Anthropology 101 – South (Spring 2019) Term paper Requirements For this class, you will write a term paper about one of the four topics presented below. All papers must adhere to the following guidelines: • Minimum 1250 words written in 12-pt font with 1-inch margins and double spacing • Writing must be well-organized (introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs; thesis statement clearly provided) and free of grammatical errors • Demonstrate application of course concepts throughout • Provide specific examples to support thesis statement • Answer the questions posed in the assignment • Use a minimum of two additional scholarly sources besides your textbook and the source material provided. You should use and cite information from your textbook and the source material (Interactive Dig website, documentary films, articles), but it must be supplemented by sources that you find on your own. Scholarly sources have gone through the peer-review process. Websites such as Wikipedia, popular media pieces (i.e. newspapers such as the New York Times and magazines such as National Geographic), and organization websites are not considered to be scholarly sources. Visit the USM Library website (http://www.lib.usm.edu/) to conduct your search for books and article databases such as JSTOR and EBSCO. You may also try using Google Scholar in combination with your library research to find source ideas. Books should be written by scholars who specialize in anthropology or a related field and articles must come from academic journals. Examples of academic journals include – but are not limited to – American Anthropologist, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, American Antiquity, and Journal of Linguistic Anthropology. • Use limited direct quotations from sources sparingly. This is your paper. Papers comprised of a patchwork of direct quotes from sources will be heavily penalized. • Provide in-text citations throughout the paper whenever materials from sources are used or referenced. When you fail to provide in-text citations, it implies that the ideas/data/information were the result of your original work. This is plagiarism. You are required to provide a separate formatted bibliography page at the end of your paper. This should include both the source material provided to you and the two scholarly sources that you found through your own research. Any style of established formatting (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) is acceptable as long as it is consistently used throughout the paper and follows the guidelines. • Provide a title page at the beginning of the document and a formatted bibliography page at the end of the document (these do not count toward your 1250-word minimum) • Due date: Monday, April 29th (submit on Canvas by 11:59pm) Topic choices Please select ONE of the following topics (A-D) for your paper. You need to follow all of the guidelines provided in the assignment. There are four topic options, corresponding to the subfields of anthropology. 1 Topic A: Ethnographic Observation of the Netsilik In this project, you will study the movie “Fishing at the Stone Weir,” which portrays Netsilik life before European contact, without narration. You will compose a preliminary ethnography of what you see prior to being able to learn the language. You will need to observe actions, and then take careful notes on what you see in the video which will be your basis for later analysis. Give your interpretations of what is (or might be) going on. • The film can be accessed through the National Film Board of Canada website. Use the following links and watch both Part 1 and Part 2 of “Fishing at the Stone Weir” (1967): https://www.nfb.ca/film/fishing_at_stone_weir_pt_1/ https://www.nfb.ca/film/fishing_at_stone_weir_pt_2/ 1. Look for details about how the group interacts and constructs their “social space.” What can you say about their gestures, and their proxemics (body positioning and body language)? 2. You might have an “emotive” or culture-bound reaction to what you see. This means that you might witness behavior that is quite different from your own, including interesting actions and actions you might consider to be “bizarre.” Be reflexive about why you might feel this way. 3. Be sure to take notes on what you think are the gender roles and how labor is divided among people. Note how men, women and children interact with one another. Do the groups appear to be doing different tasks? Does it appear that there is overlapping, or shared, knowledge between groups? How does the group share or divide the workload? 4. Note and describe in detail what kinds of tools are being used and who uses them (gender and age). What sort of natural resources were used to make them? Do you think you could effectively use or make this tool? 5. What are some strategies used by the Netsilik to adapt to their environment (clothing, shelter, etc.)? 6. Many of the behaviors you might not be able to understand. Thus, what is the first thing you would want to ask the Netsilik if you were to learn their language? For each of the above, provide specific examples from the film that demonstrate your ideas. Your first paragraph should be an introduction to the cultural project and provide some background about the Netsilik. Then you should cover all of the above points for the assignment in a logical order with a topic sentence for each paragraph. Feel free to expand beyond these points but you must answer everything included here. End the project with a conclusion, summarizing the results and the reasons behind them. Topic B: Interactive Archaeology Visit the Archaeology Magazine website (www.archaeology.org) and look through the following Interactive Dig (http://www.interactivedigs.com/) links: The Venus Pompeiana Project (Pompeii, Italy) https://www.archaeological.org/interactivedigs/pompeiiitaly A Civil War Prison on Johnson’s Island http://interactive.archaeology.org/johnsonsisland/ 2 The Archaeology and History of Slievemore (Achill Island, Ireland) https://www.archaeological.org/interactivedigs/achillislandireland Digging the Lost Town of Carrig (Ferrycarig, Ireland) https://www.archaeological.org/interactivedigs/ferrycarrigireland Ancient Minoans of Zominthos, Crete http://interactive.archaeology.org/zominthos/ For your project, you need to answer the following questions using ONE of the Interactive Digs provided. When answering the questions, be sure to let me know which of the Interactive Digs you are using. You must answer the following questions and papers need to be in compositional form. Questions: 1. Why are archaeologists interested in this site? What are some of the research goals for the project? 