Schedule of Readings

READINGS WITH AN (‘R’) NEXT TO THEM WILL BE ON RESERVE. Electronic versions of these articles are available online through Bailey-Howe’s Voyager. A hard copy of every reserve reading will always be available in the Anthropology Department office – 509 Williams Hall, open 8:00am-4:30pm. The reading should be done before the class date under which they are listed. Unless otherwise noted as “Recommended,” all readings are required.

Problem #1: Why is a cultural perspective important for understanding environmental issues?

Mon. Jan. 14: Introduction to the course, instructor’s expectations, requirements, etc.

No reading

Wed. Jan. 16: The Interconnectedness of Biological and Cultural Diversity

Reading: 1.  Nabhan, Gary Paul (1997) “Pledging Allegiance to All Sorts of Diversity.” In Cultures of Habitat: On Nature, Culture, and Story. Washington, DC:Counterpoint. pp. 16-29.

Fri. Jan. 18: Defining Culture and Environment

Reading: 1. Ingold, Tim (2000) “Culture, nature, environment: Steps to an Ecology of  Life” The Perception of the Environment: Essays in Livelihood, Dwelling, and Skill. London: Routledge. pp. 13-26.

 2. Chapter 1, Human Adaptive Strategies.

Mon. Jan. 21: MLK Holiday (no class)

Wed. Jan. 23: Dominant Theoretical Trends in Environmental Anthropology, Part 1

Film: “In Good Hands: Culture and Agriculture in the Lacandon Rainforest”

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 3-26, 40-52, 139-44.

Fri. Jan. 25: Dominant Theoretical Trends in Environmental Anthropology, Part 2

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 257-69, 302-324, 351-4.

Mon. Jan. 28: Putting Culture to the Test: What is “Cultural” about Global Climate

Change? (UVM Focus the Nation Teach-in)

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 407-17.

2. Berry, Wendell. “Solving for Pattern.” Good News of the Twentieth Century, pp. 154-63.

Recommended: Tsing, Anna (2005) “Natural Universals and the Global Scale” Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton: Princeton U. Press.pp. 88-112.

Problem #2: What is the role of environmental adaptation in shaping a people’s lifeways?

 Wed. Jan. 30: Adaptation and Human Culture

Film: “India’s Sacred Cow”

Reading: Chapter 2, Human Adaptive Strategies.

Fri. Feb. 1: Adaptation and Modes of Subsistence, Part 1

Reading: 1. Chapters 3-4, Human Adaptive Strategies

Mon. Feb. 4: Adaptation and Modes of Subsistence, Part 2

Reading: 1. Chapter 5, Human Adaptive Strategies

Wed. Feb. 6: Complicating Adaptationism, Part 1: Adaptation in/and/of Complex Systems

Film: “The Goddess and the Computer”

Reading: 1. Chapter 6, Human Adaptive Strategies

[Due in class: Commitment to research topic]

Fri. Feb. 8: Complicating Adaptationism, Part 2: Nature and Culture as Processes

In-class: Quiz #1

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 205-14.

Problem #3: Why are some people more affected by environmental degradation than others?

Mon. Feb. 11: Is it Because of Population Growth?

In class-debate: Resolved: Population growth is the most important reason poor countries experience environmental degradation.

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, begin pp. 73-136.

Wed. Feb. 13: Thinking Critically about Population and Environment

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, finish pp. 73-136.

Fri. Feb. 15: Dilemmas of Development at a Household Scale

Green Revolution Simulation

In-class activity: Green Revolution simulation

Reading: 1. Chapter 8, Human Adaptive Strategies.

Mon. Feb. 18: President’s Day (no class)

Wed. Feb. 20: Political Ecology and The Structure of Capitalism

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 284-301.

[Due in class: Annotated bibliography]

Fri. Feb. 22: Feminist Political Ecology

In-class: Quiz #2

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 27-33, 183-190.

 

Problem #4: What is the relationship between traditional ecological knowledge and science?

Mon. Feb. 25: Western Epistemologies of Nature and Environment

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 243-5.

2. Williams, Dee (2000) “Representations of Nature on the Mongolian Steppe: An Investigation of Scientific Knowledge Construction.” American Anthropologist 102(3): 503-19.

Wed. Feb. 27: Ethnoecology and/as Situated Knowledge

Film: “Second Nature”

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, 34-9.           

2. McGregor, Barbara (2004) “Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Sustainable Development: Towards Coexistence.” In Blaser, Feit, and McRae (eds.) In the Way of Development: Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects, and Sustainable Development. Zed Books, pp. 72-91.

[Due in class: Revised statement of topic and research questions]

Fri. Feb. 29: The Uses (and Abuses) of Ethnoecology

Reading: 1. Brown, Michael (2003) “Ethnobotany Blues,” In Who Owns Native Culture? Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 95-143.

Mon. March 3: Is Ethnoecology “Religious?” Is it “Scientific”?

