Summer 2016, 8:30-10:25AM
Mitchell Auditorium
Instructor : Dr. Keri Brondo
Email : kbrondo@memphis.edu
Office: Scates Hall 220 and Manning Hall 304
Office Hours: By appointment
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course provides an introduction to the foundation of cultural anthropology with a focus on globalization and international exchange. Course content will cover issues of culture, meaning and identity, social and political organization, inequality and power within a changing global context. To this end, students will have the opportunity to engage with the question of anthropological relevance to their immediate worlds and larger global concerns. What does it mean to live anthropologically and how do anthropological theories and methods contribute to addressing the issues and challenges that face the globe?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES
Students will be able to:

Understand and appreciate cultural difference within a global context

Learn and practice basic anthropological methods

Explain and apply key anthropological concepts

Examine the complexities of contemporary culture change and development

Consider how forces like ecology, experience and tradition interact to shape human thought and action

Make connections between contemporary social issues and anthropological concepts

Think critically about inequalities and their position in social worlds
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Map Quiz (10%).
All Governor’s School students must score at least 90% on a map test, which covers all the countries in the world. Begin to prepare on your first day! You can find many free online practice tests and study resources – just google it. You must score at least 90% on the first attempt to earn the full 10% towards your final course grade. Students who do not score 90% on the first try will retake the test as many times as necessary until they reach 90%; final grades in this category will be weighted to reflect the number of times it takes for the student to be successful.
Class Participation (10%).
The learning process is very much a "two-way street," and a steady regimen of lectures can prove tedious in a summer course. Thus a sizeable component of your grade will depend on active participation in class discussions and activities. In addition to informal discussions based around the course readings, your class participation component will also rest on your performance in formal debates.
Daily Participation. Keeping up with the required readings is a necessity for both
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enjoyment of class meetings and successful completion of this course. To this end, the class participation component will assess the level of knowledge that students demonstrate regarding course material as well as well as the level of preparation that students demonstrate on a daily basis. Specifically, students should be familiar with the main concepts covered in the textbooks.
As for the remaining readings (on ecourseware), students should be able to provide the following information:
-What is the author's argument/thesis?
-What evidence does the author use to support his or her argument?
-What are the strengths and weaknesses of the author's argument?
-How does the argument compare with related concepts and readings?
Debates . You will also articulate and present arguments regarding major issues within international relations. We will use various formats, and each student will be given multiple opportunities to be evaluated.
Examinations (50%) . Two exams will be administered. The final exam will not be cumulative.
Written Exercises (10%) Writing assignments will occur in the morning classes and short papers will be assigned in issues classes. More detailed instructions will be given in class.
Hot Spots Problem-Solving Exercise (20%) You will also participate in a group project in which you will prepare a policy brief on an issue of contention within the global system. Class will begin at 8:10AM on days that hot spots presentations are scheduled. Instructions for this requirement are at the end of the syllabus.
Attendance Policy:
As this course is a part of GSIS, class attendance is mandatory, and students will sign in prior to class.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The University of Memphis defines Academic Misconduct as:
Plagiarism The adoption or reproduction of ideas, words, statements, images, or works of another person as one’s own without proper attribution.
Cheating Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or aids in any academic exercise or test/examination. The term academic exercise includes all forms of work submitted for credit or hours.
Fabrication Unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.
It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of what constitutes academic misconduct. Any infractions of academic misconduct in this class will be reported and pursued according to university procedures. For more information: http://www.memphis.edu/studentconduct/misconduct.htm
SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS
Disability Resources for Students (DRS)
Any student who may need class or test accommodations based on the impact of a disability is encouraged to speak with me privately to discuss your specific needs. Students with disabilities
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should also contact Disability Resources for Students (DRS) at 110 Wilder Tower, 678-2880.
DRS coordinates accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
Grading System
Grade
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
F
Numerical Range Quality Points
93-100 4.00
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
3.84
3.33
3.00
2.67
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
60-66
0-59
2.33
2.00
1.67
1.33
1.00
0.00
ECOURSEWARE
Readings, grades, powerpoints, and other course materials will be posted on ecourseware.
Students should check ecourseware daily for announcements and updates. http://elearn.memphis.edu
CLASS SCHEDULE
**This schedule may be modified; changes will be posted on ecourseware.
**All readings must be completed before coming to class.
**All films are time permitting and will most likely not be shown in full.
Week One
**W&V = textbook. All other readings are on ecourseware.
June 6 Introduction: International Studies & Anthropology
 Defining the field of International Studies

What is Globalization? (Definitions, stages, pros and cons)

Changing definitions of citizenship in a global era
 What is Cultural Anthropology?

