• The Elements of Style, 4th Edition, by William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White (ISBN 9780205309023).
• Research for your capstone project
• Other readings TBA on Canvas

Through the capstone course, students will:

• Research potential careers and graduate programs in anthropology
• Learn how to translate skills and knowledge gained in their courses into the language of job and graduate school applications
• Integrate their anthropology and related coursework into rigorous individual research projects
• Develop professional skills, such as research, writing, and oral and visual presentation, which will be applicable in many post-graduate paths
• Engage deeply with a topic they care about
• Work closely with a faculty member to define, develop, and present their research findings.

Grading

Your grade in the course will be based on three main criteria: (1) completion of the professional development assignments, (2) demonstrable progress on your capstone research project and paper, (3) participation in seminar – especially the quality of feedback you share with your peers, and (4) your final capstone paper and presentation. More specifically, you will receive points for the following assignments and activities:

• Class Participation & Feedback to Peers: 5
• Professional Development Assignments: 20
  • Visualizing yourself as an Anthropologist exercise (5)
  • Graduate School / Job Search exercise (5)
  • CV/Resume (5)
  • Statement of Purpose/Cover Letter (5)
• Capstone Research: 20
  • IRB submission (if applicable) / Research proposal (5)
  • Data Spread Sheet or Bibliographic Notes (5)
  • Data Visualization (map, chart, table, graph, etc.) (5)
• Final Capstone Paper: 40
  • Bibliography (5)
  • Detailed Outline (5)
  • Rough Draft for peer editing (5)
  • Final Draft (25)
• Final Presentation: 15
  • Festival of Excellence Abstract submission (2.5)
  • PowerPoint or Poster (5)
  • Practice run through/peer feedback (2.5)
  • Actual Festival of Excellence Presentation (5)
• TOTAL: 100 points

Class Participation is critical for any seminar. It is expected that you will be an active participant, sharing ideas, knowledge, sources and constructive criticism and suggestions for others. Please note that a portion of your grade is determined by your contribution to class discussions and peer feedback. This is a seminar class and the success of the class as a whole is dependent on full participation.

Senior Capstone: ANTH 4999 – Research Option

I. Overview

• Students should design a project that relates to the topical, theoretical, and methodological issues of their selected area of emphasis (Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, etc.).
• Projects should demonstrate commitment to a clearly defined theoretical framework and an understanding of the interplay of theoretical and empirical materials.
• Projects should be situated within an anthropological and sociological genealogy; that is, students will be expected to demonstrate how their projects contribute to or relate to one or more subfields of the discipline (e.g., sociology of gender, anthropology of art, anthropology of science, economic anthropology, medical anthropology, anthropology of X culture, etc.).

II. Paper

• The final paper should be 15 to 20 pages long. It will consist of research based on scholarly resources, or students’ own original archaeological or ethnographic research, or a narrative annotated bibliography of the selected topic. Papers should be planned, revised, and edited throughout the seminar process and in consultation with the faculty supervisor. They should be well written and organized, conform to the style, format, and tone of good scholarly writing, and use appropriate in-text citations. Papers will be evaluated by the faculty supervisor.

III. Presentation

• During the last two weeks of the semester in which they are enrolled in the course, students will make a 15-minute oral presentation of their research to the broader SUU community (this might take the form of a class presentation, or a presentation at a university wide research symposium such as Festival of Excellence).
• Presentations should summarize the project in a clearly understandable form and should also include a visual presentation (i.e., a poster or PowerPoint presentation) that enhances and elaborates the oral presentation. Presentations should be delivered in a polished, well-rehearsed, professional manner. They will be discussed and evaluated by the entire faculty and these evaluations will be calculated into the student’s final grade.

IV. Human Subjects Review

Students who plan to conduct research involving human subjects must complete several additional steps.

1. First, they must complete the IRB Training Tutorial online. Be sure to print out the completion certificate at the end of the course. This certificate must be on file with SUU’s IRB Board before a proposal will be reviewed. IRB training must be completed before the capstone semester begins. Students who have already passed the IRB training within the last three years do not need to repeat it.
2. Second, when the student has completed IRB training, s/he must complete, in conjunction with the faculty supervisor, an IRB Submission Form to be submitted to SUU’s Institutional Review Board.

