You will need to find and list in an annotated bibliography a minimum of 10 scholarly (i.e, peer-reviewed) anthropological publications related to the topic you have chosen. An annotated bibliography includes the reference for the publication in the proper APA format and a short description of what the publication is about and how it will add to your research. In addition to the annotated bibliography, you will also create your research questions. Your research questions should include some element of cross-cultural comparison. For example, what does the artwork of the US indicate about how the culture views violence as compared to the artwork of the Netherlands. You also want to include some broad elements regarding what the topic you’re studying indicates about the cultural ideals of a particular culture. For example, if you choose art, one of your research questions might be how does the artwork that is present in a culture shape cultural ideals?
So, to summarize, for Part I of this assignment you will need to complete the following:
1. Choose your topic from among the cultural elements we have studied or will study in this class. Topics include art, religion and magic, political organizations, social control, language, medicine, globalization, and any of the other topics we have covered that I have failed to list here.
2. Choose your comparison culture. This should be a culture outside of your primary culture – for most students, that likely means outside of the US, but if you are a member of another culture, you should choose a culture outside of that culture. It will likely be more helpful if you choose a culture that is very different from your own as that will make comparison and contrast easier.
3. Research – you will research your topic and studies done about that topic in the cultures you have chosen to study. You will provide an annotated bibliography of a minimum of ten (10) scholarly (i.e., peer-reviewed) anthropological publications on the topic and in the cultures you will be studying.
4. You will present your research question(s) related to the topic and the cultures you have chosen to study.