Some application questions

Sep 19, 2009 08:42

I'm in the process of applying to grad schools in anthropology right now, and I have two questions ( Read more... )

writing sample, language proficiency, anthropology

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tisiphone September 19 2009, 10:49:28 UTC
1) Given that you're going to be working in Africa, you'll actually need to know several languages to work effectively. You'll need French not only for communicating in the field, but because a lot of African anthropological work is written in French. At the same time you're going to need a field language, too (maybe several). Does it limit you to a single language? If not, I'd state you're going to gain a working knowledge of French and Swahili (which could be useful as a field language due to its wide-spreadedness) and will learn local languages as needed as you focus further. Also, remember you're not stuck with what you say in your SoP or on your application.

2) Don't submit something that doesn't meet the requirements. Since they're looking for your writing style and how well you can actually do academic writing, summarizing the conclusions elsewhere isn't really necessary (though you might do it anyway if you're going to talk about your thesis research). I'd select the best 2-3 chapters and preface it with the abstract (make sure that this includes the research method, conclusions, etc. as well as a problem statement.) And yes, absolutely edit it, but not necessarily for length. Sometimes thing slip by the first time you write something that will stand out the next time!

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tisiphone September 19 2009, 11:58:15 UTC
Hey, thanks for your response. The application says "indicate how the study of your proposed language and world area is relevant to your chosen future career." It's not clear if this question is specific to the anthropology application or for the social sciences in general. Stating that I'll learn local languages as needed is a really good way to put it, because then I don't have to make my research topic too narrow.

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tisiphone September 19 2009, 11:59:51 UTC
I'm wrestling with the same question right now, trying to decide how far I need to go in actually learning other languages - I did decide to pick up French, but in terms of field languages I'm a bit stuck since I don't know exactly where I'll be working!

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