Blog Post!
The ultimate goal of anthropology and ethnography is to facilitate cross-cultural understanding and an appreciation of human cultural diversity. In order to do this, anthropologists must be effective communicators and good writers. The purpose of these assignments is to provide a space for students to demonstrate their understanding of course material and concepts, and to apply this knowledge in guided writing assignments that will require both critical analysis and creativity.
(1) Content – How well the blog demonstrates understanding of course material;
(2) Critical thinking and analysis – how well the blog reflects critical thinking and analysis in linking course material to the assigned topic;
(3) Creativity – how well the blog demonstrates creativity in the blog’s content and format, including incorporation of relevant media (images, videos, maps etc.);
(4) Writing – the quality and coherence of the writing; and
In her ethnography Exit Zero, Christine Walley examines how the class position and identity of herself, and her family, was connected to the rise and fall of the steel industry in Southeast Chicago. In doing so, she critically analyzes how the landscape and neighborhoods of Southeast Chicago, as well as her own identity, and even the chemical composition of her body, have been connected to, and shaped by, national and international economic processes.
Assignment:
Describe and reflect on your own (and/or your family’s) experience of “class,” and how this has been impacted by the place(s) where you have lived and the economic conditions (opportunities/constraints) in those places. You could also describe why you and/or your family may have moved because of changing economic conditions or in pursuit of opportunity somewhere else.
Questions to consider:
· What social class would you consider yourself to be a part of?
· Has the class position of you or your family changed over time? If so, how?
· Was the class position of your family members (or you) impacted by changing economic conditions or the rise/fall of a particular industry?
· Was the class position of you or your family impacted by the place(s) you have lived, or by moving from one place to another?
· How were class dynamics in a place where you lived impacted by changing economic conditions or the rise/fall of a particular industry?
