ANTY 403E: Ethics and Anthropology
Information
Classroom: LA 11, Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:40-2:00 P.M.
G.G. Weix Professor
Office: Social Sciences 223
Office hours: MTWRF 7:00-8:00 a.m.
Phone: 243-6319
Teaching Assistant: Cheyenne Laue
Office: Social Sciences 240
Office hours: MTW 9:00-12:00 p.m. or appt.
Cheyenne.Laue@umconnect.umt.edu
GG.Weix@mso.umt.edu
Catalog Description: Offered spring odd-numbered years. Prereq ANTY 101H or 220S, or consent of
instr. Ethical and anthropological modes of inquiry in relation to each other. Focus on the sociocultural
subfield as well as ethical issues in physical anthropology and archaeology.
Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to:
1) Explain core concepts and reasoning in ethical decision-making;
2) Explain and apply anthropological approaches to ethical reasoning and decision-making;
3) Assess and critically evaluate ethical claims and reasoning in cross-cultural perspective.
Attendance: Required for all class meetings, including the final exam period Tuesday May 12th 1:00-3:00
P.M. The penalty for unexcused absences is a lower final grade.
Evaluation Students registered for traditional grade and/or credit must complete all writing assignments
and exams by submitting them on the Moodle supplement by the due dates posted. Course evaluation is
based on consistent attendance and participation in class activities, and total points earned in the following
1) attendance/participation, 60 points; 2) ten weekly writing assignments, 200 points; 3) a midterm
exam, 50 points; 4) a final writing project, first draft 15 points, and final revision, 100 points, and 4) a final
exam 75 points. Final grades are based on the total points earned: 450-500 A; 400-449 B; 350-399 C; 300349 D, and below 300 F. (+ and – are at discretion of the instructor).
Accessibility: Students with documented disabilities are responsible to contact instructors during the
first week of the semester to discuss appropriate accommodations to ensure equity in grading, classroom
experiences, and outside assignments. The instructor and teaching assistant will work with the student
and the staff of the Disability Services for Students (DSS) to make accommodations. Please contact DSS
(243.2373, Lommasson Center 154) for more information.
Academic Policies
University policies on drops, adds, changes of grade option, or change to audit status will be strictly
enforced. These policies are described at http://www.umt.edu/registrar/students/dropadd. An incomplete
final grade will be considered only when requested by the student. At the discretion of the instructor,
incompletes are given to students who have completed 60% of the course assignments with passing
grades, and have missed a portion of the class due to documented serious health or personal problems
during the semester. Students have one year to complete the course; requirements are negotiated on a
case-by- case basis.
Electronic devices and email
Cell phones and other electronic devices should be turned off for the duration of class. Students who text in
class and distract other students will be asked to leave. Laptop users must sit in the first row of the
classroom. Please use official UM account to send and receive email related to the course.
Make-up work
University policy states that make-up work is allowed when a student can document that absences are due
to participation in a University sponsored activity, which includes field trips, ASUM service, music or drama
performances, intercollegiate athletic events, military service or mandatory public service (e.g., jury duty).
To request make-up work for a missed class, a student must provide official documentation, and complete
the assignment within one week. This does not apply to writing assignments and exams, since they are
posted to Moodle one week prior to the due date. In the case of severe illness or emergency, exceptions
will be made on a case-by-case basis, and extensions granted for up to one week. Contact the instructor
with documentation regarding the nature of the illness or emergency.
Extra credit
There are no extra credit assignments offered in this course.
Code of Conduct
All students are expected to perform in accordance with the Student Conduct Code. The code is available at
http://life.umt.edu/vpsa/student_conduct.php. Assignments referring to sources should conform to the
American Anthropological Association style guide: http://www.aaanet.org/publications/style_guide.pdf
(http://www.umt.edu/catalog/academics/academic-policy- procedure.php ) Plagiarism is representing
another's work as one's own. It is a particularly intolerable offense in the academic community and is
strictly forbidden. Students who plagiarize may fail the course and may be remanded to Academic Court for
possible suspension or expulsion. Students must always be very careful to acknowledge any kind of
borrowing that is included in their work. This means not only borrowed wording, but also ideas.
