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ANTHROPOLOGY 491
SENIOR SEMINAR IN ANTHROPOLOGY
Course Syllabus—Spring 2007
Instructor: Dr. Mark D. Groover, Burkhardt Building, Anthropology Department (third floor), Room 305;
phone: 765-285-3567, email: mdgroover@bsu.edu; office hours: MW 8:30-10:30, 12:00-1:30 and by appointment.
Class Location: Burkhardt Building, Anthropology Department (third floor), Room 309, MW, 8:30-10:00, 1:00-4:30 PM
Textbook: Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Anthropology, 2005, third edition, Kirk M. Endicott
and Robert L. Welsch, McGraw-Hill-Dushkin, Dubuque, Iowa.
Course Web Page: http://mdgroover.iweb.bsu.edu The course syllabus and the class assignments are located at this
web page.
Course Description: ANTH 491, Senior Seminar in Anthropology. This course integrates knowledge of current
theoretical and methodological issues in the four quadrants of anthropology. The course provides a setting for students to
explore their own theoretical interests and present them coherently.
Paralleling the structure of the textbook used in the course, the class is divided into four main content sections,
consisting of biological anthropology, archaeology, cultural anthropology/linguistics, and ethics in anthropology. The
readings present prominent debates and issues in anthropology. The readings will provide students with current
knowledge related to timely anthropological issues. More importantly, the readings are used to illustrate how leading
authorities in anthropology present explanatory/interpretive arguments. These critical thinking skills are in turn useful
career and research skills. In addition to the discussion of assigned readings, each Friday class meeting will be devoted to
career development skills. During the career development class periods, practical topics will be discussed that can help
individuals in the immediate future, such as understanding the research process, identifying research topics, and preparing
curriculum vitae and other types of career-related documents.
The course content will consist of assigned readings, student presentations, student writing assignments, and
lectures by the instructor. Student presentations will focus upon the issues presented in Taking Sides and the reading
packet. The course is a seminar, which means that discussion will occur in an informal but focused format.
Consequently, it is expected that students will be prepared for class and be ready to contribute to the discussion. Writing
assignments will consist of summary essays of each readings topic and also career related writing exercises.
Grading:
Exam 1: 25%
Exam 2: 25%
Term Paper: 25%
Writing Assignments: 20%
Class Presentations/Discussion/Attendance: 5%
Your grade for the course is based on four evaluation categories:
1) A midterm and final exam that comprises 50 percent of your grade (25 percent for each exam);
2) The term paper for the course that comprises 25 percent of your grade;
3) Writing assignments that represent 20 percent of your grade. The writing assignments consist of a 1-2 page essay for
each class topic. The essay should briefly summarize the issue discussed in the readings and present your position on the
topic. In addition to the class topic essays, several writing exercises related to career development will also be assigned.
4) The remaining 5 percent of you grade is based upon class discussion/participation and attendance. Students will lead
discussion of specific readings topics and are expected to participate in class discussions.
Attendance Policy:
It is expected that students will attend all class meetings.
Student Disability Policy: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have
emergency medical information to share with the instructor, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must
be evacuated, please make an appointment with the instructor as soon as possible. My office hours are listed at the top of
the course schedule.
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ANTHROPOLOGY 491, SENIOR SEMINAR IN ANTHROPOLOGY
Course Schedule—Spring Semester 2007
Class Topic
Source
Day
Course Introduction:
Anth Theory and Issues: An Overview
Monday, January 8
Wednesday, January 10
Fighting for Our Lives
Taking Sides, 3rd Edition
Introduction (TS.3)
RP
Career Development (CD): The Research Process
Instructor Lecture (IL)
Friday, January 12
MLK Day, No Class Meeting
Monday, January 15
CD Assignment 1 Instructions Distributed: Research Interest Essay
Due Friday, January 26
Part 1: Biological Anthropology
Multiregional vs. Replacement Models
Reading Packet (RP):
Taking Sides, 2nd Edition
(TS.2) Issue 1
CD Topic: Exploring a Research Topic
IL
Wednesday, January 17
Friday, January 19
Neandertals
TS.3 Issue 3
Monday, January 22
Race Concept
TS.3 Issue 1
Wednesday, January 24
CD Topic: Putting Ideas to Paper
IL
Friday, January 26
CD Assignment 1: Research Interest Essay
Due in Class Friday, January 26
Discuss Research Interest Essays
Discuss CD Assignment 2: Term Paper Proposal
Human Violence
Prehistory of Warfare
TS.3 Issue 2
RP
Monday, January 29
TS.3 Issue 4
Wednesday, January 31
Part 2: Archaeology
Peopling of the Americas
CD Topic: Revising and Editing
CD Assignment 2: Term Paper Proposals Due
Exchange Term Paper Proposals
IL
Friday, February 2
Peopling of the Americas, cont.
