ANTH 330 - Environmental Anthropology
Spring 2012, Tu/Th 2:30-3:45, Bryant Hall, Rm 207
I. Instructor Information
Dr. Robbie Ethridge
Leavell Hall, Room 214
662-915-7317
rethridg@olemiss.edu
Office Hours - by appointment
II. Course Objectives
This course introduces students to the relationship between humans and the natural world
as explored and explained in anthropology. Through lectures, theoretical pieces, and
ethnographic case studies, we will examine the history of anthropological thought in regard to
human/environment interactions, with special emphasis on the array of contemporary
viewpoints, approaches, and ethnographic inquires. We will also look at the range of human
production strategies such as hunting and gathering, subsistence agriculture, fishing, pastoralism,
and engagement in capitalist economics, and how all of these function in the face of
contemporary environmental and economic challenges. By viewing the human/environment
interactions through an ethnographic lens, we will also pay special attention to some of the
varied meanings and understandings of the natural world that are sometimes quite different from
our own. The goals of the course are to 1) acquaint students with historic and contemporary
anthropological approaches to understanding the human/environment relationship, 2) acquaint
students with the range of human production strategies, 3) acquaint students with different ways
of looking at the natural world.
III. Required Reading - books
These books are on sale at the Ole Miss Bookstore and the are also available online. The
prices quoted are from Amazon.com and are for comparative purposes only.
Roy A. Rappaport, Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People.
Waveland Press, Inc. 2nd edition, 200. ISBN 157766101X, $30.95.
Candace Slater, Entangled Edens: Visions of the Amazon. 2002. Berkeley: University of
California Press. ISBN-10: 0520226429 ISBN-13: 978-0520226425, $21.95.
IV. Required Reading - articles and chapters in books
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These articles are available as listed below (I reserve the right to substitute other
readings).
Barth, Frederick, 1956. Ecologic relationships of ethnic groups in Swat, North Pakistan.
American Anthropologist 58(6):1079-89. [available online JSTOR]
Conklin, Beth A. and Laura R. Graham, 1995. The shifting middle ground: Amazonian Indians
and eco-politics. American Anthropologis 97(4):695-710. [available online JSTOR]
Cronon, William, 1993. The uses of environmental history. Environmental History Review
16(2):10-22. [copy available on Blackboard]
Doane, Molly, 2007. The political economy of the ecological Native. American Anthropologist
109(3):452-462. [copy available on Blackboard]
Harris, Marvin., 1966. The cultural ecology of India’s sacred cattle. Current Anthropology
7(1):51-66. [available online JSTOR]
Lowe, Celia, 2000. Global markets, local injustice in southeast Asian seas: The live fish trade
and local fishers in the Togean Islands of Sulawesi. In. People, Plants, and Justice, C.
Zerner, ed. Columbia University Press, NY. [copy available on Blackboard]
Parker, E. 1992. Forest islands and Kayapo resource management in Amazonia: A reappraisal of
Apete. American Anthropologist 94(2):406-428. [available online JSTOR]
Posey, Darrel A., 1985. Indigenous management of tropical forest ecosystems: The case of the
Kayapo Indians of the Brazilian Amazon. Agroforestry Systems 3(2):139-158. [copy
available on Blackboard]
Posey, Darrel A., 1992. Reply to Parker. American Anthropologist 94(2):441-443. [available
online JSTOR]
Posey, Darrel A., 1990. Intellectual property rights and just compensation for indigenous
knowledge. Anthropology Today 6(4):13-16. [available online JSTOR]
Stronza, Amanda, 2001. Anthropology of tourism: forging new ground for ecotrorism and other
alternatives. Annual Review of Anthropology 30:261-283. [available online JSTOR]
Vadya, Andrew P. and Bradley Walters, 1999. Against political ecology. Human Ecology
27(1):167-179. [available on Blackboard]
White, Richard, 1997. Indian people and the natural world: Asking the right questions. In
Rethinking American Indian History, Donald L. Fixico, ed., pp. 87-100. University of
New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. [available online as ebook]
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V. Grading
1. Midterm and Final. 100 points each for a total of 200 points (or 66% of your
grade). There will be a total of two exams. the midterm and final. The exams will be in-class
exams consisting of short answer and essays. The exams are designed to evaluate your abilities
to synthesize a body of material and to write clear, concise, and informed essays. See the
Course Schedule for exam dates. The exams must be taken at the scheduled time--NO
EXCEPTIONS.
2. Term Paper. 100 points (or 33% of your grade). You will be required to write a
3,000 to 3,500 word (10-pages, double spaced, 12-point font) term paper on a topic of your
choice about environmental anthropology. This paper will require library research and additional
reading. You will be required to submit at various intervals a formal statement of your topic, a
bibliography, an outline of your paper, and a final paper. Each of these assignments will be
scored separately for a total of 100 points. I do not accept late assignments.
These assignments are broken down as follows:
1) Formal statement of your topic. 10 points. All students must turn in a 1-page topic
statement explaining what they intend to do in their paper and have it approved by me before
beginning their research. This is due no later than Tuesday, February 7.
2) Bibliography of relevant sources. 15 points. Each student will be required to compile a
preliminary bibliography of the books and journal articles you intend to research for your paper.
