Print Price: $50.99

Format:
Paperback
240 pp.
5" x 8"

ISBN-13:
9780199381319

Copyright Year:
2017

Imprint: OUP US

Writing in Anthropology

A Brief Guide

Shan-Estelle Brown

Series : Short Guides to Writing in the Disciplines

Writing in Anthropology is the ideal, pocket-sized manual for undergraduate students and emerging anthropologists who wish to improve their writing.

Anthropology is a rapidly changing, global social science that encompasses a wide range of subfields, including archeology, cultural anthropology, biological/physical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, medical anthropology, and applied anthropology. It is also a growing field. While the economic downturn might motivate many college students to seek majors they perceive as more practical, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects job growth for anthropologists and archaeologists through 2020 at 21%, which is faster than the average for all other occupations.

[1] And more undergraduate students in the United States are majoring in the social sciences and history than ever before: 175,000 students were social science and history majors in 2009-10 (the specific number of anthropology majors is not available).
[2] In Canada, another 134,700 undergraduates major in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Law, 4,000 of them in anthropology.
[3] Beyond serving their own majors, anthropology departments offer many courses for non-majors; indeed, at many universities it is one of the go-to fields for students seeking to fulfill both general education and W (writing-intensive) course requirements.

Writing is central to the work of anthropologists and they employ a wide range of genres, including fieldnotes, ethnographies, journal articles, reviews, reports, essays, personal narratives, and grant proposals. Most anthropology courses-both those in the major and for general education and W requirements-include substantial writing assignments. Those assignments often align with the professional genres listed above, but perhaps more are framed as school or apprentice genres-reading responses, summaries, literature reviews, personal reflections, and research papers-designed to help students process course content.

While anthropologists appreciate good writing and occasionally focus explicitly on it-each year, for example, the American Anthropological Association holds a workshop on writing for graduate students and professionals-there is no compact, practical writing guide that meets the needs of undergraduates and beginning graduate students. This Brief Guide aims to address that gap by pursuing four goals:

* Introduce the major genres and habits of writing in anthropology.
* Explain how reflexivity, expression, and interpretation are vital to the field.
* Convey insider strategies for writing and editing in the discipline.
* Describe the basic conventions for using sources; and to model a scholarly yet accessible style.

Readership : Writing in Anthropology. Writing in the Social Sciences.

Reviews

• "For the future of the field, for our students, this book should become a beacon. In short, this is a fantastic book arriving at a prescient moment. I know I will recommend it to my colleagues and assign it to my students."
  --Brian F. Codding, University of Utah
  
  
• "Boils down anthropological writing into a manageable read for a student taking 5 classes/semester with multiple papers being required every semester. It also covers all four fields--very important."
  --Joseph E. Diamond, SUNY New Paltz
  
  
• "Concrete and full of useful examples. I think undergraduates would immediately benefit from it."
  --Joseph Hankins, University of California, San Diego
  
  
  
• "A friendly, engaging, and informative introduction to anthropological writing, both the writing of anthropologists and the writing that anthropologists require of their students."
  --Edmund Searles, Bucknell University