Assignment 1 – in 500 words, propose your research topic. In doing this, be as descriptive as possible, and refrain from being prescriptive. Explain what makes the topic important. Explain what makes it a good case study for the intersection of the political and the colonial. Explain how the little-known history of this topic (revealed through your research) might help us understand more who we owe the things we have today. You are required to engage with at least two articles from throughout our semester’s readings (not to overlap with readings that you use in any other assignment). The assignment will be graded on three rubrics: Coherence (30%), ethnographic appropriateness (50%), grammar, spelling, and length (20%).Examples of research topics:• green tea first originated in China and was stolen by the British;• coffee comes from the Gulf and Eastern Africa, yet is nowadays treated as a Western product;• chocolate is a product of the Global South, yet we buy “Swiss” or “Belgian” chocolate;• make-up originated in Asia, yet today most brands consumed in the world are Western and rely on cheap Asian labor;• most spices we use today come from the Indian peninsula, yet their use and traditions are rarely recognized (same for henna);• the first university in the world was in Africa, yet today, we think of the West as being the starter of higher education etc.• maritime navigation systems were Muslim and Asian, not Portuguese, despite the many stories of Portuguese sailorsBelow is the structure of your first assignment, paragraph by paragraph. Remember to think about each paper in terms of 100-word paragraphs, so this 500-word paper will be composed of five paragraphs:Paragraph 1: Introduce your topic – what will you be studying this semester, who do you plan to interview for your Assignment 3, where are you in terms of getting in contact with them?Paragraph 2: Explain what makes your topic important (ex. maybe it’s something that is part of the lives of most people, but we are not aware of its history and its practices – explain how)Paragraph 3: Explain what makes it a good case study for the intersection of the political and the colonial – you will have to look a little bit into the history of your topic, just a brief google search, and explain your findingsParagraph 4: Explain how two authors we have already read could help you think about your topic (feel free to use our readings and the PPTs for this).Paragraph 5: Explain how the little-known history of this topic (revealed through your research) might help us understand more who we owe the things we have todayplease note my first language is Arabic and please note that you can only use two of the articles not all. and for paragraph 1 please note that I live in the united Arab emirates so when you will talk about interviews I don’t want someone from outside the country.Comments from CustomerCustomer is an international student. Please, provide a regular grammatically correct, well-structured paper according to the instructions and academic context provided, written with simple sentence structures and easy vocabulary (or shortly, use simple English).
