SS 2100

Fall MWF 12:05-12:55 Melissa F. Baird, Ph.D. E-Mail: mfbaird@mtu.edu Phone: 906.487.2366 Office: 212 Office Hours: W and F 1:30-2:30 TA: Amanda Kreuze arkreuze@mtu.edu Office Hours: TBD

World Peoples and Environments

Description
This course provides a general introduction to the field of socio-cultural anthropology/ human geography with an emphasis on environments and landscapes. We ask questions about the content, methods, and frameworks that have shaped the fields of anthropology and geography, and apply a comparative approach to study global cultures and environments. World Peoples and Environments also integrates work in environmental science, history, sociology, critical heritage, and law, amongst other disciplines and considers a variety of materials (film, poetry, music, multi-media) to expand on concepts presented in the class. Our goal is to deepen our understandings of how different cultures think about and engage with their ecological and environmental worlds, while developing the tools and vocabulary to articulate these differences and engage in public discourses inside and outside the classroom.

Required Readings
Talking about People: Readings in Contemporary Anthropology, Haviland et al. Wild Sardinia: Indigeneity and the Global Dreamtimes of Environmentalism, Tracey Heatherington Course readings: On Course Site

Course Goals
To survey approaches used by anthropologists and geographers in understanding the diversity of global cultures and environments. To consider the ways environmental social scientists use ethnographic and social science data to address contemporary environmental concerns. To apply reflective and rigorous thought to understand the socio-political contexts of environmental anthropology. To think critically, write clearly, solve problems, and exchange ideas and communicate with peers. [This course covers University Student Learning Goals #3 and 8see http://www.mtu.edu/provost/assessment/student-learning/]

Course Requirements
Four Questions to Consider, two film analyses, in-class participation, critical book analysis, and final project are required.

World Peoples and Environments

Assessment
Assessment is ongoing and emphasizes preparation, participation in discussion, and critical thinking as demonstrated in both oral and written work. Contingent on fulfilling attendance criteria and completing all required work, your final grade for the course will be determined as follows: Questions to Consider (4) 10% Film Analyses (2) 10% Participation (includes quizzes and in-class work) 25% Critical Analysis: Ethnography 25% Final Project 30% Please note: This is a READING INTENSIVE course. Please keep up with the readings, which are to be completed by the beginning of class on day assigned. Fridays are conducted as a seminar, and I will not lecture. Please be prepared to discuss readings/material in class. Some of the readings may be challenging- I ask that you work your way through them. During our first week, I will provide guidance for reading the articles. I am also available to meet with you during office hours to discuss how to get the most from your readings and this class. Attendance is mandatory. If you miss more than 4 classes, you are in danger of failing the course. Inclass quizzes and in-class work will also factor into your participation grade. I do not accept emailed assignments (unless we have prior arrangements). All work is due at the beginning of class. You can also turn in assignments to my faculty mailbox Format for work: Double-spaced, 1 margins and 12pt. font. Be sure to number pages and include your name on each page in the header. On the first page please include: the course title, my name, and date. Please note: I do not accept emailed assignments. Late work: I expect that you complete and turn in work on assigned due dates. No make-ups allowed for quizzes, in-class work, or Final Project. Other late assignments will be lowered a full grade for every day they are late (except weekends); assignments not submitted within the week will not be accepted. Exceptions will be made for medical or family emergencies.

Questions to Consider (4)

These are due at the beginning of class. These are found on Canvas. The goal is to demonstrate understanding of the readings, and learn how to apply the concepts learned in class through analysis of texts, and to develop writing and analytical skills.

Film Analyses (2)

I consider films as texts in my courses. You will analyze, consider, and think about how the film illustrates (or not) themes and issues that we are working through in the course. In your analysis, you must draw on the material from the course to contextualize the film. Personal stories and positions are important, but remember I am interested more in how the material relates to our discussions, readings, and other texts used in the class.

