Department of Anthropology
ANTH 2212G-001
CULTURES OF THE PACIFIC
COURSE OUTLINE – (version date Jan 7/16)
Winter 2016
Classes: Thursday 7:00PM - 10:00PM
Location: WL258
Instructor: Douglas Campbell
Office: WSS 4133
Office hours: Thursdays 5pm -6pm or by appointment
Email: dcampb62@uwo.ca
Phone: 519-661-2111 x85950
Prerequisite(s): Any Arts and Humanities or Social
Science 0.5 or 1.0 Essay course.
Antirequisite(s): First Nations Studies 2212F/G
____________________________________________________________________________________
CULTURES OF THE PACIFIC
Taking the idea of the Pacific as a starting point this course is an exploration of the diverse ways members
of different Pacific societies participate in and respond to some of the fundamental issues facing
humanity. To do so we will critically investigate the work of anthropologists as well as filmmakers,
artists, writers and pop media producers who turn Pacific peoples into an array of spectacles, dangers, lost
and found lives, survivors, victims, warriors, protectors, performers, seers, healers, magicians, consumers,
producers, activists, beacons and whatever else we can imagine. Through selected examples from
Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia this course will reveal how people often understood as peripheral
are at the centre of global processes.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:
• analyze the underlying assumptions of Western representations of the Pacific.
• recognize how Pacific peoples’ lives are lived at the intersection of global processes.
• interpret anthropological knowledge about Pacific cultures.
• gain insights into how Pacific peoples make meaning of their lives and experience.
• have an awareness of our mutual struggles for identity and self determination as contemporaries
grounded in local specificities and experience.
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COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
Assignment
Value
Due Date
Ethnographic Assignment
Midterm Exam
Presentation/Participation
Research Paper
Final Exam
5%
20%
10%
35%
30%
February 4
February 11
February 25 – March 24
March 31
TBA
COURSE TEXTS
You are not required to purchase any books for this course. Readings and lecture presentations will be
accessed through links posted on the course’s OWL portal.
Note: This course outline will be revised as the course progresses. The current course outline will be
posted on the OWL portal and you will be informed of any changes during lectures. This Course
Schedule includes proposed lecture topics, materials and readings.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Date / Topic / Readings and Films
1. JANUARY 7
Topic:
Readings:
Film:
Introduction:
Lockwood, The Global Imperative and Pacific Island Societies pp. 7-39
South Pacific, Dr. Strangelove, Mutiny on the Bounty (excerpts)
2. JANUARY 14
Topic:
Close Encounters: Tourism
Readings: Bruner, “Of Cannibals, Tourists
a
and Ethnographers”
Silverman, Cannibalizing,
Commodifying or Creating
Culture? Power and Art in
Sepik River Tourism
Film:
3. JANUARY 21
Topic:
Readings:
Film:
Reality Comes to Vanuatu
Delisle, Surviving American Imperialism
Rodman and Rodman, To Die On Ambae
Troost, Getting Stoned With Savages pp. 56-67
Reality Comes to Vanuatu
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Cannibal Tours
4. JANUARY 28
Topics:
Readings:
Film:
5. FEBRUARY 4
Topics:
Readings:
Film:
6. FEBRUARY 11
Vanuatu: Magic of Modernity
Mitchell, ‘Operation Restore
Public Hope’: Youth and the
Magic of Modernity in Vanuatu
Mitchell, “Killing Time” in a
Postcolonial Town: Young
People and Settlements in Port
Vila, Vanuatu
Kilim Taem
ETHNOGRAPHIC EXERCISE DUE
Woman Ikat Raet
Jolly, Woman Ikat Raet Long Human Raet O No?: Women’s Rights, Human
Rights and Domestic Violence in Vanuatu
Butt, “Secret Sex”: Youth, Agency, and Changing Sexual Boundaries in
Highlands Papua
Cummings, Looking Good: The Cultural Politics of the Island Dress for Young
Women in Vanuatu
Wan Naes Wan
MIDTERM EXAM
7. FEBRUARY 25
Topic:
Readings:
Films:
8. MARCH 3
Topic:
Readings:
Films:
9. MARCH 10
Topic:
Readings:
Film:
(presentations: groups 1 and 2)
Lost Tribes: The Cannibal in the
Room
Lindstrom, They Sold Adventure: Martin
and Osa Johnson in the New Hebrides
Lemonnier, The Hunt for Authenticity:
Stone Age Stories out of Context
Tribe Meets White Man for the First Time
DISCUSSION PIECE DUE
(presentations: groups 3 and 4)
Changing Ground
Barker, Films and Other Trials: Reflections on Long-Term Fieldwork Among the
Maisin, Papua New Guinea
Shiltz, Film Anthropology on Trial Criticized
Changing Ground
Anthropology on Trial (excerpt)
(presentations: groups 5 and 6)