Senior Capstone: ANTH 4999 – Service Option

I. Overview: Community Service Work

• You will spend 25-30 hours over the course of the semester in your selected community- based organization and service work. During your visit, please record:
  • Dates and times of your visit:
  • Name and signature of staff/people supervising you (you can do one form at the end with their signature)
  • Brief descriptions of the tasks you accomplished on each visit (being careful not to include personal identifying information of the people with whom you’re working).
• Observation and Exploration
  • observe what social issues the organization is trying to deal with
  • learn the needs of the community and examine the roles and responsibilities of the organization in providing services to the community
  • understand the contributing factors to the issues your organization is dealing with.
• Engage in service work
  • try to apply your class-room knowledge into the real lives of people around you
  • analyze your own position and think how the community could benefit from you/your work
• Field Notes (memos, objects from the field, notes jotted in the field, detailed notes written away from the field)
  • Write field notes immediately after your field visit
  • Your field notes will be based on your observation and interaction with the staff/employees/people
  • Note: Try to take notes while you observe (you can take sketchy notes in the field and rewrite them later, filling in the details).

II. Paper Write-up

• Analysis and dissemination of your observation and collected information
• Incorporation of your service work experience
• Literature review and theoretical framework relevant to your service work experience
• Anthropological analysis and discussion

Paper Structure

Introduction

• Introduce your paper-state what is it about.
• Incorporate your service work experience.
• State your thesis/arguments.
• You may highlight some of your findings/patterns.
• State how you have organized the paper.

Literature review

• Give an overview of relevant literature/research on your subject.
• You may summarize your literature review briefly.
• Incorporate/discuss relevant theories in literature.

Source Material

Please note that non-academic online sources are not acceptable. You should reference at least ten scholarly journal articles. You could also incorporate some facts from government and non-profit source if appropriate.

Analysis/Discussion

• Assess and evaluate the ten scholarly journal articles in relation to your service work.
• Examine the strengths and weaknesses of these articles, and place your argument within its context.
• Discuss and develop your thesis/argument.
• Synthesize, analyze, and critique the ideas of the authors you read and present your own informed and unique opinion/views based own your service work experience.
• Support your views with examples/illustrations.

It is very important to provide evidence that you have thought critically about what you have read and discovered, rather than just repeating what the articles, books, and other sources said.

Conclusion

• Telling a Story
• Discuss the major conclusions that have come out of your service work experience and literature review (you can compare and contrast the difference between your service work experience and literature review).
• Discuss any unique insights that you have gained by writing this paper.
• Discuss the anthropological significance.

Note: You should also take this project as an opportunity to be self-reflective. Try to address what you got out of this project. Did you develop any key insights? Has your thinking been challenged? How has it been changed? What has this experience meant to you? Why is it significant anthropologically?

Format and Style

• Your paper should be 12-14 pages (excluding bibliography and footnotes), typed and double-spaced using 11-12 pt. font size.
• Include a bibliography page. Marks will be deducted if the bibliography is missing.
• Do not use contractions, for example, don't, it's, we'll.
• Use headings and subheadings when required.
• Cite all sources according to AAA, ASA, APA, MLA citation standards. Any form of plagiarism will result in failing the course and disciplinary action according to university policy.
• See/check any anthropological journal articles (Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, etc.) for style and organization.

Grading

Your paper will be graded on the following grounds:

• Quality of your service work.
• In-depth literature review that directly relate to your service work.
• Weaving literature review with your service work experience.
• Well developed argument and analysis.
• Adequate research evidence (support your thesis/research questions/argument with adequate evidence).
• Critical analysis.
• Quality of writing (clarity, well organized).

III. Presentation

You will present your service project at the Festival of Excellence and to your class peers.

Tentative Seminar Schedule (Subject to Change, but you will be informed when this happens)

Prerequisites and Registration Restrictions

Prerequisite(s): ANTH 3990 - Prerequisite Min. Grade: D-

Registration Restriction(s): Anthropology majors only; Senior standing required

Classroom Expectations

• Come prepared. This class is a seminar and the success of the course depends on each student coming prepared for each session.
• Engage with your peers. Learn what they are working on: listen actively, ask questions, and share insights. The learning in a seminar course happens through active engagement by the students. In this process, we invert the “traditional” learning structure and you become the leaders in your learning process.