Assignments: Paper Four

If you want to excel on this assignment, you should probably check out the new resource page, Projects and Action Horizons.

For this assignment, you have a choice. Select ONE of the following assignments:

1. Using Becker and ONE of the other readings from the semester, formulate a project which answers the question “What is science?” (or the genesis of this question, see Becker 119). Some questions to consider:

• Each of the essays we’ve read has dealt with science on some level, but in each we’ve assumed that we know WHAT science is (and generally, we’ve taken it to mean “fact”). How are Boyarin’s negotiations between anthropology and Jewish identity related to Mao’s ideas about science? Gould’s essay has prominently prompted us to think about science as fact, but what about the last section of his essay? How is it related not only to the famine in China but also to Becker’s attempts to locate an accurate figure for how many died? In Stille, there are not only competing notions of science (in terms of failed Western technology and the pond system) but also the negotiation Mishra makes between religion and science. How is any of that related to Mao’s ideas about science?
  
  
  

2. [Taken from the Writing Program Web site]: How can a layperson determine if the powers attributed to science are being overstated? And what recourse does one have if one doubts the version of events that is being presented by those with greater political and/or economic power? Produce a project that addresses these questions using Becker and ONE of the other readings from the semester.

3. Currently, North Korea is experiencing a famine as well. What lessons or tools from Becker and ONE of the other readings from this semester could help minimize the damage in that country? To answer this question, you’ll need to learn about North Korea’s famine and the specific reasons for it.

Rough drafts must be 4 pages long; final drafts must be 5-6 pages long. Bring a total of 3 copies of your draft to peer revision—I’ll collect one and your peers will comment on the other two.