Black Harvest
West, Making the Market: Specialty Coffee, Generational Pitches, and Papua
New Guinea
Henry, ‘Smoke in the Hills, Gunfire in the Valley’: War and Peace in Western
Highlands, Papua New Guinea
Black Harvest
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10. MARCH 17
Topic:
Readings:
Film:
11. MARCH 24
Topic:
Readings:
Film:
12. MARCH 31
Topic:
Readings:
Media:
(presentations: groups 7 and 8)
No Ordinary Sun
Teaiwa, Bikinis and other s/pacific n/oceans
Rosen, A Marshallese Security Guard “Talks Story”
Makhijani, Never-Ending Story
Radio Bikinni
Half Life (excerpts)
(presentations: group 9)
Fa’aSamoa: Ideals of gender
Schmidt, Ideals of Gender: Men, Women and Fa’afafine in Fa’aSamoa
Schmidt, Paradise Lost?: Social Change and Fa’afafine in Samoa
Paradise Bent
RESEARCH PAPER DUE
Cultures of the Pacific: Reprise
Montgomery, The Secret of West Vanua
Lava (Pp. 133-150)
A Blessing and a Curse
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Ethnographic Exercise:
To complete this written assignment you must first watch ONE of
the two online videos listed below. For the duration of the video you
will be adopting the sensibility of an anthropologist doing fieldwork.
While you are watching take fieldnotes. Your notes will become the
basis of your written assignment. You should make notes about what
you see and hear including both the content and the form of the
video. You may also want to make note of how the video makes you
feel and how it relates to the themes of the course. After you have
finished watching (multiple viewings are fine) you will write an interpretive analysis of your own
fieldnotes. This analysis should be reflexive, meaning you are being critical of your initial observations
based on the analytical perspective you have gained throughout the course. It is highly recommended that
you carry out your fieldwork by yourself so that your observations and your particular experience as a
researcher are reflected in your written work. Additional details and suggestions to guide you in this
assignment will be provided during lectures.
• Length: 2 pages minimum. 3 pages maximum. Double spaced.
• Put your name, student #, date, course information, and the title of the video you are writing
about on a separate title page.
• Write in the first person.
• References are not required
• Avoid reading any reviews
Video 1: “3D Chief”
Video 2: “Meet The Natives”
(8:30) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qQZC19lOew
(9:43) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV9GRNKqOKw
Due: February 4. Value 5%
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2. Research Paper:
The research paper may be on a topic of your choice. This is a course about “Cultures of the Pacific” so
the where and the who must be about Pacific peoples. New Zealand and Hawaii are NOT included as
research sites for this paper. There is no research proposal component. However, you are required to see
me during my office hours to have your topic approved. If your topic is not approved your paper will not
be accepted. Come with a prepared research question and four references that indicate there are academic
sources available that relate to your research question. Research paper topics cannot duplicate in-class
presentation topics.
•
•
Length 8 pages minimum. 10 pages maximum. Double spaced.
See the Paper Guidelines document on the OWL site for details about this assignment
Due: March 31. Value 35%
3. Presentation/Participation
In the second half of the course you are required to do a three person in-class group presentation. A
schedule will be circulated with presentation dates and suggested topics. The presentation should be no
more than 25 minutes: 15-20 minutes for the presentation and 5-10 minutes for discussion. Presentations
topics will deal with current issues affecting communities in the Pacific. Your goal is to inform the class
about the issue and local responses. You will be expected to incorporate media sources - both mainstream
and alternative, and scholarly sources. The objectives of group presentations are: to broaden your
knowledge of the Pacific; enhance your research, analytical, and oral skills; to acquire experience in
collective projects; and to engage the class in discussion. The criteria used to evaluate presentations are as
follows:
• Background/Context/Analysis: The group is expected to situate the issue they are covering within
its historical, social and/or political contexts and larger debates.
• Clarity/Organization: The group is expected to make a clear presentation, and define and explain
concepts. Media should be effectively incorporated if used.
