Day 1
M-Tu Jan. 6-7
Intro to the course
Think of questions for a cultural outsider
Watch and observe Boyhood clip
Intro to “Nacirema”
Course Handbook and other logistics
Homework
➤ Read the Course Handbook
Read this document carefully. It explains everything you need to know about how class works. I will not explain these things in class so it’s important for you to read them.
Please save this document somewhere where it will be easy for you to refer to in the future. Message me if you have any questions.
➤ Come up with 3-5 good interview questions
Think of someone to interview who you regard as an outsider to your culture. Come up with 3-5 good interview questions for that person about their perceptions or experience of your culture, and be ready to share them with us next class.
(I’ll ask you to actually conduct this interview over the weekend, so you might want to reach out to that person now and ask if they’d be willing to be interviewed for a class project.)
➤ Read "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema"
Write three observations — three interesting things you noticed about this article, about the language, the content, anything — and be ready to share them with us next class.
➤ Write two paragraphs
Write one paragraph explaining something you've observed recently related to the topic of culture — something you find interesting, or mysterious, or strange, or troubling — and a second paragraph explaining a question you have about it.
Please follow the template I’ve given you here.
Paragraph 1:
Lately I’ve been struck by how _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. (a few sentences explaining the observation)
Paragraph 2:
This raises an interesting question: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. (a few sentences explaining the question)
Please print this assignment and bring it to class to hand in to me. This assignment will be ungraded — as long as you do it, follow directions, and take it seriously, you’ll get full credit.
Template for writing assignment
