Oberlin College
Department of Anthropology
Spring '09
Office:
Hrs. MW
Th
F
Jack Glazier
King 320B
3:30-4:30
3:00-4:00
3:30-4:00
Anthropology 432
Seminar: Anthropology and Ethics
Thursday, 1:00-2:45
King 325
This seminar will explore the question of ethics across
three subfields of anthropology. We are concerned with the
moral duties of anthropologists as they pursue, research,
publication, and teaching. But whose morals? Does our
professional commitment to cultural relativism stifle
collective efforts to establish professional standards of
conduct in every situation? Anthropologists bear personal
and professional responsibilities to the discipline, to
humanity, and to other species integral to anthropological
research. We are interested in codes of professional
conduct that anthropologists have developed to govern the
ethical pursuit of knowledge in cultural, archeological,
biological, and linguistic anthropology. We will be
concerned with specific case studies of ethical breaches,
conflicts, dilemmas, ambiguities, and professional
disagreements over ethical issues as these matters have
been taken up by the American Anthropological Association.
We meet once a week for discussion of the week’s readings.
Students will be expected to post a commentary on the
readings by Thursday morning at 10:00. We will use the
Discussion Board on Blackboard.
These weekly “papers”
should provide a good basis for discussion; you can compare
issues raised in different readings, criticize the authors
findings or ethical position, or otherwise show your active
engagement with the material. Students will also prepare a
term paper (approximately 15-pages) for presentation and
submission at the end of the semester. Topics will be
suggested as we proceed but consultation with the
instructor is essential in settling on a direction for the
paper.
The Course Grade will be based on your participation and
contribution to the seminar (50%) and your term paper
(50%). Since this is a seminar and not a lecture course, we
depend on each person as an active contributor to our
weekly discussions.
Our assigned readings will be available as marked:
JSTOR, Blackboard, or the WEB
February 5
Getting Started
WEB
Recent changes in ethics code:
http://www.aaanet.org/issues/policyadvocacy/Proposed-Changes-to-the-Ethics-Code.cfm
(2008)
Statements on Ethics, Principles of Professional
Responsibility, from the American Anthropological
Association:
http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethcode.htm
(1998)
Commission to Review the AAA Statements on Ethics
Final Report (1995)
http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethrpt.htm
In class video:
“Obedience”
VCR 1814
Feb 12
Overview
Blackboard
Fluehr-Lobban, "Ethics and Professionalism", ETHICS AND THE
PROFESSION OF ANTHROPOLOGY, Fluehr-Lobban, editor
Berreman, "Ethics versus Realism in Anthropology", ETHICS
AND THE PROFESSION OF ANTHROPOLOGY, Flueuhr-Lobban, editor
Hakken, "Anthropological Ethics in the 1990s", ETHICS AND
THE PROFESSION OF ANTHROPOLOGY, Fluehr-Lobban, editor
Barnes, “Social Research in an Ethical Context”
Feb 19
Cases and Solutions
WEB
http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ch3.htm
http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ch4.htm
Feb 26
On Relativism: Ethical, Moral, Cultural
JSTOR
Merrilee Salmon
“Ethical Considerations in Anthropology and Archaeology, or
Relativism and Justice for All”
in
Journal of Anthropological Research > Vol. 53, No. 1
(Spring, 1997), pp. 47-63
BLACKBOARD
Hatch, CULTURE AND MORALITY
three chapters
“The Facets of Relativism”
“The Call for Tolerance”
“A Working Alternative”
Mar 5
Cont’d
JSTOR Six Articles in the Journal of Anthropological Research
Vol 53, No. 3: Universal Human Rights versus Cultural Relativity
http://www.jstor.org/cgibin/jstor/viewitem/00917710/ap060099/06a00010/0?frame=
noframe&dpi=3&backcontext=page
Mar 12
Biological Anthropology
Anthropology and Non-Humans:
Primates and the Background of
Animal Experimentation
BLACKBOARD
Wolfe, "Field Primatologists.....", BIOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHICS, Turner, editor
Nash, "Studies of Primates in the Field and in
Captivity:.....", BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHICS,
Turner, editor
Kaplan, "Commentary: Ethical Issues Surrounding the
Use of Nonhuman.....", BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHICS,
Turner, editor
Walsh-Haney, et. al, "Ethical Concerns in Forensic
Anthropology", BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHICS, Turner,
editor
Friedlaender, "Commentary: Changing Standards of Informed
Consent:....."BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLGY AND ETHICS, Turner,
editor
WEB
Code of Ethics of the American Association of Physical
Anthropologists
http://www.physanth.org/positions/ethics.pdf
Chimpanzees in Research
http://www.asp.org/society/resolutions/chimp_resolution.html
Mar 19
Anthropology and the American Indian:
Archeology, Museums, Repatriation
WEB
Draft: AAA Committee on Ethics (CoE)
Response to the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD)
Report on the Loan of Archaeological and Ancient Artworks.
http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/draft_bp010707.htm
Society of American Archeology
Principles of Archaeological Ethics
http://www.saa.org/ABOUTSAA/COMMITTEES/ethics/principles.html
Debating Nagpra’s Effects
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/native/debate.html
JSTOR
Ferguson, T.J.