These bibliographies should contain at least 10 sources. I will review each bibliography and
perhaps add or delete sources. The bibliographies should be formatted in American
Anthropologist (AA) style (go to the American Anthropologist website for information on how to
properly format a bibliography and paper). The bibliography is due no later than Tuesday,
February 21.
3) Outline of your paper. 15 points. Each student will be required to complete an outline
of their paper. This exercise is intended for you to organize your thoughts and your argument for
your paper and to line up your evidence to support your argument. In order to do your outline,
you will need to have completed most of your reading for your term paper. The outline is due no
later than Tuesday, April 10.
4) Final paper. 60 points.. The bulk of your points will come from the your final paper.
To receive the full 60 points, the paper should be well written and a sound analyses of your
topics. All papers should be typed, double spaced, in AA style. Drafts can be handed in at any
time, but no later than Tuesday, April 24.
5) Citations and Plagiarism. Plagiarism is to take the work of another and present it as
your own. The best way to avoid charges of plagiarism is to cite your sources in your paper.
This means to cite not only direct quotes, but any pieces of information, ideas, concepts, and
conclusions that you take from another researcher. Any text downloaded from the internet and
not put in quotes and cited appropriately is considered plagiarism. Ignorance of what constitutes
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plagiarism is no excuse; if you are unclear on what constitutes plagiarism, please make an
appointment with me to discuss it. All citations should be in AA style. Plagiarism is considered
academic dishonesty and research misconduct. All cases of plagiarism will result in a zero on the
term paper and be reported to the Academic Disciplinary Committee.
3. Extra Credit. 5 points. You can earn 5 points in extra credit by participating in an
event having to do with environmental studies and submitting a brief, one-page summary of it.
Only one report per person, please. Over the course of the semester I will be announcing various
lectures, presentations, exhibits, films, etc., that pertain to environmental studies. I may ask you
to report on it informally for the whole class. You may hand in your extra credit report at any
time during the semester, up to the last day of class. I will not accept any reports after the last
day of class.
VI. Point Breakdown
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300-293
292-278
277-270
269-263
262-248
247-240
A+
A
AB+
B
B-
239-233
232-219
218-210
209-204
201-189
187-180
179 - 0 F
5
C+
C
CD+
D
D-
VII. Course Schedule
Date
Class Session
Readings
Introduction
Tu, Jan. 24
Introduction - hand out syllabus
The ecological imagination
Th, Jan. 26
Anthropology - a thumbnail sketch
Colonial ethnography
Tu, Jan 31
Colonial ethnography
Th, Feb 2
The Nuer - pastoralism and colonial
ethnography, Sudan
Tu, Feb 7
The Nuer - pastoralism and colonial
ethnography, Sudan
Statement of paper topic due
Cultural Ecology
Th, Feb 9
Cultural ecology
Tu, Feb 14
Case study: Cultural ecology and cultural
materialism, India
Th, Feb 16
Ecological anthropology and the ecosystem
concept
Tu, Feb 21
Case study: Ecological anthropology,
Afghanistan
Bibliography Due
Th, Feb 23
No class - William and Mary
Tu, Feb 28
Case study - Pigs for the Ancestors, Papua
New Guinea
Bibliography returned
Rappaport, Pigs (all)
Th, March 1
Case study - Pigs for the Ancestors, Papua
New Guinea
Rappaport, Pigs (all)
Tu, March 6
Midterm Exam
all of the above
History and the Environment
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Harris, “Sacred cows”
Barth, “Ecologic
relationships”
Date
Class Session
Readings
Introduction
Tu, Jan. 24
Introduction - hand out syllabus
The ecological imagination
Th, March 8
Historical ecology and environmental
history
March 12-16
Spring Break-no class
Tu, March 20
Case study - the Kayapo, Brazil
Cronon, “Uses of
environmental history”
Posey, “Indigenous
management”
Posey, “Reply”
Parker, “Forest islands”
Environmental Ethnography
Th, March 22
Ethnoecology and environmental
ethnography
Tu, March 27
Case study: The Forest People, lecture on
the environment of the MaButi in equatorial
Africa
Th, March 29
Case study: The Forest People, lecture on
the environment of the MaButi in equatorial
Africa
Tu, April 3
Case study: Amazon basin
Th, April 5
Case study: Amazon basin
Posey, “Intellectual property”
White, “Indian people”
Entangled Edens, all
Political Ecology and Environmentalism
Vadya and Walters, “Against
political ecology”
Tu, April 10
Political ecology
Outline of term papers due
Th, April 12
Case study: the 18th-century deerskin trade
among the Southern Indians
Tu, April 17
Case study: fishers and the question of the
commons
Outlines returned
Th, April 19
No class - SAA
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Lowe, “Global markets”
Date
Class Session
Readings
Introduction
Tu, Jan. 24
Introduction - hand out syllabus
The ecological imagination
Tu, April 24
Beckham, Michael,1989, “The Kayapó:
Out of the Forest” (film). With consulting
anthropologist Terence S. Turner. Chicago:
Films, Inc.
Term papers due
Th, April 26
Discussion of “The Kayapó”
Tu, May 1
Eco-politics
Conklin and Graham,
“Shifting middle ground”
Doane, “Political Economy of
Ecological Native”
Th, May 3
Ecotourism
Stronza, “Anthropology of
Tourism”
Tues, May 8
Final Exam - 4:00 pm
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