2. What are the methods that archaeologists use to recover the data? In other words, how do archaeologists find sites and dig them? 3. What are the tools archaeologists use to survey, dig, document, and analyze sites and artifacts? 4. How do archaeologists interpret their data and form conclusions about past cultures? Why is context so important to archaeological investigation? 5. Were the archaeologists able to answer any of their research questions at the conclusion of the field season(s)? 6. How do these sites change your views of what archaeologists do in the field and the lab (i.e. why are Indiana Jones and Lara Croft inaccurate/accurate images of archaeologists)? Use (and cite) the information provided by the researchers on the Interactive Dig website in addition to the two scholarly sources that you find in your own research. Topic C: Language Loss There are 6,000 languages being spoken in the world today, but by the end of this century that number will be reduced by half. For this project, you will learn about the consequences of language loss across the world and strategies being deployed to prevent it. Begin your work by reading the following three articles from popular media sources and one scholarly source that provide some different perspectives about the causes/effects of language loss and how to preserve endangered languages (Copies of each source are available in the “term paper” module on Canvas.) 1. Braun, David 2009 Preserving Native America’s vanishing languages. National Geographic, November: 1-8. 3 2. Crawford, James 1996 Seven Hypotheses on Language Loss, Causes, and Cures. In Stabilizing Indigenous Languages, edited by Gina Cantoni, pp. 45-60. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona University. 3. Nuwer, Rachael 2014 Languages: why we must save dying tongues. BBC Future, June: 1-5. 4. Temperton, James 2015 Languages are dying, but is the internet to blame? Wired Magazine, September:1-7. Through what you learned from the required reading and your own scholarly research, answer the following questions. (Note: you must provide citations from both the readings provided and what you find in your research throughout the paper.) 1. What are some of the factors (economic, political, cultural, religious, technological) that contribute to language loss? Use specific examples from your sources. 2. Discuss the consequences of language loss, paying particular attention to how culture is impacted. How are people affected, both at the individual and community levels? 3. How do language revitalization movements protect endangered languages? Provide examples from your sources. 4. What are some examples of language loss that occur in the United States? Topic D: Primates, Communication, and Culture This paper will explore the topic of primate intelligence. You will begin by watching two films online: 1. NOVA: Ape Genius (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-mPjhCnc8) 2. A Conversation with Koko the Gorilla (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1UZQf6CkzA) For your paper, use information provided in the documentaries, your textbook, and at least two additional scholarly sources to answer the following questions: 1. What are the variables (behaviors, anatomical characteristics) used to study primate cognition? 2. How have primate communication studies been used to support or refute primate intelligence arguments? Provide specific examples or case studies. 3. How does primate tool use contribute to our understanding of primate intelligence? Is this an example of culture? Provide specific examples. 4. What are some criticisms surrounding studies of primate cognition and communication? How do they challenge the studies conducted by researchers? 5. In your concluding paragraph, discuss your own perspective about primate intelligence and cognition. Important writing resources USM Writing Center (https://www.usm.edu/writing-center). Note: this is a free service for all USM students. I HIGHLY recommend visiting the Writing Center if you have questions/problems about paper organization, grammar, source citation, formatting, or other writing-related issues. 4 USM Library (http://www.lib.usm.edu/) The Cook Library website provides many resources to help you in your search for scholarly material. You can search for academic journal articles using a variety of databases (http://libguides.lib.usm.edu/az.php). I suggest using JSTOR and EBSCO. Purdue University Online Writing Lab (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html) This is a great resource for many writing questions, from crafting thesis statements to how to conduct scholarly research. It is run by Purdue University, but provides free access for everyone. Canvas: I have posted links that answer some common questions in the module entitled “Online resources for paper writing questions (general)” on the course home page. *If you have specific questions or need additional guidance, please contact me via email, during my office hours (in-person or virtual), or schedule an appointment. 5
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