World Peoples and Environments

For in-class analyses (i.e., turn in day of viewing) I will ask you to write a quick response around a specific question. Try not to edit as you write: some of your best work comes from allowing yourself to just write [Approximately 1 -1.5 pages handwritten]. For take-home analyses (i.e., turn in the next class) I expect that you turn in edited and polished papers. That is, think about the film and develop your response around a thesis statement/argument. How does the film add to/contradict/challenge/ move our discussions? You may want to try a free-write (see above) firstthen edit and revise your work [~2-pages double spaced and typed]. A few things to think about: Is there a guiding perspective or theme (e.g., environment, identity) in the film? What types of characters, actors, or voices are used? Do the filmmakers use editing, music, or other techniques to move the viewer? If so, what are these? What genre is the film (e.g., ethnographic, cinematic, educational, documentary)? How does the film illustrate other themes explored in the class? Who is the narrator? What is their role? Who are the major characters in the film? Are some people absent (i.e., women, men, children, etc.? Think about representations. Are there stereotypes/assumptions that are reinforced or challenged in the film? What is the relationship between filmmaker and subjects of film? What questions does the film leave you with? Did the filmmakers provide enough context (social, historical, economic, etc.) to understand the film?

Participation
Attendance is mandatory and in-class assignments count toward your participation grade. These include written responses to the discussion questions listed in the syllabus each week. Your participation in this course will be evaluated by attendance, preparation, and contribution to class discussions and in-class debates. I am interested in the quality (not quantity) of questions. Excellent participation would include relating the readings/topic to other material (e.g., course readings, discussions, outside readings, or materials), responding thoughtfully or expanding on other students comments, or suggesting new ways to approach the course material. The learning goal is to develop your personal voice and to learn how to engage with peers and to debate and discuss course material.

World Peoples and Environments

Critical Analysis: Wild Sardinia: Indigeneity and the Global Dreamtimes of Environmentalism
5 PAGES Goal: To engage with an ethnographic case study and demonstrate writing and analytical skills appropriate to the undergraduate level. Ethnography: (1) the research method of cultural anthropology, and (2) the written text produced to report ethnographic research results. Ethnography as method seeks to answer central anthropological questions concerning the ways of life of living human beings. Ethnographic questions generally concern the link between culture and behavior and/or how cultural processes develop over time. In 5 pages, write a concise analysis of the environmental ethnography by Tracey Heatherington. Your task is to explore the major themes of the book AND tie these back to any concepts/ issues/topics explored. Specifically, you are to incorporate SIX of the assigned readings into your discussion. Use the text and specific passages as evidence. Rather than simply dropping in quotations and expecting their significance and relevance to your argument to be self-evident, you need to provide sufficient analysis of the passage. Remember that with this type of writing analysisyou must demonstrate some new understanding of the text. The following questions serve as guideposts. DO NOT just answer these questions and link them together into an essay. Instead, think about how the book resonated (or did not) with the class or with your experiences. Some questions to help you think about the book: What are the authors claims? What research evidence is presented? How did she link data to theory? Was she successful? What is the relationship between her research methods and the conceptual claims advanced in ethnography? What specific methods (i.e., interviews, life histories, genealogies, mappings, participant-observation, etc.) did she use? What kinds of claims did she make? Where there practical, personal, and epistemological transformations? Are there ethical dimensions of ethnographic fieldwork /knowledge-production?

Final Project: Anthropological Engagements with Environmental ProblemsA Research Proposal

Goal: To develop a research proposal that draws on anthropology or geography (theories or methods) to address contemporary environmental concerns in the Lake Superior Region, state of Michigan, or Keweenaw Peninsula. How could anthropology be used to address environmental impacts, inform environmental policy, or highlight socio-cultural environmental issues in Michigan? This project requires you to research a topic, as well as incorporate SIX (or more) assigned course readings within your essay discussion [NOTE: you may not use the readings you used in the Ethnographic Book Analysis and the readings must be from W5 W14]. You are welcome to be creative, or think outside the box and submit drawings, engineering diagrams, historical maps, and so on. Approach the topic from your disciplinary background or interests. For example, how could biological engineers use ethnographic methods to address local water or recycling issues? Think broadly, creatively, and take a risk! Team projects are welcomeup to 4 studentsbut each student is required to do the equivalent work of a 5-page research project. To be successful, you must demonstrate that you have researched the topic and spent time thinking about solutions. We will discuss how to develop your research proposal, the elements of a good proposal, and strategies for completing this assignment in class. You are required to submit a topic proposal in Week 3,

World Peoples and Environments

a 1-page overview in Week 6, and the final project by Week 14. You are also expected to present a brief overview in-class on the last week. Details to follow.

