# data[].attributes.body
For my field trip I went to go visit the Southport Corridor, the area that is Southport ave between Grace and Roscoe. I chose this area because of the inordinate amount of Argentinian cuisine in an otherwise homogenous area (white/young/singles/couples or early families). My research question is on how multicultural establishments share a discourse with their outer context when the outer context is homogenous. I chose the medium of pictures to showcase the establishments I found. The Southport strip is dominated by small shops and boutiques. There are very few chain shops which makes for a very local culture. The places that I found were El Mercado, Tango Sur, Bodega Sur, Frío Gelato, 5411 Empanadas, and Cafe Tola. All of them use Spanish in their signage, menus, and are mostly owned by Argentinians as opposed to a gentrified version of the food. All of them are also very highly rated for their quality and authenticity often busy with lines of locals out their doors. El Mercado was entirely stocked by Argentinian food, also completely staffed by Argentinians. I whipped out my Spanish to speak to the cash registers to buy some things I needed for home.

I thought it was very interesting that they would use almost exclusively Spanish signage in a predominantly White neighborhood, but they've obviously stayed successful considering they've been open since the late 70s. I couldn't check the menus for every place but Frío had first Spanish names for their items followed by the English translation. It's interesting to see this trend in a mostly English speaking neighborhood. IT makes me think that authenticity is winning out in terms of attractiveness which beats out the faux-authentic restaurants. But the weirdest thing to me is that all of these locations are centered right next to each other.

-Daniel Romero

# data[].attributes.body
For this first venture off to my location my goal was to find out what my angle and take was on the community. I wanted to acknowledge the respect, education, and interactivity of the environment compared to the Lincoln Park Conservatory. I wanted to observe how we disregard the environment, and do not take the care and responsibility of the park. I wanted to know what the lines were for respect at Walsh Park, how people interacted with plants, people, and the overall vibe and atmosphere of the community itself. So by doing this, I wanted to take pictures of my venture to reflect on what I observed.

During my walk I was greeted by my usual signs of "No Pets on Grass" and, "Keep Off Grass" I also spotted a sign that indicated a cleanup for Earth Day. Upon further inspection it indicated for the community to come together on Earth Day and clean all of Walsh Park together. I was really taken aback by this because I was already convinced that I was going to write about how more respect for the park space is needed in order to appreciate it at its fullest. It was nice to see a friendly neighborly gesture to clean up the park and to appreciate the shared space. Next to this sign was a heap of trash bags that was filled with the litter of Walsh Park. To see even the aftermath of the clean park itself made it seem much brighter, but it could have been everyone being out and just enjoying the weather. Even so, this was the start of me finding a new, more positive angle of the respect of plants in Walsh Park.

As I continued with my research, I finally traveled onto the 606 which greeted my with the same friendliness and neighborly vibe I received when I first arrived. It was nice, clean, polite and respected shared space. There were people working out and stretching in one corner, while there were a group of kids skating and hanging out near the bench next to them. Both groups were sharing the space and respecting one another as well. As I continued down the 606 there were educational signs that started a discussion about the plants that are growing on the path. It was really interactive as you were able to read more about the plants and foliage as you continued onward and it was still enjoyable and educational. Again, my perception of this place has changed tremendously because of these added notes of signs that discuss the blooming cycles of plants and the respect it has on the plants it is growing there. It makes learning about the space much more friendly and approachable instead of an added accessory to the walkway, which was orginally a concern I had.

Even with this new knowledge I am really excited to compare and contrast the differences and similarities of the spaces of Walsh Park/606 and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. I plan on interviewing and discussing with people to get some actual dialogue about the space and see if there are similarities in the way we approach and respect the environment.  Honestly, I can already see how the dialogue may be very similar, which is a really good thing! It's reassuring that on my first visit, I was able to visibly see signs of community brought together by plants.

# data[].attributes.body
For my research log the activities that I made use of was observing to get a better understanding of the African community during this field research. On getting into the Wilson red line I assumed I would see a lot of things in various African languages but to my surprise I saw a lot more English than I expected and a lot less African language it was close to nothing really. The street signs and traffic signs were in English as expected since we are in America but the signs to restaurants and their menus were all in English. I grew up in Nigeria and it is pretty much the same thing there to be honest it is like that in the urbanized areas of Nigeria but in the more rural areas the signs and restaurants are in the languages that are spoken in that area. The local restaurants I went to they spoke English there and their menu was in English but most of the shop owners could speak their native languages and I asked them why they didn’t put it on their menus or the signs and what most of them basically said is that because they are in America and they know that English is mainly spoken here it is why they decided to go with just to attract more customers. Like the ones that may want to try food from a different culture as opposed to American food. Another thing that surprised me was the in the African community there wasn’t a lot of diversity there, the people that lived there were either from Nigeria or west Africa and this shocked me because I thought I would see a significant amount of people from countries all over Africa but it was just a select few of countries.

