Category: Anthropology

Part 1: 200 words

Discussion Topic

This week we will explore how ethnocentric beliefs and the social construction of gender play into power relations. I this weeks quiz, you discussed a reading which suggested that the power dynamics associated with the choice of many Middle Eastern women to wear the veil or burqa do not align with many Western perceptions of this practice. We also read about how women’s stepping outside of traditional gender roles and and a culturally normalized view of “male honor” allows for femicide in Turkey. Now I want you to explore how gender roles affect the distribution of power in your lives.

Instructions

Gender roles consist of the conventional attitudes, values, behaviors, and tasks that are considered appropriate for, and are assigned by a culture to, members of each sex. In your initial post:

1. List two gender roles you believe your culture associates with men, and two with women. (If you are bi-cultural, pick one culture and mention this. If you identify as other than cis-gender, or as LGBTQ+, you may choose to frame this discussion from within that context.)
2. List two advantages and two disadvantages you feel your culture places upon you because of these gender roles.
3. List a gender role behavior or task that you think people expect of you because of your gender that you are caught up in, but would like not to be caught up in. Analyze and discuss how this gender role within your culture impacts, or has impacted, power relations within your life. How might the concept of benevolent sexism from your assigned reading play into this? How difficult or easy would it be to detach from this gender role? Why?

part 2: 1-2 sentences each person

Once part 1 is complete, I will add 2 classmates post you can respond to.

This is an assignment for an anthropology class. the class is about middle eastern cultures and societies.

Agency can be simply defined as “the ability to take action or to choose what action to take in a given situation.” Identifying and interpreting agency in the archaeological record can be very difficult for a wide range of reasons, including the fact that archaeologists must infer past human behavior through the materials that have survived over time. For this assignment, you will have to select one archaeological artifact and argue how we can interpret past examples of agency using this object while also identifying the limitations of what we can infer from this artifact. Take a look at chapter 9 as you start to think about what kind of argument you will make in your essay. You will have to select one artifact that you can use to illustrate the benefits and limitations of using material objects to interpret examples of agency in the past. The artifact that you chose must have come from an archaeological context, but you can select any time period, region, or material type that you are interested in. Include an image of your chosen artifact in this submission.Your essay should be between 1,000 and 1,200 words not including your references page. At least 5 sources that discuss your artifact, the cultural context it came from, or how objects like the one you chose can be used to interpret past agency in some way.

In this assignment, you are to go out and find diversity, as you define it, observe cultural diversity in action, write about it, and analyze it.

In Outside Lies Magic (1999), John Stilgoe tells us to Get out now. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many [of us]…. Flex the mind, a little a first, then a lot…. Get out and look around, see accurately, notice, make connections.

For this assignment, I would like you to do just that. Get out [off campus/out of your dorm/out of your residence], take a look around, and make connections… in a way that relates back to some of our course discussions about diversity in the US.

• Observation and Description. Visit an off-campus cultural site where you are confident that you will encounter cultural diversity as weve begun to think about it. Preferably you will observe social interactions between people you consider different from yourself. Briefly introduce and describe the site and describe the people you are observing. If youre in a situation where you are participating and interacting, take mental notes of what is going on and how people are interacting with one another and with you. If you are observing, it may be appropriate to take notes, which will help you to write up a more coherent description or narrative of what you see and hear. If a particular interaction or two are particularly interesting or revealing, you may decide to focus on these. [Youll find that in a short paper, you cannot usually be exhaustive.]
• Analysis/Interpretation. In the second part of your paper, I would like you to analyze, ponder, interpret, comparenot necessarily judgmentally, that relates your observations to class (canvas) discussions and specific readingsfor example, on culture, diversity, gender, race, ethnicity, borders, contested belonging, etc. Can you make any connections to course reading? How might one of our authors read this encounter? Can you use any of the course concepts that have been introduced? What does your observation suggest about cultural diversity in the US?
• Rationale/Reflection. In a final paragraph or two I would like you to justify your choice of a site or interaction. Why did you choose this place? (Not just because it was easy or convenient for this assignment.) Why is this place or the people and interactions you observed culturally interesting? Why is it worthy of cultural exploration? What does it suggest to you about cultural diversity (or unity) in the US? How did you feel while you were there? What insights does this experience provide into you and your own understandings of diversity? In what ways did you come up against your own cultural limits of insight and understanding? What might it take for you to interact effectively with people in this milieu?

Do not use a separate title page. In the top left corner of your first page include your name, Course (ATH 185), Date, my name, the assignment (Ethnography Paper), and an interesting title that will make me want to read your paper. Your final draft should be typed and double-spaced. Insert page numbers. The word count should be around 600-1000 words.

I am looking for papers that are very well written and that show enthusiasm, thought, originality, and cultural insight. Good luck.

In this assignment, you are to go out and find diversity, as you define it, observe cultural diversity in action, write about it, and analyze it.

In Outside Lies Magic (1999), John Stilgoe tells us to Get out now. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many [of us]…. Flex the mind, a little a first, then a lot…. Get out and look around, see accurately, notice, make connections.

• For this assignment, I would like you to do just that. Get out [off campus/out of your dorm/out of your residence], take a look around, and make connections… in a way that relates back to some of our course discussions about diversity in the US.Observation and Description. Visit an off-campus cultural site where you are confident that you will encounter cultural diversity as weve begun to think about it. Preferably you will observe social interactions between people you consider different from yourself. Briefly introduce and describe the site and describe the people you are observing. If youre in a situation where you are participating and interacting, take mental notes of what is going on and how people are interacting with one another and with you. If you are observing, it may be appropriate to take notes, which will help you to write up a more coherent description or narrative of what you see and hear. If a particular interaction or two are particularly interesting or revealing, you may decide to focus on these. [Youll find that in a short paper, you cannot usually be exhaustive.]
• Analysis/Interpretation. In the second part of your paper, I would like you to analyze, ponder, interpret, comparenot necessarily judgmentally, that relates your observations to class (canvas) discussions and specific readingsfor example, on culture, diversity, gender, race, ethnicity, borders, contested belonging, etc. Can you make any connections to course reading? How might one of our authors read this encounter? Can you use any of the course concepts that have been introduced? What does your observation suggest about cultural diversity in the US?
• Rationale/Reflection. In a final paragraph or two I would like you to justify your choice of a site or interaction. Why did you choose this place? (Not just because it was easy or convenient for this assignment.) Why is this place or the people and interactions you observed culturally interesting? Why is it worthy of cultural exploration? What does it suggest to you about cultural diversity (or unity) in the US? How did you feel while you were there? What insights does this experience provide into you and your own understandings of diversity? In what ways did you come up against your own cultural limits of insight and understanding? What might it take for you to interact effectively with people in this milieu?

The chosen topic is War, and the instructions are in the file. Reflect using the War.pdf lecture slide

The chosen topic is War, and the instructions are in the file. Reflect using the War.pdf lecture slide