Anthropology @ UBC

Students will write an ethnographic essay.  Students in the core tutorials will write a single paper (five double spaced pages maximum).  Students will develop their paper topics in collaboration with their teaching assistant and instructor.  Students will draw from the two course ethnographies, Where Have All the Homeless Gone and Redflags and Lace Coiffes, for inspiration in the crafting and research of their own papers.  For evaluation criteria see “writing formal essays” guide on course outline.

Click here for a sample first year research paper.

The paper is due November 23rd.

Rules of Engagement

No matter what question for end up using to write a paper your paper must conform to these rules:

1. Your essay must draw from both Where Have all the Homeless Gone AND Redflags and Lace Coiffes.
2. In addition to drawing from the two course ethnographies you must cite at least two other anthropological journal publications in your research paper.
3. NO WEB SOURCES.  The articles or books that you cite in your paper must be appropriate peer-reviewed publications.  Wikipedia or other internet sources are not acceptable for use in this paper.
4. Your papers are to be arguments –not descriptions.
5. Make an effort to incorporate key concepts that are raised in class (i.e. power, social organization, production, economic activity –this is not an exhaustive list).

Potential Questions

1. Fishing in the Bigoudennie can be thought of as a form of hunting or food collecting.  Being homeless in New York can be compared with foraging societies.  Evaluate the effectiveness of this analogy with direct reference to anthropological debates on hunting/gathering societies.
2. Participant observation lies at the core of the anthropological research endeavour.  Compare and contrast the fieldwork settings and processes described by Menzies and Marcus with that described by anthropologists who conducted their research prior to the 1950s.
3. Identify and discuss the intellectual tradition within which Marcus and Menzies are working.  Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their approach.
4. Both of these ethnographies are focused on male oriented social and work places.  Nonetheless, gender is discussed.  Compare and contrast the different gender ideologies and structures in the ethnographies.
5. Race, ethnicity, and identity play a critical role in both ethnographies.  Describe and evaluate the ways in which these subjective identities are linked to underlying socio-economic structures of power.

Further to Adam’s post on writing suggestions for the GET mini-ethnographies here are some more detailed guidelines.

At its most simplistic, an ethnography (noun version) is a written account of a culture based on first hand interaction. It is an attempt to both understand and give an account of another culture from the “native’s” point of view—that is from the view of the person living in that culture. Ethnographies tend to cover all aspects of a culture from traditions, to family, to religion, etc. For this paper you are going to write a “mini” ethnography. You are expected to use the information you gained through first-hand interaction with your partner(s) and their classmates to write a short ethnographic account about a particular aspect of your partner’s culture. You may write on any aspect of your partner country’s culture that you choose, but keep in mind, since you must get the information from your partner and his/her classmates, it must be something that they are willing to talk about.

For this paper, you should explore the topic of your choice in depth. To get the information you need, you, as the ethnographer, must use ethnographic inquiry to get the information required. That is, ask your partner and his/her classmates lots of questions about the topic. When they answer those questions, ask them to further explain and elaborate. The idea behind this is to get a good understanding of not just what is going on in the other society, but why it is the way it is. You will be able to do some of this through your chat sessions and video linking, but e-mail interaction will also be an important tool for this task.

The paper will be no longer than 3 (double-spaced) pages. Here is a general guideline for the format of the paper—keep in mind, these are only guidelines:

• General introduction to topic and country (1 -2 paragraphs)
• Descriptive and explanatory account of the topic in question. (1.5 – 2 pages): What is going on here? Why is this important? How do they explain it? What does it mean to them?
• Reflection and Conclusion (1 – 1.5 pages)How does this particular topic you covered help us understand their culture in general? How does it compare to what you are used to?

Once you complete your paper submit a copy to your T.A.  and send a copy to your partner (be sure to CC your T.A. on this e-mail). Your partner should then write a short response to your paper (a few paragraphs is fine—this can be done through e-mail) in which they evaluate your paper and explain what parts you got right and what parts you misunderstood or need clarification. Your professor will also provide you with feedback. Once you get this feedback, you are then to rewrite your original paper to address the issues your partner and T.A. raised and resubmit that final draft along with your partner’s comments to your T.A.

Hi GET students,
Here are some brief guidelines to consider while writing your frist drafts this weekend:

1) Keep it to 3 pages max. double spaced, Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins
2) Keep it focused. Remember, you only have 3 pages so the more focused your discussion is, the better.
3) Make it anthropological. The best way to ensure that you aren’t merely writing a biographical sketch or your partners is to connect your discussion to the larger anthropological concepts we have been introduced to in either of the course ethnographies, the text book, or in lecture.

Here is my email address for submitting them:
adam.solomonian(at)gmail.com