Cultural Studies

2.5 full pages of text (minimum). Single-spaced.  Separate Reference/Bibliography Page with complete and accurate citations. 12-point font (Arial or Times New Roman).  1-inch margins.    Instructions/Overview:    Select a peer-reviewed, journal article that showcases original research in anthropology.  The article must be from an ANTHROPOLOGY ACADEMIC JOURNAL written within the last 10 years.  The goal is to read, summarize, critique, and share with the class. This assignment will help you become more aware of the type of research taking place in anthropology today. Here are some key points to keep in mind: An academic journal is not like a typical/popular magazine.  It is a peer-reviewed, academic publication; it only publishes rigorous academic work from people in a specific field.  The target audience for journals are scholars, researchers, and students.  The primary purpose is to report results of original research, analysis, or experimentation.  Each journal will usually focus on a very specific aspect of an academic discipline such as Ethnography  or Cultural Studies; this is the case in anthropology. Research submitted is peer-reviewed in the sense that the journal will hire other academics in the field to check or validate the work in a submission. Once other academic professionals have okayed the work as valid- using their own internal criteria- it will then be considered for publication.  In some cases, even experiments might be replicated to check the validity of the work and the conclusions.  You CANNOT use popular magazines nor webpages for this assignment; they are NOT peer-reviewed sources.  They are considered popular sources because they are written for a general (non-academic) audience.  Their purpose is to provide broad, general information and entertainment.  This entails secondary (not original) research.  Therefore, the following sources and others like them may not be used:  National Geographic, Discover Magazine, Wikipedia, Science Magazine, Sapiens.org, various news outlets, etc.  Your work will not be accepted if you submit a paper on a non-academic article that is original research.  If this occurs,  you will need to rewrite it for partial credit (and any additional late penalties will be applied). The selected journal article (original research) must be from one of the 4 subfields on anthropology: Archaeology, Linguistics, Physical/Biological Anthropology, or Cultural Anthropology/Ethnology.  It is key that the viewpoint of the writer is anthropological and not from other disciplines such as history, psychology, sociology, or political science.  Therefore, you should also ensure that your author is an anthropologist.  The author’s credentials and institutional affiliation are included in the article.   Your paper should reflect your critical thinking skills.  Be sure to support your opinions and provide informed arguments/thoughts.  1-2 direct quotes may be used if it is something that cannot be paraphrased.  If you must include a direct quote, be sure to use the “sandwich quote”: introduce your quote, provide the quote, discuss the quote.   At a minimum, you will need to respond to the questions that are laid out below.  You may also discuss other aspects of the article that piqued your interest.  A student sample paper is attached above. Please feel free to email me if you would like to make sure that your selected article qualifies for this assignment. Access the CCC journal database here: City Colleges Library Database Link Login with your Brightspace information to access the databases.  If you need live/virtual online library assistance, use this link: Online Library Support/ Chat with a Librarian Once you login, I recommend you select either of these two library databases: JSTOR and EBSCO. If you select, JSTOR, you can “browse by subject”.  Doing so will allow you to select “anthropology” and view journals specific to our discipline.  You are then able to “Search within Anthropology”. If you select the EBSCO database, then the next step would be to select “Academic Search Complete” and “Academic Search Ultimate”.   When you do conduct your search in either of the databases, be sure to search for both the word “anthropology” and your topic of interest so for example “anthropology art” or “anthropology coming of age rituals”.  Please keep in mind that there are different types of journals in these databases; many are from disciplines outside of anthropology. If you select an article not authored by an anthropologist, your grade will be at risk. Make sure to refine your search and ensure your search results are specific to this assignment:  1. full text articles ; 2. from an academic journal; and 3. dated between 2010-2020.   Just to reemphasize your paper must be on a journal article.  Webpages, newspapers, and other articles from magazines like National Geographic and others will not qualify.  If you do not use a journal article your work will not be accepted, and you will need to rewrite the paper with penalty. Make sure to cite your article in APA format so take note of the information when looking at your article. Read your journal article and take notes on the main ideas and any relevant key words.  As you are reading, keep track of the article’s main points and your reactions to these ideas.  In at least, 2.5 full pages of text (single-spaced), please fully respond to all the 7 items below and label accordingly: In about half a page, introduce the article and paraphrase the main points.  In your own words, what is the author’s thesis?  Do not use direct quotes unless they are absolutely necessary.  If you must include a direct quote, be sure to adhere to the “sandwich quote”: 1. introduce the quote, 2. provide the “direct quote”, and 3. discuss the quote.  (40 pts) How did the author test their theories?  Were they successful? Describe what the author tried to accomplish and how they make their point.  How are the author’s main points supported? (25 pts) What are the author’s conclusions?  What evidence is provided and how is it used?  To what extent was the author’s thesis proven? (25 pts) Did the author make a compelling argument for their case? Did it seem reasonable or biased?  Why? Be sure to explain.  (20 pts) Why did you choose this specific article? What interested you about it?  (10 pts) Fully discuss one anthropological idea/insight you learned/acquired in the article and what you learned about it.  Be specific. (1 full paragraph). (15 pts) Cite the article in APA format- be sure to provide complete and accurate citations.  (5 pts)   Remaining points: page length (5pts) and grammar, spelling, punctuation (5pts)