Final Paper Project

DUE: 

• Friday, Nov. 11, 5 pm, my office: Hand in project proposal and annotated bibliography
  
• Wednesday, Dec. 14, 5 pm, my office:  Hand in final paper or final project URL.

LENGTH and FORMAT:  In keeping with our multimedia approach this semester, you have the option of turning in a standard written text (in paper form) or constructing a web-based final project that will integrate images and/or video into your presentation.

1. Written text: 10 pages, 8 X 11, double-spaced, 1 inch margins all around, 12 point fonts. Please spellcheck. Papers should be polished. They should be free of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. They should be well-organized, with an introduction, a thesis or main point, and a conclusion. Citations should be complete, including web pages (see online guidelines). If you choose to discuss print media, images or web sites, please include in your paper or provide a URL.
   
2. Web-based project: using a suitable web platform, it should include images and/or video and incorporate at least 10 pages of text (ie., if it were cut-and-pasted into a Word document it would be that length at 12 point font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins). This is a formal assignment, thus all the above requirements for a polished text apply here, cite all references in-text and include a bibliography, and all images/videos must be fully cited as well (though they can be in the form of captions or rollovers). For help with this, see the mLab folks (ETC 226). Also see examples from Ben Lazier's class at Reed (though that was a different kind of assignment!).

EVALUATION: I will evaluate and respond to papers based on (in order of priority):

1. Degree to which you respond to the assignment and incorporate ideas and issues from class materials in your discussion;
   
2. Extent to which you demonstrate clear understanding of basic terms and historical events presented in the course;
3. the creativity and originality of your ideas
4. The clarity of your organization/design and writing

TOPIC: This paper will be the culmination of your semester of considering Sino-Tibetan relationships from an anthropological perspective and in contradistinction to popular media representations.  With a particular contemporary theme or issue as a focus (such as representations of gender in particular nationalist arguments; the role of the UN, contemporary sectarian conflict among Tibetans, Chinese dissidents and Tibet, development discourse in Tibet, etc.), your paper should be a well-researched critical analysis of it in the light of the anthropological perspective and historical contexts presented in the course. 

Your paper should make explicit reference to theories of "identity politics" such as nationalisms, ethnicity, state and/or gender.  See especially: Bishop, Lopez, Anderson, Alonso, Maalki, Duara, Ebrey, Hevia, Mullaney, Munson, Yuval Davis, Enloe, Harris, Escobar, Huber, Anagnost, Schwartz, Gladney, Makley, Zheng, Schein.

For inspiration on possible readings, see the further reading lists provided for each week on the course website. Get started soon, since you might have to Summit or ILL resources.

You may also choose to monitor other media forums (see course Web Resources).  These might include: newspaper or magazine articles archived in the World Tibet Network News (see website for URL, main Links), television programs or commercials, films not included in the course, web sites, Buddhist or activist events, or debates and comments on Tibet email lists. See the Web Resources link for Tibet discussion groups online.

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Professor Charlene Makley with help from
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