Culture Paper: 24 % Due on Sunday, 5/8 at 11:59 pm- Each student will select a specific culture and write a minimum 5 page paper (double spaced, 12pt., Times New Roman) describing it utilizing an anthropological perspective. You may select any culture or subculture to write your paper on as long as conducting the research does not pose a risk to you or anyone else. Emphasis should be placed on applying the course theories and perspectives to analyze the culture (you could discuss their language, symbols, economics, kinship system, religion, etc.). You are required to utilize outside scholarly anthropological sources in the paper, but be sure to cite everything properly using MLA format and include a works cited page. Do not use Wikipedia or Everyculture.com and if you do, be sure to place all direct quotes in quotation marks or significant points will be deducted. If you plagiarize, you will receive a zero on this paper.
If you select a culture that you have access to, you have the option to conduct ethnographic fieldwork with the culture as long as the research does not pose a risk to you or anyone else. You may not conduct ethnographic research with drug dealers, drug users, anyone who is breaking the law, pimps, prostitutes, children, the mentally ill, people with eating disorders, the homeless, axe murderers, gangs, addicts, recovering addicts, or anyone else who is going to get you killed or me fired. You may not conduct research on any topic, in any setting or with anyone that will put you at risk in any way. If you do decide to conduct ethnographic fieldwork, you must get permission from the people you are working with to conduct the research, it must not pose any threat to yourself or others, and the project must be approved by me. Extreme caution must be taken when working with people you don’t know and I encourage you to take a friend along if you choose to conduct interviews or visit strange places. Students in the past have worked with sports teams, fandoms, religions, their own culture, cosplayers, bronies, online worlds, renaissance fairs and a huge number of topics related to music. If you are worried about conducting ethnographic research, simply conduct library research on the culture instead. If you do conduct ethnographic research, be sure to write about your fieldwork experiences. Discuss both what you learned in regards to the culture and to the fieldwork process. What were the challenges you faced? Was the fieldwork successful? Why or why not? Utilize the course theories and materials to help support your discussion. I want you to relate your findings to the course theories. Please contact me if you have any questions about this assignment.