How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others? (Ethnocentrism, relativism, intercultural sensitivity)
Reading: W&V Chapters 1-2
June 7 Culture, Ethnography, and Perspectives on Ethics and Global Politics
 Fieldwork and Seeing the World through “The Native’s Point of View”

Ethics and ethical dilemmas in anthropology

Debate : Problem-solving in Ethics and Global Politics
Readings:
(1) Maxwell’s Demons: Disenchantment in the Field by Janet McIntosh
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(2) Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban
(3) Kant, Mill, and Sound Ethical Arguments by Kristen Andrews (note: skim 40-44; we will do these exercises in class)
June 8 Population, People Flows & the Environment
 Is the world really getting smaller? (Population distribution, carrying capacity, tragedy of the commons)

Migration & Refugees

Film : Gringo Trails

Skype with Author: Q&A: Dr. Michael Perez -- 9:50AM
Readings:
(1) W&V Chapter 4
(2) An Anthropology of Structural Violence by Paul Farmer
(3) The Non-National in Jordan: Statelessness as Structural Violence among Gaza
Refugees in Jordan by Michael Perez
June 9 Language, Culture, and Global Technologies

Do people speaking different languages experience reality differently?

How does language relate to social power and inequality?

Language revitalization
Readings:
(1) W&V Chapter 3
(2) Speaking Like a Minority: “FOB” Styles, Gender, and Racial Meanings Among Desi
Teens in Silicon Valley by Shalini Shankar
June 10 Seeking Prosperity: The Global Economy & the Meaning of Progress and
Development

What is well-being and how do we acquire it?

Why are some societies more industrially advanced than others?

Why do poor countries not modernize and develop in the same way as wealthier countries?

Are their winners and losers in global integration?
 Is the world becoming homogenized?

Film: Life & Debt

Skype with Author : Dr. Natalie Bourdon (call-in from Tanzania)
Readings:
(1) W&V Chapter 5
(2) The Price of Progress by John Bodley
(3) Whose Development?: Service-Learning Abroad and Discourses on “Doing Good” by Natalie J. Bourdon
Week Two
June 13 Sustainability across the Globe: Cultural Perspectives on the Environment &
Global Environmental Governance

Do only Western Industrialized societies protect and conserve nature?
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
Sustainable development

Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Film: Milking the Rhino

Debate: Global Environmental Governance – a proposal to create a new international environmental organization
Readings:
(1) W&V Chapter 6
(2) Seeing Conservation through a Global Lens by Jim Igoe
(3) The Pursuit of a Green Global Conscience: A Debate in Distributive Justice and
Global Environmental Governance by Vivian Bertrand
June 14 Global Foodways, Climate Change, and Migration

How do people secure an adequate, meaningful, and environmentally sustainable food supply?

How are industrial agriculture and economic globalization linked to increasing environmental and health problems?

Film: We are All Related Here

Guest lecture: The Science Behind Climate Change by Clay Francis
Reading:
(1) Migrant Farmworkers and the Pain of Picking by Seth Holmes
(2) American Meat by Donald Stull
June 15 Culture, Economics, Value & Corporate Social Responsibility across the Globe

Is money really the measure of all things?

Capital conversion/creating economic value (natural capital, political capital, social capital)

Why is gift exchange important in all societies?

Are there distinct cultures of capitalism?

Debate : Corporate Social Responsibility for Human Rights

Hot Spot Presentation: Climate Geopolitics: The Paris Meetings
Reading:
(1) W&V Chapter 7 and 13
(2) Overview of CSR for Human Rights and the Case of Burma/Myanmar by Lucinda Joy
Peach
June 16 The Cultural Construction of Identity and Hierarchy Race, Ethnicity and Class:
Understanding Identity and Social Inequality

How do people determine who they are?