# data[].attributes.body
About my fieldwork, this Sunday I go to Chinatown to research and seek answers I need, “hao the Chinese culture development in United States. go to a hot-pot restaurant there are many people, Many guests come here for dinner every day. Although many of them are international students, there are still many people who lived here very early. I asked them several questions about the development of Chinese culture. They simply answered me. I got the answer I want about this question.

# data[].attributes.body
Sunday was the day where I would conduct my first in-site research. I decided to head to one of the most famous locations of my area known as Noon Kebab on Kedzie Ave. The restaurant is quite successful as it recently opened a new restaurant nearby. I took pictures of the inside and the outside and found many Persian relics.
The restaurant was full of people, mostly from Middle-Eastern but I've also noticed a few Asian families enjoying some of the common food they share with the Persian cuisine as well as American families discovering the food.
Most of the meals were Persian or Middle-Eastern, the names of the dishes written in Latin words, but called as their Middle-Eastern name. The few that are called by their English names are some American dishes blent with a Persian style sauce such as their Chicken Wings.
So again the question remains, what was it that made them so successful? Did they optimally mix as many ingredients foods as they could to appeal to everyone, or is it just the American touch?

# data[].attributes.body
For my research method, I went to Chinatown and talked to as many people as I could. I didn’t talk to the specifically about english, but I talked to all of them in english. I was trying to set a sense of how English works in the neighborhood/how good the level of English is

# data[].attributes.body
I used photography and field research to get a better understanding of this community on this trip. Going into Little Village I knew that I was going to see a lot of Spanish. I was surprised though because I saw much less English than I was expecting. All the street signs and traffic signs were in English but every business sign was in Spanish. I am used to seeing Spanish and English being used together. I grew up in Southern California and it was pretty normal to see Spanish and English on the same signs. When I saw Spanish back home it was usually under an English sign and slightly smaller but here it was the opposite. Many places that I went didn't use English at all and the places that did often had it in smaller writing on the bottom of their signs and menus.I thought it was interesting how there were a bunch of shops that I don't usually see. I saw a lot of currency exchange shops and a couple of western clothing stores which I don't usually run into walking around. It seems like a very vibrant community but as someone with a very limited Spanish vocabulary, I felt pretty out of place. Even though a lot of people spoke English to me after realizing my Spanish is worse than most kindergarteners, I relied a lot on my friend who grew up there to explain stuff to me. The community seems kind of exclusive. If you are not from there or you don't speak Spanish it is difficult to feel like you belong there. That might be a good thing. Gentrification can completely change a neighborhood so Little Village's intimidating cultural landscape probably helps protect it from that. My question is how might the intimidating and exclusive nature of Little Village's linguistic landscape have negative effects on the community.

# data[].attributes.body
This past week and weekend Israel celebrated its 70th birthday all over the world, and also in Chicago. In my research question, I am looking to see what defines Israeli, Hebrew and Jewish culture in Chicago. This is a picture from the small carnival/celebration we did at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, the Private Jewish Day School I work at. It is beautiful that Israel is being celebrated this past week and weekend for its 70th birthday, you can see that the signs and posters in this photo are not only in English but in Hebrew as well. The school also brought in camels, and different Israeli companies and Israeli students to interact with our students. I saw the love and passion for the country and language being celebrated during that time, but I feel to find the culture on a daily basis you have to dig deep.

# data[].attributes.body
For my fieldwork and research I used the method of interviewing. I went over to my church and talked to multiple workers from the church and even a priest there. Everyone there is super friendly and there is always events going on. One event they told me about was a retreat they have going on for younger teenagers and it sounded very interesting and great for those who are young. They told me about multiple events they have going on, but I was mostly speaking to them in Spanish. I believe anyone is welcome but most people here speak Spanish and create many events surrounding the Mexican culture. I went to talk to the service workers and the priests to get a sense of how they organize events and what it has to do for the people of the neighborhood. My primary focus will be on how the events effect the language of the culture and the culture within itself. I want to know how the language effects the church and how it can be open to more and the way they organize there events. It is a very enclosed circle of the same group of people and I want to know if the event shows or language effects that or the the language of the neighborhood itself. Does the language effect the people who want to come to this church?

