Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
13 Sep 2003 10:05 PDT
Hello again
As I said, anthropology is infinite in breadth and scope, more so than
any other scientific discipline there is. So I can understand you
suddenly finding a project you say you like, then being instantly
overwhelmed with possibilities.
I will point you toward designing one project whose premise you may
like or not. What it will do, is give you a framework around which to
build any project you want.
Now, the first thing, and the most important thing to remember, is
that a science project is as much theater as knowledge. You have to
get the judges attention.
For example, if you have a project in physics among many other
projects in physics, you may all have an aqual amount of knowledge you
can talk to the judges about during the inteviews.
Just so you know, I was the winner of four Signet Key Book Awards, had
automatic Ohio state superior ratings three years in a row after being
judged only at the lowest regional level. I jumped to the top without
going through the middle. My high school science projects in
anthropology, specifically Egyption archaeology, paid for classes at
Ohio State, UCLA, Oriental Institute University of Chicago, Chicago
House, Luxor, Egypt.
That is the reason I jumped on this question the second I saw it. I
know just how important school science projects can be.
You too, now have a project that is every bit as detailed and even
more importantly "more unusual than anything else in the science
fair."
That is step one in science fair theater. Make your project one that
does not quite fit. In a project about the anthropology of dress, you
will be covering "the archaeology of dress," Fabric making materials
such as linen, wool cotton, which are both biological as well as
weather related subjects. You will be demonstrating how we know these
things about fabrics from the ancient past. So you will mention
preservation techniques which include chemistry, biology, even nuclear
medicine.
Now, that is not as complicated as it seems, especially with a project
like this.
Your subject is "The Anthropology of Dress." - - - - Now, first of
all, how many science fairs even have an anthropology division? And
then you show up with a legitimate scientific topic "The anthropology
of Dress." Which seems to fit nowhere.
If you had a project in chemistry, the judges, who have to make sure
every contestant is in their proper category, would have an easy job
placing you. The other judges would not even have to read your
project's review. However, you have a project in anthropology, for
which there is usually no assigned placement, they all have to read
your review in order to figure out where to place you. You have some
of each judges specialty included. They are all aware of you and have
had to talk about you before the competition begins just to figure you
are in the right area. And, rest assured, during the day, all of them
will drift by to see what the commotion was about.
That is the end of part one of that aspect of things.
Part 2 is that you have to have the knowledge to back up the show.
What I have told you above will not get you the prize. It is only
part of the science fair shuffle. Those who are top competitors
already know the first basic rule I gave you above, which is try to be
original to the point of truly being original.
That was the easy part. Now you have to make sure you really know
about the thngs you want to present. When the judge asks you a
question and it may be the last thing you expected to hear, you have
to come up with the answer. So, in order to have that detailed
knowledge, break your subject down even more. Instead of trying to do
the whole of human history when it comes to dress, select a specific
period. You will not be leaving yourself open to surprise questions.
If you try to do the whole of history, you could have been
concentrating on Western dress and the judge asks a question about
ancient China??? He/she would be entitled to because your subject
left the whole world open.
On the other hand, if you narrow it down to something as esoteric as
'how the ancient Egyptian need for snow white linen in the formal
dress of the middle classes and higher, effected the development of
chemical sciences, sanitary practices and agriculture,' you will know
that subject in great detail and the judges may have to do a lot of
digging on their own to even come up with a question that fits your
project.
What you may already have figured out from the paragraph above, is the
detailed nature of the topic. Next to the written word, the history
and study of clothing and fashion is the second most common way of
learning about the past. The anthropology of fashion is not some
exotic throw away topic, it answers many questions.
Let's go back to that Egyptian white linen for a minute. - - Because
fashion demanded the linen be so white, we have to know something
about the Egyptians knowledge of chemistry and chemical processes
creating ammoniated bleaches, how the transportation and storage for a
product that needed to be kept snowy white, effected the Egyptians
concepts of cleanliness and how this, in turn, effected other
Egyptian sanitary practices. The same piece of white linen also
speaks of Egyptian agricultural practices. Of course the Egyptians
grew most of their own flax. Information about how much area was used
to grow this crop, and how much had to be imported, as against growing
edible crops would be of interest to agricultural judges.
Now we take that same piece of linen to the lab. We clean the ancient
dust from it. In that dust we find pollens. Old pollens are an
excellent record of seasons and weather patterns. And because certain
plants grow in certain places and not another, we can identify where
that piece of linen came from and what season it was when it was
finally placed in the tomb where it was found. By analysis of the
fiber, we can tell whether the flax was grown in Egypt or was
imported.
This is only a fraction of what a piece of linen can tell us just
because an ancient fashion code demanded a specific type of cloth for
formal dress.
You can see why the anthropology of clothing has an important niche in
the scheme of things.
You asked for a starting point. Look through the histories of style
provided in the answer. Pick a period that would interest you. Now,
within that period, choose a region. For example your topic might be
"fashions of late antiquity and what they tell us." Now that is a
large area to cover. So narrow it down to a region, once again as an
example, "fashions of late antiquity in the Eastern Roman Empire and
what they tell us."
Now that is still a fairly large subject and could keep you open to
some mayhem from judges questions. Narrow it again to "fashions of
late antiquity in the city of Byzantium 5th-6th centuries."
You can then document how fashion evolution during those two centuries
give us important information ranging from climate change as different
fabrics come into or go out of style (For example, during an extended
period of cooler years, fashion would begin to incorporate warmer
fibers such as wool or the addition of fur trim and linings) to how
extensive foreign trade was. Silk from Asia and imported cotton were
parts of Byzantine costume, their use, or lack of it, could be strong
economic indicators, or even indicators of expanded or restricted
trade issues.
You can document how fabric studies have provided information about
local agriculture and growth patterns by means of pollen and chemical
analyses. See what I mean? You will become an expert on agricultural
practices around the city of Byzantium as well as an expert on the
fashions within it.
Specialize.
Now, maybe I've shown you too much of the manipulative side of science
fairs. But there is an important reason for it. In order for that to
work, you have to know that you do actually have a project that stands
a chance of winning even without the bit of extra. It has to be able
to stand alone. If you don't have that degree of confidence, the
above won't work.
What that means to a knowing competitor, is that the personal
knowledge of the subject has to be able to withstand any question the
judge can throw within the topic. You will know your subject well.
A science fair is where one first begins to learn about academic
competition. It is an arena where ego and the willingness to promote
oneself actually leads to superior work more often than not.
And what if after all of this studying of fashion anthropology, and
who knows, maybe even going on and getting a degree in it someday, you
decide to be a fashion designer instead?
Well, not only will you know "what" your competitors are designing,
you will always be one step ahead of them, you will know the social
factors of "why" they are designing the way they are. The mere fact
that you are a designer/anthropologist means that you might more
easily interpret what social or economic changes are in the works and
keep one step ahead of it with your own designing.
If you jump into this with both feet, regardless of what happens at
the science fair, you will emerge a winner.
Good Luck
digs
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