Acknowledgment of whatever is not one's own original work is the proper and honest use of citation of
sources. Failure to acknowledge whatever is not one's own original work is plagiarism.
Required Readings
Weekly readings and commentary assignments are posted to Moodle http://umonline.umt.edu/. Technical
support is provided at http://umonline.umt.edu/techsupport/helpdesk.aspx.
SYLLABUS
WEEK ONE: Ethics, Writing and Theory
January
27
Introduction: Syllabus, pre-test, goals and expectations
29
AAA Code of Ethics— discussion of professional ethics
Reading: Whiteford, Whiteford and Trotter, Sterba
EEK TWO: Ethics (and) Anthropology: Modes of Inquiry
February
3
Liberal Arts and General Education
5
Moral and intellectual development
Reading: Perry. Nussbaum
WEEK THREE:
Relativism and Commitment
February
10
Cultural/Conceptual vs. Moral Relativism
12
Compared to What? Commitment and Alternatives
Reading: Carson and Moser, Cowan, Rachels, Struhl, Trigg
WEEK FOUR:
Personhood and Respect
February
17
Concepts of Person and Self
19
Loss, Suffering, Harm, and Healing
Reading: Allen, Appiah, Carrithers, Pels
WEEK FIVE:
Agency and Imperatives
February
24
Agents and Actions
26
Violence, law and legitimacy
Reading: Jeganthan, Moskos, Ross
WEEK SIX:
Forms of Justice
March 3
Auditing Love and Fairness
5
Film: The Anthropologist, Discussion of archives
Reading: Strathern (Intro) James, Taylor
WEEK SEVEN:
Human Values
March 10
Film: The Life and Times of Sara Baartman: Venus Hottentot, Discussion of museums
12
Film: Leona’s Sister, Gerri, Discussion of forensic sciences
Reading: Harris, Geertz, Rosaldo, Schirmer
MIDTERM Due Friday, March 13th
WEEK EIGHT:
Rationality and Justification
March 17
Tests of Validity
19
Justification (class meets in the Buckhouse Room, Mansfield Library)
Reading: Barnett, Endicott, Price, Wakin
WEEK NINE:
March 24
26
Hierarchy and Obligation
Sanctions and Shame vs. Guilt
Film: Nanook of the North, Revisisted, Discussion of ethnographic films
Reading: Downing, Goodale, Meskell and Pels, Turner
SPRING BREAK March 28 – April 5
WEEK TEN:
Final Writing Project first draft due April 10th
Affinities and Autonomy
April
7
Affinities, Interests, and Autonomy
9
Allegories of Cultural Identity
Reading: Kahn, Ross, Strathern (chapters 1 and 3)
WEEK ELEVEN:
Responsibilities and Rights
Project feedback returned by April 14th
April
14
NAGPRA and Bioarchaeology
16
TIPO Summit (participation to be arranged)
Reading: Nader, Sen
WEEK TWELVE:
Ethical Politics and the Politics of Ethics
April
Collective Action and Politics
Human Rights (CSWA Conference: Panel attendance Thursday and/or Friday)
21
23
WEEK THIRTEEN: Morality and Culture
April
28
30
An Anthropology of Otherwise
Fieldwork and the Classroom
Final Writing Projects due Friday May 1st
WEEK FOURTEEN: Writing Up and Down
MAY
5
7
Final Exam due Tuesday, May 12th
Academic Governance
Anthropology and Policy
Final: Tuesday, May 12 1:10-3:00 P.M. Course Evaluation and Post-Test
Group VIII
Ethics and Human Values courses familiarize students with one or more traditions of ethical
thought. These courses rigorously present the basic concepts and forms of reasoning that
define and distinguish each tradition. The focus of these courses may be on one or more of
these traditions, or on a concept such as justice or the good life as conceptualized within
one or more of these traditions, or on a professional practice within a particular tradition.
Upon completion of an Ethics and Human Values course, students will be able to:
* apply correctly the basic concepts and forms of reasoning from the tradition, professional
practice they studied to ethical issues that arise within those traditions or practices;
* analyze and critically evaluate the basic concepts and forms of reasoning from the
tradition or professional practice they studied.