This volume of The ANNALS broaches the subject of improving fieldwork in the ethnographic spectrum through old-fashioned, or “shoe leather,” fieldwork. At a more recent ethnographic conference at Yale University in 2010 with a follow-up in June 2011, emerging ethnographers were mentored by senior scholars in which they presented an informal, yet supportive, setting, where ethnographic fieldwork could be constructively critiqued. This volume is a product of those collective efforts. The articles in this volume include insight into relations among affluent minorities, the status system we find in today’s sports, and a portrait of an employer of undocumented workers, among other articles.