Reading: 1. Gonzalez, Roberto (2001) “The Conceptual Bases of Zapotec Farming and Foodways” and “Maize has a Soul: Rincón Zapotec Notions of Living Matter.” Zapotec Science: Farming and Food in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca. Austin: U. Texas Press. pp. 1-31 and 102-129.

Wed. March 5: The Contested Role of Ethnoecology in Environmentalism

In-class: Quiz #3

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 226-36, 367-85.

Fri. March 7: The Debate over Indigenous Ecological Wisdom

In-class debate: Resolved: Ethnoecology is less effective than scientific approaches for managing the environment.

Reading: 1. Mann, Charles (2002) “1491.” Atlantic Monthly.com

[Due in class: Transcript of 1 interview or observation related to your topic]

March 10-14: Spring Recess (no class)

Problem #5: Under what conditions do people take action to defend, protect, or conserve nature?

Mon. March 17: It Depends on Who They Are and How They Think About “Nature”

In-class Activity: Deforestation in Haiti exercise

Reading: 1. Guha, Ramachandra (1997) “Environmentalism of the Poor.” In Fox and Starn (eds.) Between Resistance and Revolution: Cultural Politics and Social Protest. Rutgers U. Press, pp. 17-39.

Wed. March 19: The “Irruption of the Biological” and Other Concerns

Reading: 1. Escobar, Arturo (1997) “Cultural Politics and Biological Diversity: State,  Capital, and Social Movements in the Pacific Coast of Colombia.” In

Fox and Starn (eds.) Between Resistance and Revolution: Cultural Politics and Social Protest. Rutgers U. Press, pp. 40-64.

        Recommended: The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 270-83.

Fri. March 21: Indigenous People and Environmental Activism

Guest Lecture: Glenn McRae

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, 355-66, 386-89.

Mon. March 24: Principles of Environmental Justice

Reading: 1. Preface and Chapter 1, AlterNatives

Wed. March 26: “It’s Not Just an Indian Issue”

Film: “Keepers of the Water”

Reading: 1. Chapters 2-3, AlterNatives

[Due in class: Rough draft]

Fri. March 28: Discussion of AlterNatives

Reading: 1. Chapters 4-5, AlterNatives

Mon. March 31: Discussion of AlterNatives

Quiz #4: Quiz #4

Reading: 1. Chapters 6-7, AlterNatives

 

Problem #6: How and why do efforts to formally conserve biodiversity sometimes clash with local communities?

Wed. April 2: The Challenge to Conservationists

In-class debate: Resolved: Mainstream environmental groups abuse indigenous communities.

Reading: 1. Chapin, M. (2004) “The Challenge to Conservationists.” World Watch 17(5): 1-31.

Recommended: The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 237-42.

Fri. April 4: Conservation’s Global Flows

Reading: 1. Chapter 1, Conservation is Our Government Now

Mon. April 7: Locating Maimafu and Crater Mountain

Reading: 1. Chapters 2-3, Conservation is Our Government Now

Wed. April 9: Divergent Goals of Conservation and Development, Part 1

Film: Begin watching “Death by Myth”

Reading: 1. Chapter 4, Conservation is Our Government Now

Recommended: The Environment in Anthropology, 215-25.

Fri. April 11: Divergent Goals of Conservation and Development, Part 2

Film: Finish watching “Death by Myth”

Reading: 1. Chapter 5, Conservation is Our Government Now

[Due in class: Policy/Advocacy/Activism Addendum]

Mon. April 14: Discussion of Conservation is Our Government Now

Reading: 1. Chapter 6, Conservation is Our Government Now

Wed. April 16: Discussion of Conservation is Our Government Now

In-class: Quiz #5

Reading: 1. Chapter 7, Conservation is Our Government Now

Problem #7: Is it possible to have sustainable foodways in our consumer society?

Fri. April 18: Rethinking Foodways and Sustainability

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 191-202, 418-29.

2. McWilliams, J. “Food that Travels Well.” The New York Times 8/6/07.

Mon. April 21: The Opportunities and Costs of an Industrial Agricultural System

Reading: 1. Chapter 7, Human Adaptive Strategies

Wed. April 23: Political Ecology of Biotechnology

Film: “Deconstructing Supper”

Reading: 1. The Environment in Anthropology, pp. 418-29; 443-8.

Recommended: Stone, Glenn Davis (2004) “Biotechnology and Political Ecology of Information in India.” Human Organization 63(2): 127-40.

Fri. April 25: Can “Traditional” Agroecology Feed People on a Large Scale?

Reading: 1. Pretty, Jules (2002) “Food for All” In Agri-Culture: Reconnecting People, Land, and Nature. Earthscan, pp. 78-101.

Mon. April 28: Course Conclusions

In-class: Quiz #6

No reading

Wed. April 30: Course Conclusion

No reading

[Due in class: Final draft]

Wed. May 7: Final Exam (Collaborative Poster Presentations)

 

 

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