08 Aug To choose and explore your own topic in cultural anthropology

Part One: Purpose: To choose and explore your own topic in cultural anthropology to explore.

Assignment:

Read the articles, listen to the podcasts, and/or watch the videos associated with your chosen topic for this week (see options below).

Review the three anthropological theories below: Post structuralism, structuralism, and functionalism are all terms used interchangeably. You have already been introduced to these ideas throughout the course of this class. However, I am including a link to the unit where we learned about the idea, a brief definition, and a short video explaining the idea to help remind you of the theory.

Choose one (or more) of the three theories and write a short essay applying this knowledge to your chosen topic.

• This essay demonstrates the student’s ability to take a theoretical framework and test it by applying it to a topic in anthropology.
• You must:
  1. Write a three-page minimum (750 words minimum).
  2. Summarize the ethnographic articles you read. Be sure to:
     • Identify the Main Issue: A statement of the main issues or problems addressed by the texts, films, or podcasts This is a summary that pays special attention to the author’s themes, topics, and arguments.
       • Be sure to answer the following questions:
         • In what ways do people’s beliefs inform or shape their practices?
         • How does the method of ethnography provide a unique perspective on the topic you chose?
         • In what ways are anthropologists particularly positioned to examine the topic that you chose?
     • Include a Critical Analysis: Here, you will draw out the implications of the text and present your own assertions or questions about it.
       • Be sure to answer the following questions:
         • Is there anything the author overlooked, asserted, or brushed aside?
         • What seems novel or conventional about the inferences or arguments of the text?
  3. Summarize your chosen theory (or theories).
     • Discuss whether or not these theories can shed any light on the ethnographic material you read. Explore questions like:
       • Did you see any use of theory in the articles you read? If so, were you convinced by the arguments or could the application of one (or more) of these other theories shed more light on the topic?
       • What other kinds of subjects could you investigate around your chosen topic? How would your chosen theory shape the research topic and conclusions?
       • Do these theories add any insight into the ethnographic research you read? If so, how?

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Choose a Topic:

You will ONLY choose ONE of the topics provided below. Whichever topic you choose, you will be given 2 articles to read, films, and/or podcasts to review.

Ecology/Environment/Environmentalism

Artificial Intelligence

Internet/Social Media

Dealing with the dead

Disasters/Apocalypse

Illegal Activities

Drugs

Immigration

Mental Health

Gender/Sexuality

Language

Healthcare/Medicine

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Theories for Essay

Post Structuralism

Topic 7: Lecture. Gender and Sex

Michel Foucault’s work on post-structuralism is specifically concerned with the relationship between knowledge and power. Knowledge, for Foucault, is not primarily a collection of facts or ideas but rather embedded within particular frameworks of thinking and speaking, called discourse. Foucault argues that “power” is a set of social relations that results in individual conformity to social norms because people are constantly monitored by their peers (like in the panopticon prison). In addition, people take these ways of thinking and speaking about themselves and begin to behave in accordance with available social identities (such as being a woman or gay).

Encyclopedia.com (Links to an external site.)