Time Schedule:
Eugene S Hunn
ANTH 210
Seattle Campus
Introduction to human/environment interactions from various anthropological perspectives. Intellectual history of anthropological approaches to environment, emphasizing the mutual interconnectedness of people and nature. Survey of evolutionary models; cultural ecology; systems approaches; indigenous knowledge; ethnoecology; nature and the state; political ecology; ecofeminism; and environmentalism.
Class description
Course Description:
Anthropology is the study of the human condition. Environmental Anthropology considers the human condition in ecological context. Environmental Anthropology is also about evolution, not just biological evolution, but cultural evolution as well. We will take the long view. How has the human environmental niche changed over the past 10,000 years or so? And in that light, what are our future prospects? But we will also attend to immediate and newsworthy environmental issues in our own backyard, seeing them through an anthropological lens. We will consider ethnographic examples representative of the major human adaptive strategies (hunting-gathering, fishing, farming, commerce and industry) in a range of the earth's habitats (deserts, tropical forests, the arctic, Pacific islands, cities).
We start with the idea that we humans everywhere must first construct an image of the environment in which we live, before we can live in it. For example, we learn that certain plants, animals, and natural forces (each with a name) exist "out there" and that each may be by turns dangerous, edible, cute, or awesome; that each affects our lives in certain predictable ways. The human role in the global ecosystem is the sum of all such individual interactions.
We need then a foundation of concepts from evolution, ecology, and anthropology on which to construct our understandings of particular culture/environment interactions, which may affect life on earth for better or worse. We will consider, among other questions, the following: What is an ecosystem? How do living populations grow and how are they limited? How do species and cultures evolve? Has culture derailed Darwinian evolution? Is nature natural? Does human nature dictate the destruction of all but human life on earth? Can we learn useful lessons from "primitive peoples"? Is Earth our mother? Will Science save us?
In short, anthropology today offers a different and valuable perspective on the global environmental crisis. This course provides a glimpse from that viewpoint.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Requirements:
This course is about ideas. So it makes little sense for the professor to lecture day in and day out. The course demands your active participation in formulating questions and debating issues. This is obviously difficult in such a large class. Yet we need to make the effort. Hunn will lecture approximately twice each week, to introduce concepts or issues. We will see films or have guests approximately once a week and reserve one day a week for discussion and debate of controversial issues, based on questions submitted by yourselves.
You will meet in the more cozy confines of discussion sections each Tuesday. The TA’s task in sections will be to get everyone talking and to make sure that the conversation is not monopolized by the few. The section project will involve a mini local environmental/historical ethnography. This assignment is designed to encourage you to adopt an anthropological perspective on local environmental issues.
Recommended preparation
There are no prerequisites but an interest in better understanding your biological AND sociocultural environment.
Class assignments and grading
Weekly questions/comments: You can’t be expected to participate actively in your own education if you fall behind in the readings. To motivate you all to keep current you will be required to submit a question or comment based on your reading each week. We will collate these questions and use the most penetrating as a basis for class discussion. These will be due each Monday morning. You may bring them to class or submit them by e-mail; but they must be received by class time Monday to count.
Class Project: Students will work in small teams to research the environmental history and cultural ecology of a single township in the Seattle area. A township is approximately a square of 6 miles on a side. Township boundaries are routinely marked on topographical maps. For example, the University of Washington is located in the township designated T25N R4E. If you selected this township as your study site, your team would need to consult maps (at the Suzzallo library map room) to familiarize yourselves with the basic hydrology and contemporary human settlement patterns of that area. You will need to explore the area by car or on foot, then describe the dominant flora and fauna, including the human population. To make your study anthropological you will need to learn some basic facts about how local families subsist, that is, where do their food (a visit to a local market or P-patch might be interesting), water (trace the pipes), fuel (what are the primary sources of non-food energy), and other basic material necessities (building materials, medicines) come from and how are their waste products recycled? How are local resources managed? What is the state of Local Environmental Knowledge (hint: interview local residents about their knowledge of local flora, fauna, and ecological relationships). These analyses will need to be placed in historic context. How have these basic cultural ecological features changed through time? Are present relationships sustainable? Obviously you will have time for just a brief sketch and will need to divide the work amongst your team. At the conclusion of the quarter you will be expected to share your insights and compare your results with the other teams.
Quizes: Quizes emphasize the special terminology of the field. Learning environmental anthropology is learning to TALK environmental anthropology, that is, learning the language peculiar to this field. In these quizes you will be asked to define and characterize a set of terms selected from a review list handed out ahead of time. You will be limited to 100 or 150 words per term.
Final Exam: The final is a take-home, open-book, essay style exam. You will have a choice between several complex questions that will require that you review a range of sources from the class (books, readings, films, lectures, discussions) and integrate what you have learned in composing your answer. You will write two essays of ca. 600 words each.
Weekly questions/comments: 1 point per week for 10 points total; Class project: 30 points total; Quizes (2 short, in-class quizzes): 15 points each for 30 points total; Final Exam (a take-home, essay-style final exam): 30 points total.
