Anthropology

If you began this course not really knowing what anthropology was, you’re not alone. There are a lot of misconceptions about anthropology as portrayed in the media, in films, and a general lack of information all around. We will explore those problems in this paper.

Part 1: Self-Reflection.

Think about movies you have seen and novels you have read that concern anthropologists (for example, Indiana Jones). How are they portrayed? How do popular characterizations match or conflict with what you have learned about anthropology in chapter 1? Did you learn about anthropology at all in your school setting? If so, what did you learn about it?

Part 2: Interviews.

Ask five acquaintances (18 or over, for ethics reasons) what they think anthropology is. Ask them to define anthropology. If they answer incorrectly, offer the correct answer. Ask them where they’ve learned about or seen anthropology depicted in the media or popular culture. What (if anything) did they learn about anthropology in school? What do they think a stereotypical anthropologist is based on those depictions? Ask them what they believe the greatest source of misconceptions or lack of information about anthropology comes from. How could anthropology become more widely known?

For each of your interviews, you must take note of demographic information (ask if you need to). Demographic categories include: age, socioeconomic status, marital status, ethnicity, educational level, profession, and gender. Ask your consultants if it is all right if you use their answers as part of a research paper. If a consultant does not want to be identified, take note of their demographics and assign a pseudonym, which will be designated in you paper in quotation marks when you refer to them. For example, ” According to “Brenda”, a 32-year-old, single mother,….”

You will need to submit your raw interview notes with your paper. Failure to do so will incur a large penalty.

Part 3: Putting your Paper Together.

  • Compile your own observations and the observations of the people you interview in the first half of this assignment. This is the data presentation.
  • The second half of your essay should analyze and discuss these findings, the roots of the problem, and what (if anything) you think could change many misconceptions about anthropology.

Your paper should be written in an essay format with your interview notes attached either as a separate file or embedded after the end of your paper. Your notes can be typed, embedded photos or screenshots, scans of pages, etc. Essay format means that there should be an introduction with your own perceptions/media discussion, a brief discussion/summary of your interviews, and an analysis utilizing examples from your data. Wrap it up with a conclusion.

Type your answers into a word processing file, the essay should be at least 2.5 full double-spaced pages.

Relevant Course Objective: Describe the holistic field of anthropology and its interest in global diversity.