15-20 page research paper focusing on any topic presented in this course. You may either write a field research or library research paper. Instructor approval is mandatory. The draft on April 24th is mandatory (10% penalization of final paper grade if draft is not handed in). You are strongly encouraged to scaffold off of your weekly field notes.
Library research papers can tackle any topic covered in the course or may explore other issues in linguistic anthropology. The approach must be critically analytical, simple surveys of the literature will not received full marks.
Field Research based papers integrate your own ethnographic field research with an analysis or critique of the language and culture theories we are covering in the course. Ethnographic field data should be properly transcribed according to one of the transcription conventions presented in the text. You may extend a transcription convention (or collapse it) in order to better present your argument, however you are cautioned against trying to invent a totally new system.
Suggested and previous field research paper topics include:
Length: 15-20 pages
Grading: Graded A-F