# data[].attributes.body
For my first research log, I decided to interview one of the current students at the high school and asked them "How does the surrounding neighborhood and its signs influence the school?' and "Where do you see the school going on from here to the future?" What the student told me was that they believe that since the neighborhood around is majority hispanic, the school tries to implement that culture into different activities for students. They also explained how almost all of the restaurants around have bilingual workers that can help some of the customers who need help understanding English. For the second question, they believe that the school will keep remaining like this because the school still has a majority of hispanic students. They don't think it will change much since the school already has different programs for bilingual students, and there are rewards for those that do. After these two questions, i thought I should've asked if the school has added any more programs for bilingual students because from my own experience, I remember that the school pushed for more students to take a bilingual test which can increase opportunities for scholarships and rewards.

# data[].attributes.body
For my research log, I have decided to focus on the linguistic landscape with Pilsen which is a neighborhood of Chicago. Pilsen, as many know, is a very Hispanic-oriented neighborhood. Also being one of the biggest neighborhoods in Chicago, Pilsen is known for its artistic paintings on many of its buildings. These urban paintings are my center of focus as I will be analyzing the language and symbolism behind these paintings. Therefore my first question is: Since Pilsen is deeply rooted in the Hispanic culture, does its paintings have a significant message?

# data[].attributes.headline
How a restaurant tells a story through its interior and exterior? Exterior - online, outside, smell - how they promote who they are Interior- food, smell, photographs, workers, menu, - all visuals insideThe first thing that shows up on the website is a picture of food, to me it already grabs the attention of someone looking to eat there, is it presentable? Does it look good?Also the picture clearly states that it is a French Cuisine restaurant through a slideshow of photos with food like escargot. Next there are tabs, menu, private parties, locations and lastly events and news.Events category can tell a lot about the customers they are trying to attract. For being an upscale restaurant they do appreciate the fact that people bring their kids and they have events that would invite them and make the parents not feel a burden to take them there to eat.Some of the events include a Mother's Day Brunch , Gluten free Wine tasting, and also a cooking class.  Besides the events that they host, they make sure anyone can access their food through delivery or reservation. They also cater to people with allergies and have a specific menu for gluten free.Lastly, they even put a glimpse of the chef and his background. From an online perspective, Mon Ami Gabi gives a very homey feel inside an upscale restaurant which is usually not the case. By looking online, it shows the feeling that they want both returners and potential customers to see. - Breeanna Schmidt  

# data[].attributes.subject
How a restaurant tells a story through its interior and exterior? Exterior - online, outside, smell - how they promote who they are Interior- food, smell, photographs, workers, menu, - all visuals insideThe first thing that shows up on the website is a picture of food, to me it already grabs the attention of someone looking to eat there, is it presentable? Does it look good?Also the picture clearly states that it is a French Cuisine restaurant through a slideshow of photos with food like escargot. Next there are tabs, menu, private parties, locations and lastly events and news.Events category can tell a lot about the customers they are trying to attract. For being an upscale restaurant they do appreciate the fact that people bring their kids and they have events that would invite them and make the parents not feel a burden to take them there to eat.Some of the events include a Mother's Day Brunch , Gluten free Wine tasting, and also a cooking class.  Besides the events that they host, they make sure anyone can access their food through delivery or reservation. They also cater to people with allergies and have a specific menu for gluten free.Lastly, they even put a glimpse of the chef and his background. From an online perspective, Mon Ami Gabi gives a very homey feel inside an upscale restaurant which is usually not the case. By looking online, it shows the feeling that they want both returners and potential customers to see. - Breeanna Schmidt  

# data[].attributes.headline
Diversity and Inclusion in the Art Institute of Chicago

# data[].attributes.subject
Diversity and Inclusion in the Art Institute of Chicago

# data[].attributes.body
For my research method, I decided to utilize pictures and field research to better understand the community I am researching. On a broad scale, I want to research what Chicago's art community looks like; on a more refined scale I intend to study how diversity and inclusion work in Chicago's art community: specifically the Art Institute of Chicago. To do so I first went the to the Art Institute of Chicago and observed the types of cultural diversity there. I also observed engagement, measuring how long people spent looking at an artwork, what artworks garnered the most attention, and compared that with the amount of engagement on DePaul Universities University night at the Art Institute, noting the comparisons of engagement levels. Through further interviews and research studies, I want to observe what kind of art in Chicago garners the most engagement from the community, and want to understand if this is universal? I question this because institutions of high art, those with the most funding, may not necessarily be the ones that cater to the interests of Chicago's diverse ethnic and cultural make up.

