1: Tutorial Reading Response and Participation

Weight: 20% Due: Weekly Reading Responses: Tutorial preparation involves roughly 20-40 pages of reading per week. To facilitate tutorial discussion, you are required to submit a one-page typed reflection on the reading.

Please type out, double space your reading response and use 12 point font. This ensures that everyone does the same amount of work for each week. Do not go over the one page limit. It is quite challenging to provide a meaningful response to the question in such a small word limit, but this exercise will help you to develop a really important set of skills that will make it easier to grasp some of the complex concepts in the course as well as improve your essay writing abilities.

There are ten tutorial reading responses required for full credit, which are to be submitted at the tutorial in which the reading is discussed. Use the reading response to help formulate questions and examples to discuss during the seminar. The tutorial mark will be awarded both on the basis of the written work as well as on tutorial participation.

In writing your reading responses, review and respond to the week’s materials. That is, describe and/or discuss one or more significant themes, ideas, or findings (either for a specific reading or, ideally, for themes across both). These can be things that struck you as important, not necessarily what the author says is important. After discussing a theme (or themes) of importance, you may make links to current events, connect with your personal experiences, or describe how this material might be useful. At the end of the reading response, offer one or more developed questions based on the readings and/or weekly themes that can be used to initiate a seminar discussion.

Each reading response will be assessed according to the quality and accuracy of the description, critique, and/or analysis. Your questions will be evaluated according to how thoughtfully they are formed and how relevant they are to the readings and/or weekly theme.

Tutorial Participation: Students are expected to be active participants and demonstrate that they have engaged with the readings and material presented. Participation also means contributing to a general atmosphere of scholarly enquiry and showing respect for the opinions of others.

If you are having trouble speaking up in class discussion, please speak with the course convenor or tutor and together we can find ways to facilitate your contribution. A good strategy would be to prepare summaries of sub-themes that you find especially compelling for each reading, and raise specific questions to clarify some aspect of those readings. Look for and bring in related outside ideas and material. Take notes on what you read and write out questions or comments in advance—this is indeed what the reading responses are for.

You are permitted to miss two tutorials without an excuse. Do not submit a special consideration request unless you have already used your two free absences. Nobody likes bureaucracy and this will help reduce both of our paperwork loads. Attendance is vital and please arrive on time.

Tutorial attendance is required to pass the unit (it’s a ‘hurdle task’). For every unexcused absence beyond the first two you will receive a 5% reduction in your final tutorial mark (4 absences = 15% reduction). If you miss six or more tutorials you will fail the unit regardless of accumulated marks.  

2: Group Project: PowerPoint Presentation

Weight: 10% Due: Various weeks to be assigned in weeks 1 & 2.

In the first two weeks of tutorials, each student will be assigned a group and a topic (from weeks 4 to 12). Each group will need to collaborate on a tutorial presentation. All group members must contribute to both the preparation of content and to the presentation itself. Here are some points to bear in mind while preparing your presentations:

• The presentation must be accompanied by PowerPoint slides that engage with the relevant topic for the week and critically engaging with the issues and arguments raised in that week’s reading assignments. The presentation must be approximately 15 minutes long.

• Presentations may link the reading to current or recent events, may engage respected news sources and blogs, and may include images. This will require some further research into the phenomena raised in the reading.

• You are encouraged to use secondary readings and supplementary material in your PowerPoint slides that could aid the class discussion.

• Each presentation group must raise 3 questions to initiate class discussion and must also lead these discussions. It is expected all group members will actively engage in posing questions and interacting with these discussions.

• Groups must submit their PowerPoint slides (no more than 5 slides) to their tutor. The tutor will be active in helping facilitate the discussion with the presenters but the aim of the panel is to give you the opportunity to lead the discussion and engage your peers in the readings and lecture material. You will be graded based on the quality of your slides, your reflections, the questions you raise, and your ability to lead the discussion (see Marking Sheet). Groups are also welcome to speak with the tutor before your allocated weeks to brainstorm ideas for your discussion points and relevant activities you might want to initiate with the class. Each group is allocated a single grade and it is thus incumbent upon all members to actively contribute.  

3: Research Essay

Weight: 40% Due: Week 8 (30/9/19)

The essay topics and suggested readings will be posted by Week 2.

Format: Your essay must be typed in 12 point font and double spaced. Make sure all of the pages are numbered. Writing guidance is available on iLearn. Marking guidelines will also be provided along with the essay questions.

Handing in your essay: You must submit your essay through Turnitin, which can be accessed through a link under the Assessments tab on iLearn. Please note that you cannot resubmit the same assignment twice, so only submit your final draft to Turnitin.

Feedback: Your essays will be returned with written feedback within 2-3 weeks of submission. Remember, this is an opportunity to test out your anthropology writing before you have to write the final take-home exam (which is also in an essay format and must be properly cited like any anthropology essay), so pay close attention to the feedback you get on your essay so that you can improve your writing and be better prepared for the take-home exam.  

4: Take-Home Exam

Weight: 30% Begins: Monday, 11 November 2019; Due: Monday, 18 November 2019.

A take-home exam will be available on iLearn from 11 November and will be due on 18th November by midnight. Submit your answers via the Turnitin link on iLearn. No extensions will be allowed and any late returns will be penalised. The exam will consist of a combination of short answers to questions that link together topics and themes covered in lectures and tutorials throughout the course.

Success in this assignment necessitates seminar and tutorial attendance, taking careful notes, and completing the readings. More details will be provided later in the semester.

Seminar Structure: This course involves lectures, discussion and films/multimedia material. This course is designed to be highly interactive and students will benefit the most if they attend all classes.

Tutorials: Students are also required to attend weekly tutorials. Tutorials begin in Week 2. All necessary materials needed to successfully complete this unit (required and recommended readings, web links, videos etc) are available on iLearn.