Academic Literacy and Ethics

The class focuses on what makes academic literacy and ethics particularly important at the MA's level.

Topics:

• Fieldwork and writing as a method in anthropology

• Academic literacy as disciplinary membership

• Evaluating each student’s writing practice

In-class activity:

• Reflect on your writing practice and come up with specific steps for instituting a sustainable practice

• Evaluate a previously read an ethnographic article and determine what makes it specifically anthropological

Writing exercise:

• Weekly research-writing session, can be freewriting (30–45 min)

This class focuses on the development advanced scholarly reading and writing practices

Topics:

• Re-reading vs. first reading

• Locating theoretical intervention

• Identifying implicit assumptions

In-class activity:

• Argument archaeology: how is the author combining theory and ethnographic writing

Writing exercise:

• Weekly research-writing session, can be freewriting (30–45 min)

The class focuses on how anthropologists’ research gets turned into a text and how important writing is for the field of anthropology.

Topics:

• • Ethnographic research and writing
  • Voice, positionality, and evidence

In-class activity:

• • Identify claims vs. descriptions in ethnographic writing

Writing exercise:

• • Weekly research-writing session, can be freewriting (30–45 min)

The class focuses on what makes an academic argument and how to best structure it

Topics:

• • Claims, reasons, evidence
  • Anticipating counterarguments
  • Structure of an article

In-class activity:

• • Rewrite an opinion paragraph as an argument

Writing exercise:

• • Outline of the class paper ready to be worked on during the class

This class focuses on writing clearly and creatively without oversimplifying

Topics:

• • Jargon: when it helps, when it harms
  • A good introduction and a conclusion

In-class activity:

• • Sentence revision workshop

Writing exercise:

• • Draft No 1 of the paper ready to be worked on during the class

The class focuses on academic authority - how to gain the trust of the reader in the age of AI.

Topics:

• • Tracing sources while reading
  • Paraphrasing and Plagiarism
  • AI, integrity and authority

In-class activity:

• • Paraphrasing of an argument

Writing exercise:

• • Building annotated bibliographies and working on the draft of the article

This class focuses on tracing your argument as a way to determine structure of the argument both in reading and writing

Topics:

• • Index as a structure of an article
  • How to improve

In-class activity:

• • Indexing

Writing exercise:

• • Draft No 2 of the paper ready to be worked on during the class

We will be focusing on the voice in academic writing: who is speaking in academic writing and to whom?

Topics:

• • Autoethnography
  • Positionality statements
  • Audience

In-class activity:

• • Rewrite a paragraph with explicit positionality

Writing exercise:

• • Working on Draft No 2 of the paper

In this class we are starting to put together all that we have learned thus far and focusing on writing as process.

Topics:

• • Messy drafts
  • Emotional discipline in revision
  • Peer Feedback

In-class activity:

• • Structured peer feedback on Draft No 2

Writing exercise:

• • Incorporating feedback into Draft 2

This class will focus on the ethics of research and academic writing.

Topics:

• • Research subjects and informed consent
  • Harm, responsibility, and representation in writing

Reading: Writing in Anthropology (edited volume)

In-class activity:

• • Group work on an ethical dilemma

Writing exercise:

• Working on Final Draft of the paper

We will focus on the use of Artificial Intelligence in academic writing.

Topics:

• • Pros and cons of relying on generative AI

In-class activity:

• • Using AI to improve (but not write) academic work

Writing exercise:

• Working on the Final Draft of the class paper

Focus: Integration and reflection

Topics:

• • Sustainable writing habits
  • Intellectual humility
  • Writing beyond the classroom

In-class activity:

• • Group discussion on the lessons learned from the course.

Final assignment:

Working on the final draft (plus a one page reflection on the writing process) of the paper to be submitted shortly after the last class