ANTH 112 & ANTH 326: Term Project – A Community Ethnography

Your term project is a group effort. As you know, the course is a way for international students to learn more about Canadian society by working together with, primarily, Canadian anthropology students.  For this reason, each group should consist of two international students with at least two English native speakers. The minimum number of students working together will be four. I will circulate during class a sign-up sheet identifying group members and proposed topic (the latter may or may not be identified at this point).

CONSENT FORMS

Every project must be approved with a completed research proposal and accompanying forms.  See VIU’s Department of Anthropology Student Guidelines for the preparation of an ethics statement.  I will review each of your proposals with one other faculty member.  The deadline for submitting your group consent form/ proposal is February 19; submit an e-document.  If you have your consent form completed earlier, please submit it when done; it will be returned more quickly and you can actively begin your research.  Those submitted on February 19 will be returned following the “Study Days Week.”

TOPICS

Senior students should be thinking about possible topics as they have additional time while junior members (international students) have lectures; this does not mean that the topic is restricted solely to the decision of the ANTH 326 students. Suggestions from ANTH 112 students are equally valid.  For topics, the group should consider an anthropological or sociological theme situated in or at a community location or event.

Anthropological or sociological themes, examples:

Community location or event, examples:

These are strictly suggestions, your group may decide on something quite different.  If you consider all that is required in your consent form, you will be aware of whether your project is feasible.  Remember that your time is limited unlike a project undertaken for a thesis or dissertation that might span several months, a year or more.  Choose something that interests you and that is doable within the time allotted.

If you have problems with a project topic, please see me immediately.  Bring your ideas and we can brainstorm as to what can be successfully accomplished.

During the semester, students may seek assistance in discussing certain issues that arise in the course of their field work.  Feel free to air difficulties and resolutions in our March 29 class.  This will also be an opportunity to mention successes in an open forum.  These sessions are about you and your projects; please bring your issues.

FIELD NOTES

Your field notes and recorded observations play a critical component.  They are the essence from which you will write your ethnography.  For this reason, greater detail is always advisable rather than sketchy notes.

• Always transcribe those scribbles on scraps of paper.
• Do not rely on memory to recreate what you saw or did two days ago.

Your notes should be up-to-date.  Include the “who, what, when, where, and how” responses when appropriate.  Details that you may not have considered important may become significant upon reflection and analysis.  You cannot always see and be everywhere, but record well what you can.

Your field notes MUST be submitted with your paper (ANTH 326 only).  Part of your grade is allocated to the receipt of your field notes; therefore, missing field notes will affect your mark.

GROUP PRESENTATION

During the last week of classes, each group (both ANTH 326 and ANTH 112 students) will present their research in a 15-minute talk followed by discussion.  Every member of the group will be expected to speak.  Remember that this term project is worth 35% and 25%, respectively, of your grade; general participation is worth 15%.

As part of your participation mark, you are to complete a “Peer Rating of Group Members.”  This is to be submitted the day of your presentation.  Only I will see this rating and I expect students to be honest in their evaluation, which includes comments.

YOUR PAPER

ANTH 112:  The papers of ANTH 112 (international students) will be 5-7 pages in length; each is done individually. These should be related to the process of doing anthropology.  Be reflective. I do not expect you to do analysis as I am for ANTH 326 students. Possible questions to respond to include:

• How did your cultural perspective differ, if any, from your partners in viewing events?
• What kinds of language problems (verbal and non-verbal) did you experience?  Were there misunderstanding?
• What do you know now about Canadian culture that you learned from this project?
• What role does culture play in affecting one’s perception of social events?

Like the ANTH 326 papers, ANTH 112 papers should pay attention to writing style and the issue of plagiarism.  Your grade will be based primarily on content (the quality of your commentary).  I am very much interested in what you learned by working with the senior anthropology students, as well as, your increased (?) knowledge of Canadian society based on the field work experience.  General writing comments apply.  Use the Writing Centre and plan ahead by making an appointment.  Grammar and spelling will count but I will be lenient compared to my expectations of ANTH 326 students.

ANTH 326:  This is a group project–the overall work is done as a unit, but in any group there may be those who do not fully bear their responsibility.  ANTH 326 students have an option of writing their papers individually or preparing it as a group endeavour.  Please inform me if you are writing your paper as an individual by March 18.  Should I become aware that a member of the group is NOT working as part of a cohesive unit, I will make the individual write the paper on his/her own even though s/he may have selected to do a group paper.  Working together means the whole process of merging the separate aspects of the essay into a whole if that is how you choose to operate.  Do not expect one person to be responsible for completing the writing and editing for a group paper.  ANTH 112 students may help with certain tasks in the project but are not expected to write any specific portion of the ANTH 326 paper.

Your paper is to be written according to the Chicago style guide.  Not doing so will affect your overall mark.  If you use outside sources, you must cite your references.  To not do so will be considered plagiarism (which comes with an academic penalty).

The paper, besides detailing your analysis, should reflect the knowledge gained from your readings.  It should include a theoretical section, and/or background research; students should be aware of theory that has become internalized.  Like biases, one should be fully cognizant of all potential influences that affect the outcome.

Ethnography Essentials illustrates how one puts together an ethnography and Field Ethnography (optional text) provide plenty of examples on how one might write an ethnography.  Use these as guides.  A group paper will be about 20-30 pages while an individual paper will be 10-15 pages.

In general:  Papers should be typed, double-spaced, and 11- or 12-pt font size, with 2.5cm (1 in) margins.  Grammar, spelling, and overall presentation count for a portion of your grade.  As always, the quality of your comments and observations are important.  Verbosity is not a virtue.

Omit needless words.  Vigorous writing is concise.  A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
(William Strunk, Jr., professor and author [1869-1946])

DUE:  Tuesday, April 19, 1:00pm

The tragedy in the lives of most of us is that we go through life walking down a high-walled land with people of our own kind, the same economic situation, the same national background and education and religious outlook. And beyond those walls, all humanity lies, unknown and unseen, and untouched by our restricted and impoverished lives.
–Florence Luscomb, architect and suffragist (1887-1985)

Last updated 2016-01-02