“Native Americans and the Practice of Archaeology”
Lynott, Mark
“Ethical Principles and
Archaeological Practice: Development
of an Ethics Policy
Jones, D. Gareth, and Harris, Robyn J.
“Archeological Remains: Scientific, Cultural and
Ethical Considerations”
Watkins, Joe
“Beyond the Margin: American Indians, First Nations,
and Archeology in North America”
SPRING BREAK: MARCH 21-29
April 2
Instructor Out of Town
We will schedule a video:
“Yanomamo a Multidisciplinary Study”
This will help set the stage for our discussion of the
Yanomamo controversy, which roiled the profession for
several years beginning in 2000
Apr 9
The Yanomamo Controversy
BLACKBOARD
Tierney, "The Fierce Anthropologist", THE NEW YORKER,
October 9, 2000
Turner, et. al., "Darkness in El Dorado:...."BIOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHICS, Turner, editor
Gregor and Gross, "Guilt by Association:....", ETHICS FORUM
JSTOR
Anthropology and Public Culture: The Yanomami, Science and
Ethics
Stephen Nugent
Anthropology Today > Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jun., 2001), pp. 10-14
WEB
Rescission of the El Dorado Task Force Report
http://www.aaanet.org/press/ma_eldorado_rescinds.htm
Recommended
Final Report of the El Dorado Task Force
http://www.aaanet.org/edtf/index.htm
April 16
Anthropologists in War and Counterinsurgency
BLACKBOARD
Packer, "Knowing the Enemy", THE NEW YORKER, Dec. 18, 2006
(Iraq)
Ad Hoc Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with
Security and Intelligence Communities on Wednesday,
November 28th, 2007
http://dev.aaanet.org/press/PM_112807.htm
The following four are in a single BB file named for
the first article by Price
Price, “Buying a Piece of Anthropology
Gonzalez, “Toward Mercenary Anthropology”
Kilcullen, “Ethics, Politics, and non-State Warfare”
McFate, “Building Bridges or Burning Heretics”
Price, "Anthropologists as Spies", ANTHROPOLOGISTS IN THE
PUBLIC SPHERE
Using the Web, each student should bring in one article
from the popular press about Anthropologists engaged in
work for the military in Afghanistan and Iraq
WEB
Anthropologists and torture
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/22/anthro
Recommended:
Berreman, “Contemporary Anthropology and Moral Accountability”
April 23
Ethical Issues in Medical Anthropology
JSTOR
Anthropology, Bioethics, and Medicine: A Provocative
Trilogy
Jessica H. Muller
Medical Anthropology Quarterly > New Series, Vol. 8, No. 4,
Conceptual Development in Medical Anthropology: A Tribute to M.
Margaret Clark (Dec., 1994), pp. 448-467
Anthropology and Bioethics
Patricia A. Marshall
Medical Anthropology Quarterly > New Series, Vol. 6, No. 1
(Mar., 1992), pp. 49-73
http://www.jstor.org/browse/00035491/ap000175
This JSTOR site will take you a special
issue of Anthropological Quarterly where the articles by
Pollock and Kemp can be found
Pollock, Donald
“Healing Dilemmas”
Kemp, Judith
“Collecting Medical Specimens in South America: A
Dilemma in Medical Ethics”
April 30
Institutional Review Boards
And Animal Oversight Committees
WEB
AAA Statement on Anthropology and Institutional Review Boards
http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/irb.htm
AAA Response to National Bioethics Advisory Commission
(NBAC) report on Human Research Ethics
http://www.aaanet.org/gvt/resnbac.htm
Human Subjects Protections and Anthropology
Stuart Plattner, NSF
http://www.aaanet.org/press/an/infocus/hrp/Plattner.htm
JSTOR
Marshall, Patricia
“Human Subjects Protections, Institutional Review Boards,
and Cultural Anthropological Research”
Gordon, Elisa J.
“Trials and Tribulations of Navigating IRBs . . .”
May 7
Paper Presentations