The cultural ethnography

For this assignment: the cultural ethnography

The cultural ethnography project is designed to help you explore an otherwise unfamiliar aspect of religious belief and practice. The purpose of this assignment is to learn, through personal experience and research, about a different faith tradition. There are four components to this project: attendance, research, a reviewed rough draft, and a final paper.You are to attend a formal gathering of a faith tradition different from your own and provide an ethnographic account of your experience. How you define “different” is up to you, as long as the denominational affiliation is distinct. For example, if you consider yourself a Baptist, you should not attend a different Baptist church from the one you currently attend. Consider all aspects of the experience: the architecture, the atmosphere, the music (or lack thereof), the attendees, etc. Consider developing some questions to discuss with a leader, though written sources are best. The paper should also provide a brief description of the tradition evidencing research from your class readings and at least one other source not from the internet. The description should delineate the movement from other faith traditions and consider distinctions of the gathering you attend. Use the information in the following file to guide your work on the project
Sources

All sources used for your paper should be accessible through the library. Consider using the following reference works for your background information on religion:

Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 1998. Internet resource.

Benowitz, June M. Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 1998. Print.

Betz, Hans D. Religion Past & Present: Encyclopedia of Theology and Religion. Leiden: Brill, 2007. Print.

Hill, Samuel S. Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Macon, GA: Mercer, 1984. Print.

Melton, J G. Encyclopedia of American Religions. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Internet resource.

Melton, J G, and James Sauer. The Encyclopedia of American Religions, Religious Creeds: A Compilation of More Than 450 Creeds, Confessions, Statements of Faith, and Summaries of Doctrine of Religious and Spiritual Groups in the United States and Canada. Detroit, Mich: Gale Research Co, 1988. Print.

Citations

The style and format must follow MLA. For information on MLA, including specifics of how to cite works, see the MLA “formatting and style guide” on the Purdue Online Writing Lab:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Word Count

The paper should be 1,250 words. All papers that do not fulfill this requirement will be penalized by one letter grade for every 150 words long/short, or 1/3 of a letter grade for every 50 words long/short (less or more than 50 words will not be penalized). Papers must include the word count in the heading of the first page. Students often attempt to fill their paper with large, bulky quotes to take up space. Being that the paper is short, quotes must be limited to no more than four lines. Anything more than four lines does not count towards the overall word count of the paper.

Plagiarism

Students must document their source EVEN IF THEY ARE ONLY REFERRING TO IT AND NOT DIRECTLY QUOTING IT! Failure to document is equivalent to stealing as you are robbing ideas from others and claiming them as your own. All ideas must be documented!

The Experience

Your time with the religious service is whatever you make of it. You do not need to participate if you do not desire to do so, but you should be respectful of the activities going on around you. This means showing up on time, dressing in an appropriate manner, and not being a distraction to others. You probably will not be familiar with the activities of the religious group, so you shouldn’t expect everything to make sense to you. Your primary goal here is observation.

Writing Tips

Pay close attention to the words you use to describe the experience. Be sure to use terminology that would be used by the group, while also explaining terms that would be unfamiliar to a general audience. Consider also how the religious experience is American or Southern, and if locality had any influence on the service. If you were to hand your paper to another college student, by the end of your paper they should have a basic understanding of the group you studied and how they are distinct from other religious groups. Here are a few notes from past papers that may aid you with yours:

– Alter is a verb that means to change; altar is a noun referring to a place or object used in some religious ceremonies. Choose the correct one.

– The Catholic worship service is referred to as a “mass,” but Protestants do not use the term for their services.

– Proper nouns such as names of religious groups and religious texts should be capitalized (Bible, First Baptist Church, Temple Israel, etc.), but general terms should not (church, synagogue mosque, etc.).

– While the paper is focused on both distinctives of the particular group as well as your own experience, it does not need to be organized as such. Craft your essay in such a way that it incorporates both aspects.

– Paragraph breaks are good things. Paragraphs suggest a division of ideas rather than train-of-thought writing.