feel that this course offered students a glimpse into the world of applied social science and a leg up on practicing anthropology for future employment.

 

The post What do anthropology instructors, students, and partners gain from a community-based research project? appeared first on The Anthropology Career Readiness Network.