How does the concept of personhood vary from society to society?

Cultural construction of race

Indigenous rights and challenges to identity

Hot Spot Presentation: The Future of Kurdistan
Reading:
(1) W&V Chapter 8 pages 153-156 (start with How Social Inequality is Constructed and stop before section on Violence)
(2) Can White Men Jump by David Shenk
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June 17 Midterm / MUN Rankings
Week Three
June 20 Power, Politics, Social Control, and Foreign Policy

The idea of politics and the problem of order

Models of political organization

Political power (defining)

Violence and Culture - Why do some societies seem more violent than others?

Hot Spot Presentation: Cuba Unleashed: Migration and Trade
Readings:
(1) W&V Chapter 8, pages 143-153; 156-163 (all parts you did not read pre-midterm)
(2) Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving: Anthropological Reflections on Cultural
Relativism and Its Others by Lila Abu-Lughod
June 21 Protecting Identity and Searching for Security

Ethnic conflict

Failed states

Armed conflict: causes, outbreak, methods and aftermaths

National security vs human security
Weapons of mass destruction and terrorism

Debate : Just War Theory and Terrorism

Guest Lecture : Nuclear Threats by Ruth Denning
Readings:
(1) Armed Conflict I: Causes and Outbreak and Armed Conflict II: Methods and
Aftermath by Brian Orend (excerpts)
(2) Just War Theory and the 2003 War Against Iraq by Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez
June 22 Conflict, War, and the Role of Anthropology

Human Terrain System and the Role of Anthropology in Role

Film: Human Terrain

Hot Spot Presentation : China & its Neighbors: Asian Hegemon?
Readings:
(1) Living and Working in a War Zone by Patricia Omidian
(2) Anthropology and Counterinsurgency by Montgomery McFate
June 23 Human Rights, Trafficking, and Undocumented Immigration

Universal human rights vs cultural relativism – a conundrum?

Realizing human rights

International human rights law

Human and organ trafficking

Hot Spot Presentation: The Refugee Crisis
Readings:
(1) The Organ Detective: A Career Spent Uncovering a Hidden Global Market in Human
Flesh by Ethan Watters
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(2) Dispelling the Myths: Unaccompanied, Undocumented Minor and US Immigration by
Susan Terrio
June 24 Non-Profit Service Learning Day
Week Four
June 27 Gender, Sex, and Sexuality: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Rethinking the male-female dichotomy

In what ways are men and women unequal?

What does it mean to be neither male nor female?

Cultural perspectives on same-sex sexuality

Controlling sexuality

Film : Babies
Readings:
(1) W&V Chapter 9
(2)
Hijra and Sādhin: Neither Man nor Woman in India by Serena Nanda
(3)
Virginity Testing as a Local Public Health Initiative: A ‘Preventative Ritual’ More
Than a ‘Diagnostic Measure’ by Annette Wickström
June 28 Kinship, Marriage and the Family

How are families structured in different societies?

How do families control wealth and power?

Why and how do people get married?

How is technology reshaping how people think about family
Readings:
(1) W&V Chapter 10
(2) When Brothers Take a Wife by Melvyn C. Goldstein
(3) Death Without Weeping by Nancy Scheper-Hughes
June 29 Religion, Ritual, Belief, and Political Action

Understanding Religion (as system of symbols, as social action)

World Religions

Rites of passage
 Film : Witch Camps
Readings:
(1) W&V, Chapter 11
(2)
No Peace in the House”: Witchcraft Accusations as an “Old Woman’s Problem” in
Ghana by Alexandra Crampton
June 30 Culture and Global Health

Disease vs illness

Social expectations of illness

The medicalization of the non-medical
 International HIV/AIDS crisis
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
Outbreaks

How can anthropology help address global health problems?