I intend to compare my own observations with the information provided by the AIC on their annual report. Part of the AIC's museum mission is to promote diversity, but I am curious if they are keeping up with the needs of Chicago's diverse cultural community. Is "high art" the most engaging? Is it relevant? Is the AIC doing their best to allow art to feel important to multiple cultural groups?

On a normal day, there were mixed reactions from different people. Young people seemed somewhat disinterested in the art, spending less time at each painting than older counterparts. In contrast, young people who were students engaged highly with the art and stayed at each painting for longer.
But what I am curious about is--if only art students are engaging with the art, what is the AIC doing wrong? How can engagement be more universal?

# data[].attributes.body
Hi

# data[].attributes.body
The method I used this weekend was interviewing. Because I am familiar with the area I am doing my research topic on, I went to Devon street this weekend already assuming I knew for the most part what people were going to say. When I arrived on Devon and began my interviews however, I turned out to be very wrong. Although Devon street is a place of much culture and varying cultures, the cultural communities that live there still wish more for there community and its surroundings. I came to find that although some signage does cater to them, it still tends to attract tourist and people from outside the community I was told. Because of this, restaurants must have updated menus to cater to those who come to visit, store owners must know english, and signage like parking and street signs as well as many other things cater to a native english speaker. Although, from the people i did interview, they also expressed how nice it is to have clothing, jewelry stores, and markets that do cater and surround there culture as well as being surrounded with familiar faces of friends and families that share the same culture as them. When exiting Devon street a couple people did express concern because it is sometimes very hard to make the adjustment around other areas of Chicago. Outside clothing stores and grocery stores are usually not an option. On the other side a few blocks over many people are not familiar with Devon street, are not concerned or some do not even enjoy that it is there. Devon street is a very busy street always and causes a lot of traffic and hold up I was told. on that end of interviewing i will need to dig a little deeper with some more willing people. This connect to my research because it really does help to display the barrier that different cultural communities face not even just within Chicago but even within their own community. This helps to expand my knowledge and help me take my research further by being aware of real people from Devon streets perspectives on linguistic landscapes. -Renee

# data[].attributes.body
So I think Chinatown is a good place.......

# data[].attributes.body
During my research I used the method of photographing. Since my topic is the subway system I wanted to ride the train through multiple areas of Chicago where cultures mixed. For my first field trip I went to two different areas of the city and photographed how the stations differ. My first stop was Sheridan, which is a couple blocks north of Wrigley Stadium. What I found was that, in terms of language, English was the main one being used. The station signs and advertisements were all in English. This makes sense because the surrounding area, aside from a couple Mexican restaurants, is predominately English. My next stop was Chinatown. If you've ever been then you know Chinatown has very little in the way of English signage so when I saw that the train stop was almost identical to the Northside Sheridan stop I was a little shocked. The only difference was two Chinese Murals painted above the stairwell and one sign that was in Chinese. Everything else, including advertisments, was in English. Next I plan on going to Pilsen to conduct similar research.

# data[].attributes.body
For my fieldwork, the method I choose from Slide 22 Malinowski is to interview. My research question is What is the Malaysian Culture in Chicago? Therefore, I interview with a few Malaysians who I met in Chicago. Now I am going to talk about the content of my interview with KK Lim. KK is currently in his senior year in DePaul. He is a senior whom I met back in my previous college. During the interview, I have asked him what he think about the Malaysian culture in Chicago and he gave me 3 main points which are worth to talk about. First, KK says that the Malaysian society in Chicago is very small. With that being said, he has been studying in Chicago for 48 months but he only met less than 10 Malaysian. The number is really small when you compare to people from China or India. Next, KK appreciate that as a Chinese, he gets the chance to celebrate Chinese New Year in Chinatown, Chicago. He celebrated the last 2 Chinese New Year with his China friends in Chinatown, Chicago. Whereas Jerome (an Indian friend of mine who is from Malaysia), he could not celebrate Deepavali (Indian New Year) as there is not any Indian friends and he do not get a religious holiday. Lastly, KK also mentioned that Chinatown, Chicago is similar to Malaysia in term of food wise. The food that was served in Chinatown is similar to the cuisine that you can get in Malaysia. The languages that are spoken in Chinatown, Chicago also similar to Malaysia but there are not exactly the same. Overall, although he prefers to the life back in Malaysia, he still like it here in Chicago. This is one of the content of 3 of mine interviews.
- Han