• Cooperation: There should be evidence of fair and even distribution of work among group
members.
• Class discussion: The group should be prepared to stimulate discussion with prepared questions
and a good grasp of the issue.
4. Exams
There are two exams for this course. A mid-term exam will be held during our regularly scheduled class
period on February 11, 2016. The final exam will be scheduled by the registrar during the examination
period April 9-30, 2016. To answer exam questions you will be required to use specific examples from
course materials. Course materials include all assigned readings and all lecture material including films
and multi-media. Electronic devices will not be allowed during tests and examinations.
Formatting Writing Assignments:
There are two writing assignments for the course: the Ethnographic Exercise and the Research Paper. All
assignments will be typed using a 12 point font (Times New Roman), with left/right and top/bottom
margins set to 1 inch. The pages will be numbered. The assignments must be spell checked. You must
provide a cover page with your name, student number, the date, the course information and the title of the
assignment. The pages must be stapled together (no loose pages, no folders, no plastic covers).
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Handing in Writing Assignments:
You must provide a hard copy to be handed in at the beginning of class. An electronic copy to be
submitted through OWL is only required if requested by the course instructor. Late assignments can be
placed in the drop box in the Anthropology Department (outside SSC 3326). The drop box is cleared each
morning and papers are date stamped at the start of working hours. Assignments left in my personal
mailboxes in the Anthropology department or the Writing Support Centre will not be graded.
Late Penalties:
Note that you must complete the course requirements according to the timeline provided in this document
as no extensions will be granted. Any assignments submitted after their respective due dates will be
subject to a late penalty of 2% of your final grade per day, including non-class days, holidays and
weekends. If you do not hand-in written assignments or do not write exams a mark of 0 (zero) will be
assigned for that assignment or exam. There will be no make-up assignments or exams.
The only possible exceptions to the rules outlined here are cases in which compelling medical or
compassionate grounds can be documented, and where academic accommodation may be allowed. In
such cases adequate documentation must be submitted to Academic Counseling of your home faculty,
according to the terms of the Senate policy regarding medical accommodation as specified at:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf_
The University Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness is available at
https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm
Course Guidelines:
1. All electronic devices such as cell phones must be turned off. The use of recording devices of any kind
is not allowed. You may use a laptop computer in class for taking notes only.
2. Please limit email to the course instructor to questions about the course requirements and organization.
If you have questions about the course content please come and see me during my office hours.
3. Please note that language and conduct that is offensive, hateful, abusive and/or exclusive will not be
tolerated in this class; this applies to written assignments and exams as well.
Prerequisite checking:
Prerequisite(s): Any Arts and Humanities or Social Science 0.5 or 1.0 Essay course.
Antirequisite(s): First Nations Studies 2212F/G
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the prerequisite(s) for this course. Unless you have either
the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be
removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You
will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have
the necessary prerequisites.
Accessibility at Western:
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any
other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.
Western’s commitment to Accessibility, visit:
http://wss.uwo.ca/Student%20Services%20Organizational%20Units/Accessibility%20at%20Western/ind
ex.html
Student Development Services http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/ssd/ has staff members who specialize in assisting
students with various disabilities to adjust to the university environment. These disabilities include, but
are not limited to, vision, hearing and mobility impairments, learning disabilities, chronic illnesses,
chronic pain, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders. Students who require special accommodations
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for disabilities should make a formal request through Student Development Services as early in the
semester as possible.
Plagiarism and Scholastic Offences
Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy,
specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following website:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea or
a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where
appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic
offense.
Written Work:
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial
plagiarism detection software under license to the University. All papers submitted for such checking will
be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of
papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement
currently in place between The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com
(http://www.turnitin.com).
Evidence of suspected plagiarism will be reported to the Department Chair, who will give the student an
opportunity to respond to the allegation. Where a determination of plagiarism has been made, the Chair
shall assess appropriate penalties up to and including a zero on the assignment and failure in the course.
The case will be reported to the Dean, who may assess additional penalties.
Accommodation for Medical Illness:
In all cases where accommodation is being sought for work totaling 10% or more of the final grade,
students should go to their Faculty Academic Counseling, and not to the instructor, from where it will be
determined if accommodation is warranted and to acquire the appropriate paper work. Please see the
following link of Western’s Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Writing Support Centre:
Check out their services at www.sdc.uwo/writing. Make a writing counselling appointment by calling
519-661-3655.
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