Answer ONE of these questions in no less than five pages (1250 words) or more than ten pages (2500 words)

This is due on

(note that you must discuss in your answers minimally two of the required readings from the second half of the course, and any relevant readings from the first half)
  1. de Wolfe argued that, when discussing people with autism, one should distinguish between, on the one hand, the "peculiar" ways autism might reveal itself in their everyday lives, as well as those of the people (parents, teachers, etc.) for whom they may be a concern, and, on the other hand the "particular" ways autism gets known and institutionalized within a population under the control of some state. Discuss in terms of any "disability" (deafness or blindness, dyslexia, ADHD, etc.) you might be interested in.
  2. It is common sense to distinguish between the "Americans," the "Chinese," the "French," etc. Would you argue that this is a matter of acknowledging "identities" or a matter of yielding to various powerful political "identifications"?
  3. All human speak at least one language. Some speak several, or several versions of one. Summarize three of the main arguments as to why they speak this language (note that these are not necessarily exclusive):
    1. it is a matter of what they learned as a young child
    2. it is a matter of what the people who raised them spoke around them
    3. it is a matter of what school teachers, under state mandates, required they speak
    4. it is a matter of what it makes sense for them to speak in order to achieve some goal
  4. Summarize the arguments for the position that "policy" (regulations, requirements, etc.) is never simply a matter of engineering the behavior of human beings. Bring into your answer a case from your professional life.
  5. It has been argued, in China, Europe, and now around the world, that a certain form of school examination is the best guarantee for the rewarding of merit over birth privilege. What would be the counter arguments?
  6. Once upon a time, those who wrote questions for the Chinese kējǔ exam started with the statement "The emperors and people all believe that we should observed established laws and practices ... based on thousands of years of practice." How might an anthropologist critique what this statement assumes about the State, the people, policies, practice?

On my grading practices for these exams