Culture and Anthropology in the News

Goal: to practice thinking about ‘culture’ and/or ‘power’ through a news article by applying a concept to analyze what, how and why people do what they do.  Assignment #1 submission Value: 10% of your final mark Length: ~600 words Format: Standard margins (2.54 cm), double spaced, 12 pt font (New Times Roman) Description: Find an online article describing an event and/or topic related to the concepts of culture and/or power. For this assignment you will succinctly describe what the article is about (who, what, where, when). You should do this in one paragraph (around 200 words). The rest of the assignment, you will discuss and analyze the event and/or theme of the article through the concepts of power and/or culture as presented in class (readings and lecture). In your analysis, you should describe how and why power and/or culture is useful and relevant to understanding the event/article you have chosen. Explain your argument and make connections to course material. Note: because the assignment is short, do not include long quotes from the article or readings but do include reference from where your ideas are coming from. Include a citation of your article: Author’s last name, First name. Date of publication. “Title of article” from name of publishing company. Website: link. Accessed on: date. For example: Draper, Kevin and Ken Belson. Sept 3, 2018. “Colin Kaepernick’s Nike Campaign Keeps N.F.L. Anthem Kneeling in Spotlight” from The New York Times. Website: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/03/sports/kaepernick-nike.html. Accessed on Sept 17, 2018. How you will be marked: Your assignment will be marked out of 10. Up to 3 marks will be awarded for your description of the article. You will be marked for being clear and succinct. Were you able to give the reader a good understanding of the topic? Up to five marks will be awarded to your analysis. Were you able to draw upon a concept of culture/power from the course and successfully show how it relates to the article? A very good response will show both you understand the concept and are able to use it to creatively think about the article you are analyzing. Two marks will be for your overall writing style: the spelling, grammar, and importantly how you structured your arguments. Description: /3 Analysis: /5 Writing: /2