Guidelines for Newspaper Assignment: Anthropology of Eastern Europe
Your two assignments are due September 29th and November 15th
1. There are two 5-page papers for this course, and one 1-page handout that must
accompany one of the papers. For each paper, you will research a topic related to events
in an Eastern European country over the last 15 years. To write your paper, you should
find AT LEAST five news articles (primarily newspaper – see point #2 below) about a
particular event. A list of general topics and countries has been provided on the next
page to assist you. Please consult with Prof. Dickinson if you wish to do a different
topic.
2. After reading the articles, you should discuss the event and its significance in a 5 page
paper, relating your topic to at least one of our course readings. You should address
how the event, or reporting on the event developed over time, OR how different sources
reported on the same event differently. Each of your two papers should be on
different countries.
3. Make sure to use 5 articles. At least three should be from print newspaper or news
magazine outlets, meaning only two can come from online-only publications. You
should NOT use academic journal articles. AT LEAST ONE of your sources must be
from a newspaper printed outside the U.S. You can find full-text articles through the
Lexus-Nexus database at the library’s database page. If you have questions about how to
use the database, just ask a reference librarian at Bailey-Howe.
4. This is not a term paper. If you choose to use books, please make sure that they are in
addition to your 5 news articles.
5. Some of you may have questions about the quality of, or some form of bias in, the
articles you discuss. If you would like to focus on this problem, make sure that you focus
on the content of the articles and discuss them completely. You may also find it helpful in
that case to compare reporting from different countries or sources to support your claims
of bias, or to discuss how one of the academic articles we read for class approached the
topic differently than the news articles you chose.
6. Handout. For ONE of your papers, you must prepare a one-page handout summarizing
the key information on the topic or event your paper discusses. The handout will be
graded on the completeness of the information you offer (compared to your paper) and
the clarity of your presentation of the information.
Keywords/Suggested Topics for Newspaper Assignments
Countries/Areas
Armenia (Caucasus, war, oil, ethnic conflict, Christianity)
Azerbaijan (Azeri, oil, war, Caucasus, ethnic conflict, Islam)
Belarus (Lukashenko, dictator, free press, independence)
Caucasus (ethnic conflict, war)
Chechnya (Russia, rebels, war, ethnic conflict)
Crimea (Black Sea fleet, Tatar, ethnic conflict, language)
Czech Republic
Dagestan (ethnicity, religion, Russia)
East Germany (unification, economy, migration)
Eastern Europe
Estonia (ethnic conflict, EU membership, citizenship, religion, Tallinn, Finland)
Georgia (“Rose Revolution,” ethnic conflict, Ocetia, Tblisi, Shevardnadze)
Hungary (Danube, environment, economy)
Irkutsk (environment, lake Baikal)
Kazakhstan
Kyrgizstan (“Tulip Revolution,” elections, regionalism)
Latvia (religion, economy, independence, Riga)
Lithuania (religion, economy, independence, Vilnius)
Poland (Solidarity, union, Catholic church)
Romania (dictator, orphanage, property)
Russia (Beslan, bombing, terrorism Japan, dissident, Eltsin, Putin, war, conflict, economy, reform,
politics, oligarchs, Khodorkovsky; also nationalism or the mafia in Siberia; also East Asian
immigrants in Russia)
Serbia (Slobodan Milosovic, war crimes trial, the Hague)
Siberia
Slovakia
Tatar (Kazan, ethnic conflict, religion)
Turkmenistan
Ukraine (Gongadze, freedom of the press, Crimean Tatars, Chernobyl, language, religion, NO PAPERS
ON ORANGE REVOLUTION)
Uzbekistan (Islam, government)
Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, war crimes, Srebnica, tourism)
Broader Topics:
Culture
Economy (market, finance, foreign aid, unemployment, tourism)
Environment (toxic waste; nuclear; pollution; sustainable development; natural resources)
European Union (EU; membership; expansion; Estonia; Hungary; Poland; Slovakia)
Gender (women’s rights, sexuality, trafficking)
Health (hospital, health care, orphanage, AIDS, disease, life expectancy, drug use)
Independence; Sovereignty; Citizenship (nationalism, neo-nazi)
Language
Migration (migrant labor; trafficking; smuggling; return; Crimean Tatars; diaspora)
Military
Religion (missionaries, revival, reform, fundamentalism)
Socialism
Society (ethnicity, violence, social problems, identity, welfare)
Welfare (healthcare, pension, orphanage, hospital)