Who’s on First?
RP
Monday, February 5
Processul vs Postprocessual Perspectives
RP
Wednesday, February 7
CD Topic: Professional Societies and Graduate Schools
IL
Friday, February 9
CD Assignment 3: Locate and bring to class employment notice
and graduate program description for your area
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Class Topic
Source
Day
Women in the Past
The Great Goddess In Europe: Fact or Fiction?
New Woman of the Ice Age
Woman the Toolmaker
TS.3 Issue 5
RP
RP
Monday, February 12
Cannibalism and the Anasazi
Archaeologists Rediscover Cannibals
Living Through the Donner Party
TS.3 Issue 6
RP
RP
Wednesday, February 14
CD Topic: Curriculum Vitae and Cover Letters
CD Assignment 4 Due: CV and cover letter Due
IL
Friday, February 16
Revisiting Northern Slavery
The Iceman Reconsidered
RP
RP
Monday, February 19
Fringe Archaeology and Ownership of the Past
Archaeology from the Dark Side
Ownership and Control of Ethnographic Materials
The World Wide Web of Antiquities
Last Word on Kennewick Man?
RP
RP
RP
RP
CD Topic: Bibliographies and Literature Reviews
IL
Wednesday, February 21
Friday, February 23
Part 3: Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics
Cultural Anthropology and the Natural Sciences
TS.3 Issue 9
Monday, February 26
Native Peoples and Invented Traditions
TS.3 Issue 11
Wednesday, February 28
CD Topic: Document Titles and Abstracts
Mid-Term Exam Distributed
IL
Friday, March 2
Islam and Women
RP TS.2 Issue 13
Monday, March 5
Illness and Culture
TS.3 Issue 14
Wednesday, March 7
CD Topic: Conference Papers/Posters
Mid-Term Exam Due
IL
Spring Break
Friday, March 9
March 11 to 18
Margaret Mead and Samoa
TS.3 Issue 10
Monday, March 19
Ethnic Conflict
TS.3 Issue 15
Wednesday, March 21
CD Topic: Data Bases & Quantitative Analysis
IL
Friday, March 23
San Hunter-Gatherers
TS.3 Issue 13
Monday, March 26
Sexually Egalitarian Societies
RP TS.2 Issue 11
Wednesday, March 28
CD: Anthropology Internet Sources
CD Assignment 5: Bib and Lit Review Due
Friday, March 30
Apes and Language
TS.3 Issue 7
Monday, April 2
Language and Reality
TS.3 Issue 8
Wednesday, April 4
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Class Topic
Source
Day
Part 4: Ethics in Anthropology
Progress and indigenous people
The Price of Progress
What Native Peoples Deserve
Friday, April 6
RP
RP
Native American Skeletal Remains and Archaeology TS.3 Issue 16
Monday, April 9
Chagnon and the Yanomami
TS.3 Issue 17
Wednesday, April 11
Museums and Cultural Representations
TS.3 Issue 18
Friday, April 13
Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights
RP
Monday, April 16
Anthro in the News
H. Floresiensis
The Littlest Human
The Dikika Baby
RP
RP
Wednesday, April 18
The Future
The Last Americans
Pushing Beyond the Earth’s Limits
RP
RP
Friday, April 20
Term Paper Presentations
Monday, April 23
Presentations
Wednesday, April 25
Presentations
Term Papers Due
Friday, April 27
Final Exam
Tuesday, May 1
12:00-2:00 Burkhardt Building,
Room 309
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Anthropology 491
Senior Seminar
Spring 2007