COMM people -- Advice on adapting anthro statement for a comm app?

[RPCV Cameroon]

Hello!

 

 

My main interest is in language socialization, language ideologies, and interdiscursivity.  

 

I'm mainly applying to PhD programs in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology, but I do have a couple of communication departments on my list.  These apps are due in early January, so I need some advice on how I can adapt my personal statement for these apps. It was written to appeal to anthropologists but is quite relevant for the "language and social interaction" branch of comm.

 

Can any comm people give me some advice on this?  At this point, I simply don't have time to do a lot more reading.  So yes, I need a "quick fix".

 

Please let me know if you can advise and I'll send you a link to my Google Doc.  (This forum has a PM function.... right?)

 

Thanks!!

[whiteunicorn]

This is not a response to your question. But I am actually doing the opposite - adapting my media and communication studies SOP for cultural anthropology. So any advise on that note would be very appreciated.

[RPCV Cameroon]

What's your topic?  If no one else responds, maybe we can trade..?  Disclaimer: my background is actually in psychology.

[biisis]

Perhaps focusing on a particular medium in which said language is exercised could get you off to a good start? Are you looking at social media? Any particular platform/subgroup?

[RPCV Cameroon]

I'm looking at participants (especially women) in gender equity-related social development programs in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Basically, the programs attempt to teach new communicative norms, and I'm interested in the social and psychological effects of them, as well as how discourses surrounding them articulate with discourses surrounding modernity, HIV/AIDS, and development.   I'm also interested in the role of "edutainment" (radio dramas with embedded "lessons" about some social issue) in all this, but I just mentioned those in passing in my statement -- they're more of a side note.

[jujubea]

It doesn't sound like you need to do much tailoring. From my perspective (I'm applying to comm programs), this is clearly a communication research topic. Perhaps just focus more on the communicative and discourse elements than the other elements of it. Leave the edutainment as a side note unless you're applying to a program which has a particular strength in it.