Penn Professors on Writing in Anthropology
Dr. Deborah Olszewski
About the Professor
Deborah Olszewski is an archaeologist and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Anthropology students may recognize her as the co-author of the ANTH001: Introduction to Archaeology textbook, Patterns in Prehistory: Humankind's First Three Million Years, Fifth Edition.
Important Criteria for Student Writing
Dr. Olszewski ranks criteria differently for her intro-level classes as opposed to her upper-level courses. The most important considerations in beginning courses are reasoning, evidence, organization and style. "I don’t look so much for original ideas or demonstrating mastery of other’s ideas in intro classes," she explains. "That is something I would expect more from a 300- or 400-level class than I would for a 100-level class ." Though general writing skills may be the focus of her introductory courses, her upper-level writing assignments emphasize concepts and idea presentation.
Links
Back to Writing in the DisciplineOther professors in anthropology: Dr. Philippe Bourgois, Dr. Theodore Schurr, Dr. Deborah Thomas
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