Schedule of Readings and Assignment

Look on course website for Questions to Consider, course updates, and additional readings that are not in your textbook. The readings with an asterisk* can be found on Canvas under Files- Course Readings. WEEK 1:Introduction W 9/4 Chapter 1 Introduction (1-3) F 9/6 No class- K-Day WEEK 2: Core Concepts: Culture M 9/9 Basic Concepts 27; Klausner 21; *Chapter 1 Haviland (on Canvas) W 9/11 Nader 4; Wild Sardinia, Part I: Beginnings F 9/13 Due: Questions to Consider Film: MACOS, Man a Course of Study WEEK 3: Ethnography M 9/16 Mulcock 45; Wild Sardinia, Part II: Ecology W 9/18 *Pearson and Bourgois Hope to Die a Dope Fiend; [NOTE: Graphic article that deals with drug use.] F 9/20 Due: Topic Proposal Friday: Field tripEthnography at MTU Due: Questions to Consider WEEK 4: Identity M 9/23 W F 9/25 9/26 *Kupfer, The Return of the Native; *Kenrick and Lewis, Indigenous Peoples Rights and the Politics of the term Indigenous *Clifford, Identity in Mashpee; Wild Sardinia, Part III: Alterity Film: Half of Anything

WEEK 5: Concepts in Environment: Places and Landscapes M 9/30 Chapter V; Colchester 103; Sillitoe 92 W 10/2 *Basso, Wisdom Sits in Places: Wild Sardinia, Part IV: Resistance F 10/4 Due: Questions to Consider WEEK 6: Concepts in Environment: Economics M 10/7 Review: Natural Capital Project, Stanford http://www.naturalcapitalproject.org/people.html Chapter VI 109; McNamara 101 W 10/9 Bourgois 114; Sennett 121 F 10/11 Wild Sardinia, Part V: Post-Environmentalisms Due: Research Project Proposal 1-page overview In Class: Discussion on Paper Due next week WEEK 7: Concepts in Environment: Politics M 10/14 Chapter X 201; Azoy 207 W 10/16 Van den Berghe 209; Whitehead and Ferguson 218 F 10/18 Due: Ethnographic book analysis of Wild Sardinia WEEK 8: Religion M 10/21 Chapter XI, Niehaus

World Peoples and Environments

W F

10/23 10/ 25

Film: TBD NO CLASS- Conference in Sweden

WEEK 9: Colonialism M 10/28 *Lewis, Anthropology and Colonialism W 10/30 *Harrison, Decolonizing Anthropology F 11/1 Due: Questions to Consider WEEK 10 Globalization/ Development M 11/4 Chapter XII; Ferguson 251, *Tsing, The Global Situation W 11/6 Gutmann 30; Apfell-Marglin 258 F 11/8 Film: TBD WEEK 11 Ethnography Revisited M 11/11 De Waal 263 W 11/13 Garland 197; Reading TBD F 11/15 In-Class: Oral History Assignment WEEK 12: Resource Frontiers M 11/18 *Tsing, Chapter 1, Friction W 11/20 Review: Danny Hoffmans Photo Essay Mining the Border http://www.culanth.org/photo_essays/1-corpus-mining-the-border F 11/ 22 NO CLASS

BREAK WEEK (11/25-11/29)

WEEK 13: Applied Approaches M 12/2 *Rylko-Bauer Reclaiming Applied Anthropology Review: http://www.sfaa.net (Society for Applied Anthropologists) W 12/4 *Scheper-Hughes Making Anthropology Public F 12/6 In-class exercise WEEK 14: Presentations and where do we go from here? M 12/9 Presentations W 12/11 Presentations F 12/13 Course Overview

World Peoples and Environments