# data[].attributes.body
During my research at the back of the house, I used the method of interviewing. I talked with multiple coworkers about where they are all from and what they speak. The coworker I spent the most time with (all 30 hours since Friday, so I've had at least 20 hours of conversation with him) was Tilson, as he knew English the best of anyone there and was the other dishwasher. He moved to America from Nigeria in December to study Psychology. We discussed what it was like living in America for the first time, from him joking to me that he's never seen this many white people, to more serious conversations including the process of becoming a citizen. He currently lives in Rogers Park and is a practicing Muslim, which is really cool because, while I have Muslim friends, none of them are very devout so I get to know someone who actually practices a religion I've never really experienced. I'm actually helping him look at colleges to apply to for when he has enough money, including DePaul. This new job is actually significantly more diverse from my old job, as most of the workers there lived in Wheeling and were of either European or Puerto Rican ancestry, save for someone who had relatively recently moved in from Mexico. At this job, the workers know around 5 different languages combined and the ancestry is anywhere from the Middle East, South and Central America, and Africa. Interviewing my coworkers during downtime has really taught me a lot so far about where everyone lives/is from/their heritage. I am looking forward to continuing to get to know them.

# data[].attributes.body
-Neil Chen

# data[].attributes.body
For my fieldwork, the method I choose from Slide 22 Malinowski is to interview. My research question is What is the Malaysian Culture in Chicago? Therefore, I interview with a few Malaysians who I met in Chicago. Now I am going to talk about the content of my interview with KK Lim. KK is currently in his senior year in DePaul. He is a senior whom I met back in my previous college. During the interview, I have asked him what he think about the Malaysian culture in Chicago and he gave me 3 main points which are worth to talk about. First, KK says that the Malaysian society in Chicago is very small. With that being said, he has been studying in Chicago for 48 months but he only met less than 10 Malaysian. The number is really small when you compare to people from China or India. Next, KK appreciate that as a Chinese, he gets the chance to celebrate Chinese New Year in Chinatown, Chicago. He celebrated the last 2 Chinese New Year with his China friends in Chinatown, Chicago. Whereas Jerome (an Indian friend of mine who is from Malaysia), he could not celebrate Deepavali (Indian New Year) as there is not any Indian friends and he do not get a religious holiday. Lastly, KK also mentioned that Chinatown, Chicago is similar to Malaysia in term of food wise. The food that was served in Chinatown is similar to the cuisine that you can get in Malaysia. The languages that are spoken in Chinatown, Chicago also similar to Malaysia but there are not exactly the same. Overall, although he prefers to the life back in Malaysia, he still like it here in Chicago. This is one of the content of 3 of mine interviews.

Below is a picture taken during the interview with KK Lim. (Personal Archive)

# data[].attributes.body
My topic interest is about Hong Kong Cuisine, therefore I choose to do my first field work at the cheapest cantonese restaurant in Chinatown Chicago. As you can see in the picture below,  the signs are in English and Chinese. Unfortunately, I couldn't upload more pictures about their menus, food and interior design of the shops. There are about 50 over dishes in the menus, most of them are both Chinese and English but some parts when they list out their promotion dishes, I realised they do not translate them. Also, most of the translation are pretty broken therefore I assume they just google translate them. The interior design of the shop is just like those typical small restaurant in Hong Kong or China, with paintings with Dragons in gold colour. Since the name of the restaurant is called "The great wall", there are some paintings about the great wall of china too. When I asked the owner of the shop about is it ok to take pictures of his shop, I assume that he understands Chinese, but the thing that surprise me was, he doesn't understand Chinese at all. Most of the employees communicate to each other by cantonese. I'm surprised because I was wondering, the owner opens a shop in Chinatown Chicago but he can't understand Chinese? Is it because of my Malaysian accent makes him cant understand? Or he doesn't speak Chinese at all? - Sheng Yang

# data[].attributes.body
Today, I found out that there was a Starbucks in Chinatown. As usual, the signs are in both English and Chinese so that both the community who can't read English and the ones who can are accommodated. The fact that there is a Starbucks in Chinatown is really interesting since there are already places to get coffee in Chinatown. Was this built to accommodate for tourists since there is a hotel next door? Are people trying to Americanize Chinatown? Is building a Starbucks in Chinatown a bad thing? - John Chau