Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Course Description

Our senior seminar explores the ethics, politics and practice of anthropological fieldwork. It considers questions about what counts as evidence, “methods,” and “the field” as well as how our identities as researchers relate to our participants. By the end of the semester, you will have planned a long-term project, recruited and interviewed subjects, kept exact records, asked appropriate research questions, recognized trends and patterns in your data, and understood the bigger picture suggested by your data. You additionally will be able to situate your research in a larger field of scholarly literature, select and apply an appropriate theoretical framework, and defend the broader relevance of your research project. Finally, you will achieve clear verbal communication of your ideas both in class discussion and in presentations about your research.

Student Outcomes

In this Senior Seminar class, students will be able to:

  • Engage in self-awareness of their own cultural background and how that impacts their values, beliefs, and assumptions.
  • Generate discussion questions for their classmates that move beyond simple recall and require their classmates to engage critically with readings and topics
  • Select and apply an appropriate theoretical approach to their senior thesis research.
  • Create oral presentations that persuasively communicate an argument and use visual aids effectively.
  • Summarize their fieldwork data into a story that communicates meaning.

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