A person studying his or her own culture can be likened to a fish trying to describe
water. While the insider is capable of noticing subtle local variations, the outsider
is far more likely to notice the tacit understandings that local people take for
granted as ‘common sense’ or ‘natural’ categories of thought.
(John Monaghan & Peter Just, 2000, A Dispute in Donggo: Fieldwork and
Ethnography – Week 3)
One of the main goals of the course is to strengthen students’ analytical skills in
investigating cultural practices and social relations. In this writing assignment, you
will demonstrate how the course materials made you rethink human and cultural
differences. To complete this assignment, you are required to write an essay about
a sociocultural custom/norm/practice/belief (for example, kinship practices, family
structure, marital traditions, economic behavior, political institution, spirituality,
gender or sexual identity, cuisines, social hierarchy, and so on). The paper should
clearly outline and support a central thesis. Ideally, autoethnography should be the
methodological approach of this assignment, i.e., you are expected to select a
cultural practice with which you have a personal connection, use your personal
experience to interpret it, and explain how the course concepts and materials have
shaped your positionality or cultural biases. Incorporate the following segments in
your essay:
- A clear explanation of the selected cultural custom
[Thinking questions: What is it? Why did you select it? Are you an insider or an
outsider to the culture?] - An insider-outsider analysis of the selected cultural custom
[Thinking questions: Referring to the mentioned above quote, how does an insider’s
view of the selected cultural practice differ from an outsider’s? What are the
limitations and strengths of each perspective? Are there any wider institutions or
forces involved in shaping these perspectives? How does your personal experience
explain these perspectives?] - The impact of course materials on the student’s perspective of the culture
[Thinking questions: What was your preconceived understanding of the topic?
Based on your positionality as an insider/outsider to the selected culture, how did
course materials and additional literature impact your perspectives?]
2 - A closing argument about the topic based on reflexivity and scholarly reviews
[Thinking question: How does the critical review of scholarly materials make you
rethink your understanding of the topic?]1