Guest Lecture: Marshallese environmental refugees and health inequalities:
Dr. Michael Duke
Readings:
(1) Read W&V, Chapter 12
(2)
Barker, Holly “Fighting Back: Justice, the Marshall Islands, and Neglected Radiation
Communities. In Barbara Rose Johnston’s (ed.)
Life and Death Matters: Human Rights,
July 1
Environment, and Social Justice. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press, Pp. 357-380
Final / International Studies Beyond the Classroom
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Policy Brief – Problem Solving in International Relations
Summer 2016
Goal: In this assignment, your job is to suggest ways to resolve some of the leading problems in the world today. You will need to assess the historical background of the particular issue, as well as the actors involved and the relevant concepts. You will also need to examine the policy choices you face as well as the trade-offs that they entail. Finally, you will present a viable resolution or set of recommendations for this particular issue, as well as some indication of how you respond to potential criticisms and why your recommendation is superior to alternatives. By researching concrete examples, the activity will (a) help you to develop research and presentation skills and (b) deepen your knowledge of how anthropological and international studies concepts and issues apply to an actual international issue of contention.
Tasks: Each group will create a Policy Brief, and all groups/members will research the areas below in order to provide the necessary background for analysis.
I. Historical Background : The historical context surrounding the issue or conflict. The goal here is to provide the basic historical knowledge to help us understand the broader context behind the issue, not to provide an exhaustive historical sketch of the actors involved. In other words, the background should be focused on the issue being examined. For example, if you are examining the Greek financial breakdown, you would focus on such issues as Greek ascension into the EU and their adoption of the Euro, including the issues that arose during this process.
2. Where Things Stand: The Current Status: Coverage should begin with the proximate events that started the conflict or the instance when it was broadly recognized that a problem first existed. This group should discuss the nature and scope of this issue, covering in particular (a) the key events, (b) the key actors and their role (c) the primary issues involved—including but not limited to economics, environmental dilemmas, ethnicity, religion, and political ideology, (d) if applicable, the extent to which international organizations and/or NGOs are involved, and (e) the current status of the conflict or issue. In all, the primary purpose of this group is to provide a concise narrative of the conflict or issue -- for lack of a better phrase, "the facts of the case."
3. Assessment and Policy Recommendations: In this segment, you will provide a succinct, wellarticulated set of concrete policy recommendations for resolving – or helping to respond to – the issue in question. Note that while your recommendation should take into account its intended recipient, you also need to take into account the broader context of your recommendations – for example, if you call for ending financial assistance to Greece (as head of the IMF) you should not ignore the effects of such a policy. The recommendations should include: a. at least three discrete policy actions, including some explanation of what these actions entail and their intended results b. a justification for the above policies, particularly why your recommendations are superior to either alternative responses and/or the status quo. This section basically gives you a chance to proactively respond to your potential critics.
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Assignments and Project Requirements:
1. Each group will be required to turn in: a. Between 15 and 20 powerpoint slides, as well as the notes that accompany these slides.
Pictures should appear in at least 75% of the slides, and using bulleted points, no more than 35 words should be contained in each slide. One of the slides should contain a map of the relevant region or area. The notes should basically be a short narrative that fleshes out the power point presentation. They can be included either as part of the powerpoint file or as a separate word file. If you choose the latter, please make sure to indicate which comments apply to which slide.
Always use proper grammar. Print out your slides and a separate document containing your notes, and turn in to the instructor for your team before you begin your presentation. Short videos are welcome, though you need to be aware of time limitations. b. An annotated bibliography of the sources used in the part of the presentation. At least
16 sources should be cited, with a minimum of five of the sources being non-US. Only four of your sources may be from assigned class readings. Though Wikipedia can be consulted it does
NOT count as a source. Use MLA or other format as specified by your instructor. Each annotation should be 3-4 sentences.
2. The presentations themselves should last a total of 15 minutes, with additional time allowed for Q&A.
3. Students will be graded on the quality of the submitted materials, as well as the effectiveness of their presentation, and the level of knowledge demonstrated about the issue and course concepts relevant to the presentation.
4. Unless instructed otherwise, presentations will begin promptly at 8:10AM. All materials should be completely ready by the time class begins.
Presentation Schedule and Topics:
Climate Geopolitics/The Paris Meeting 6/15
The Future of Kurdistan
Cuba Unleashed: Migration and Trade
6/16
6/20
China and its Neighbors/Asian Hegemon?
The Refugee Crisis
6/22
6/23
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