For students to conduct fieldwork by going out in “the field” using one of the 3 types of projects outlined and practice field methods and learn something about
another culture or group. You will do this by observing their behavior, or observing and interviewing people from a particular subculture. You will end the project
by writing a paper describing your fieldwork and what you learned.
• Project Paper: Your finished Field Project paper should describe what you learned and observed from the people you interviewed. It should also address the
background and history of the group or subject you have chosen. You should have a clear introduction explaining what type of project you chose and what your research
consisted of. You do not need an abstract at the beginning. Remember, no single word pages at the end, large fonts, or large margins to extend your paper. Do not
write too much on one area of the topic and leave out critical information, background in other areas. At least 3 outside references, not including your textbook
should be used in this Field/Research paper as well. Finally, somewhere in the body of your paper you should explain the relevance of your chosen topic, why this topic
is related to Cultural Anthropology.
It has to be:
Participant Observation. Only by becoming a participant observer in some cultural setting can one fully appreciate what it means to be an anthropologist out in
the field. It will be impossible for you to embark upon a sustained residence in a community, but in order to get the “feel” of participant observation you can spend
some extra time getting acquainted with a slightly alien cultural environment. You should select some activity with which you are not personally familiar. The
services of a religious group with whose form of worship you are not familiar are particularly good, because religion is such an important social and cultural feature
of the lives of so many people, and because each religion tends to have its own particular practices, customs, personnel, etc… making it a miniature cultural system
in some ways.