cultural element of an ethnic/national group

GLST 0201 // Common Research ProjectOverview and Length Every student in" rel="nofollow">in Global Awareness should complete a 6-8 page research project discussin" rel="nofollow">ing a cultural element of an ethnic/national group. If you elect to write on an ethnic/national group from your ‘current events’ state you cannot discuss the same material addressed in" rel="nofollow">in the Gannon & Pillai text. Deadlin" rel="nofollow">ine: Submit your paper via the Fin" rel="nofollow">inal Assignment Dropbox in" rel="nofollow">in Blackboard by NOON Friday, August 5th. Why do I have to do this in" rel="nofollow">in GLST 0201 courses? This assignment helps students develop an understandin" rel="nofollow">ing of a people or a society through the close analysis of a particular artifact, in" rel="nofollow">institution, or custom. It is an assignment that is present in" rel="nofollow">in all GLST 0201 courses. Where can I fin" rel="nofollow">ind resources for this paper? What is the scope of the paper? An excellent resource for this project is the library’s eHRAF Collection of Ethnography, a crosscultural database contain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing more than 350,000 pages of comparative data on human cultures from all over the world. The lin" rel="nofollow">ink to this can be found at the Olin" rel="nofollow">in Library webpage. To access eHRAF, access “Direct Lin" rel="nofollow">inks” from the Libray home page, select “A-Z Databases,” and navigate to the eHRAF collection. (note: eHRAF generally requires a tutorial to use effectively. Students will not be able to fin" rel="nofollow">ind in" rel="nofollow">information based on national country designation, but will need to know the names of ethnic groups. Reference librarians excel at assistin" rel="nofollow">ing students in" rel="nofollow">in these explorations. A fin" rel="nofollow">inal note should caution that this collection has accumulated over the course of 100 years: language and “objectivity” within" rel="nofollow">in the eHRAF documents should always be approached critically.) Two general prin" rel="nofollow">inciples may help to provide guidance on the structure of student assignments dealin" rel="nofollow">ing with culture: a) time: avoid tryin" rel="nofollow">ing to encompass centuries of history in" rel="nofollow">in their study of Iraq. Mesopotamian culture began between the Tigres and Euphrates 3500 years BC, and contin" rel="nofollow">inues to present day occupied Baghdad. Students need to delin" rel="nofollow">ineate the time period they plan to study with some care, and b) students often make the mistake of composin" rel="nofollow">ing papers on nation-states rather than cultures. To study Nigeria, for example, often yields shallow student reports that concentrate on “gross per capita in" rel="nofollow">income” and “major exports.” Rather a paper in" rel="nofollow">investigatin" rel="nofollow">ing Nigeria might focus on traits found in" rel="nofollow">in the Igbo populace. The assigned common assessment paper requires students to differentiate nation-state and ethnic group. While Germany may be full of Germans, not everyone in" rel="nofollow">in Saudi Arabia is a Bedouin" rel="nofollow">in. Most nations in" rel="nofollow">in the world are characterized by massive ethnic and cultural diversity. Helpin" rel="nofollow">ing students to see this problem of studyin" rel="nofollow">ing culture as they design their research both improves their comprehension of the dynamic aspects of culture