I- The assignment: For this assignment, we offer a choice of three topics as found in online news magazines, newspapers, journals, etc. Choose only ONE of these topics and answer the corresponding questions. Before choosing a topic, you might want to read all the articles pertaining to the topic you chose, as well as the questions that you will have to answer. Only complete assignments will be graded. We will uphold this rule! If you skip a question, you get zero for the whole assignment. Each question must be answered separately. Do not write a long essay that attempts to answer all the questions in one text. Indicate clearly the question you are answering by copying it on your assignment. Unless otherwise indicated, always answer the questions with reference to class material. All this information is at your disposal to help you build strong and well-supported responses
. This means that you have to integrate in your answer concepts, ideas, arguments, and/or examples presented in the lectures and the assigned readings. This is your way of showing that you understand the relevance of what you study in class to understand the world in which you live. Be careful when reading these articles. As with all media, these documents have their own political and ideological perspectives on information and on the representation of knowledge. At times, the language and the arguments used in these texts may be shocking to some of you. Keep a critical eye while reading them. Use what you have learned in this class, and be critical. You are free to disagree or agree with the arguments in the articles, but whatever position you take needs to be supported with material from the course. You are also free to make an argument about something that you found interesting or problematic in the article. You can use one outside source only for the whole assignment. It must be an anthropological source from a professional journal or book. The Olympic Games (Prepared by Annabelle Gendron) Read all these articles: Niesen, Joan. (2021, July 28). In a divided US, its no surprise some see Simone Biles as a villain. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/28/simone-biles-withdrawal-olympics-gymnastics-tokyo-media-reaction Ronay, Barney. (2021, August 2). Masilingi and Mboma racing against Olympic elite and complex cruelty. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/02/masilingi-and-mboma-racing-against-olympic-elite-and-complex-cruelty Ronay, Barney (2021, August 8). Tokyo says goodbye to the Games with grace and sense of relief. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/08/tokyo-says-goodbye-to-the-games-with-grace-and-sense-of-relief Park, Alice. (2021, August 8). How the Tokyo Olympics Changed the Conversation About Athletes’ Mental Health. Time. https://time.com/6088078/mental-health-olympics-simone-biles/ Murley, Jack. (2021, October 5). Raven Saunders: Olympic shot putter on the pandemic, mental health, and taking a stand in Tokyo. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/58783761 Please answer all five questions below: Question 1: Keeping in mind what you have learned in Lesson 5, and reflecting on what you know from the Olympic Games, identify at least two ritual elements present in this sporting event? Please describe and analyze them using concepts of Lesson 5 and examples from the articles. Question 2: What links can you make between globalization and the Olympic Games? What role do the Olympics play in the world, where different cultures are more and more in contact with each other? Try to support your answer with concepts from Lesson 3 and/or from the articles. Question 3: Which types of symbols are prevalent in the Olympic Games? Please describe and analyse at least three symbols that you recognize from this sporting event. You may try to answer the main question by reflecting on the following: do these symbols carry the same meaning for athletes, coaches and viewers? Question 4: What is the type of language that is used to discuss mental health (vocabulary, expressions, codes, etc)? What meaning does this language use carry in the context of the Olympic Games? Please focus on the concepts taught in Lesson 4 to help you answer this prompt. Question 5: How do cultural conceptualizations of gender and ethnicity affect women in sports? What challenges do athletes sometimes have to battle in order to compete? Can you identify some stereotypes that may hinder an athletes participation in competitions? Please refer to the articles of Masilingi and Mboma, and Simone Biles to answer these questions. Requirements for the presentation and preparation of the assignment Length: about 400 words per question (minus or plus 50 words) unless otherwise indicated (. There are pedagogical reasons behind the space limit (concision, precision, structure), and I insist that you respect them. That is about 2000 words for the whole assignment (the bibliography and the cover page are not included in the word count). Each question in every topic is worth 20 marks, for a possible total of 100 marks. You are responsible for ensuring that your name and student identification number appear at the top of your assignment. With 250 students in the class, we cannot go guess the identity of your assignment.
You will lose 5 points if you forget to write you name and Id on your paper. Please do not forget to incorporate reference to class material in your answers to each questions (concepts, authors, examples) (unless otherwise indicated). Because you will be using material from the class (articles, class notes, and one outside source) it is important to cite them properly and to include them in a bibliography at the end of your assignment. Please use proper academic referencing style (whichever you prefer: MLA; APA; Chicago, etc). If you have any doubts or questions, please contact us. Your grade will depend on your ability to analyze these articles by using the tool kit of concepts and ideas you are being presented within this course.
