My grading criteria are available in a document in MyCourses (e.g., What kind of work receives an A, etc).

 

Assignments, Attendance and Lateness

Regular attendance is the easiest way to ensure success on this course.  Please arrive on time.

Late assignments will be penalized 5% per day, including weekends.

Make-up tests and exams are available only under extraordinary circumstances, and will require medical or other documentation.

 

Assignments

Online Reading Tests

Online tests are due by 11:55 pm the night before the readings are discussed in class.  You may ignore 2 of these tests during the semester without penalty.  These tests can be found in Course Materials -> Online Tests in MyCourses.  If you complete all of the tests I will drop your lowest two scores.  The best strategy to succeed with these tests is to do the appropriate reading first and then complete the tests while referring to the reading.

 

Unannounced Reflective Statements

I will occasionally ask you for a short, written in-class reflection on reading that is not in Ruby (2000).

Responses to three Major Films  Due 8 am Thursday Nov. 8 2012

On your personal Geneseo wiki page you should post 150-word responses to three of the major films we watch this semester (major films are longer than 50 minutes).  These are not film reviews (e.g., whether you enjoyed the film is not relevant)—each response should connect the film to issues of anthropological method and/or theory, and the course readings where appropriate. 

 

Research Proposal

Throughout the semester you will conduct research and interviews for an ethnographic video.  The group will post a research proposal (average of 200 words/student but written as an integrated whole) that will outline the goals and methods for your video.  You should make explicit reference to the reading by Tosuner-Fikes (1980) from Week 1.  Ideally, you will reference other anthropological works as well.

 

Wiki Space on Video Topic

In groups of three you will create a wiki space on your video topic.  The wiki space should be a maximum of 500 words/student and should provide basic background information for the issues with a substantial list of scholarly and peer-reviewed resources listed.  This should read as an integrated, coherent whole not as three separate contributions.  The wiki space must be online by 8 am the day it is due. To find and contribute to the ANTH 229 Wiki, go to the Geneseo wiki:  https://wiki.geneseo.edu:8443/dashboard.action  Login at the top right of screen (with your usual ID and password), then scroll down the left side of the screen.  Throughout the semester groups will introduce their wiki space and topic to the class (see schedule below).  A formal presentation is not required but at least one group member should be prepared to lead the discussion using the wiki.

 

Final Video

Your final video will be 10-15 minutes (for a group of 3 students) and will be posted to YouTube. 

 

Reflexive Statement

On the day of the final exam you will submit a reflexive statement that evaluates your video in relation to the points raised by Ruby (2000) about reflexivity as well as your own reaction and that of the class. Consider what you planned to do in your proposal—how much of that did you accomplish?  What unexpected changes occurred in the process of making the video?  How did the topic and methods evolve?  What were the biggest challenges and successes in making the video?

 

Academic Honesty

Students are urged to read the policies on Academic Honesty at:

http://bulletin.geneseo.edu/first/?pg=01_Student_Affairs_policies.html

As the policy notes:

“Any one of the following constitutes evidence of plagiarism:

·       direct quotation without identifying punctuation and citation of source;

·       paraphrase of expression or thought without proper attribution;

·       unacknowledged dependence upon a source in plan, organization, or argument.”

 

I also consider reusing your own work from another class to be plagiarism.  I take academic honesty very seriously and I follow up on instances of cheating and plagiarism to the fullest extent that the university allows.  If I believe the offense is very serious, I can—and will—recommend suspension or dismissal to the Student Conduct Committee.

 

Facebook-Free Zone

You may use your laptop to take notes.  You are not permitted to access Facebook, other social networking sites, play games, etc. in my class.  Photos and moving images distract other students.

 

Topics and Readings

You are responsible for each week’s readings and you should be prepared to discuss them. _____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 1:  August 30

·       Visit from Joe Dolce of the Digital Media Lab (main floor, Milne Library)  

Read:  Tosuner-Fikes, Lebriz

   1982   A Guide for Anthropological Fieldwork on Contemporary American Culture.  In

            Researching American Culture:  A Guide for Student Anthropologists, edited by Conrad

            P. Kottak, pp. 10-35. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.

Read:   Ruby (2000) Preface

            Ruby (2000) Introduction

Film: Nanook of the North (Inuit; 79 minutes). We will not finish this in class.  Finish watching it online at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaDVovGjNOc

 

·       Introduction to course.

·       Discussion of ethnography and informed consent.

·       Brainstorming on topics for ethnographic videos.

·       Note that two online tests are due by 11:55 pm Wednesday September 5:   (Ruby [2000] Preface and Introduction).

·       Homework:  Prepare a written reaction to Nanook of about one-half to one page, double-spaced.

For Week 3 you will make a 1 minute video of yourself delivering all or part of this commentary.  The goal here is to be concise:  try to convey as much as you can about the film and your reaction to it without rushing.  Find a minimum of 5 digital images of Eskimo/Inuit life to be included in your video.  The source of each image (e.g., website, book) must be noted in the video as well.  You will use this written and visual material for your one-minute video (note:  if you will need it. seek assistance with video production from the Digital Media Lab well in advance)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 2:  September 6   

Read:   Ruby (2000) Chapter 1:  The Anthropologist as Picture Taker

Film:  Nanook Revisited (Chpt 2)  (Inuit; 55 minutes)

 

·       Discussion of informed consent forms.

·       Groups meet to discuss research topics

·       Note that three online tests are due by 11:55 pm Tuesday September 12:   Ruby [2000] Chapters 1 and 2, and the Plagiarism quiz.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 3:  September 13

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 2: Robert Flaherty

Post one-minute videos to Youtube by 8am. You will need to have a free YouTube account to do this.

·       Plagiarism quiz due.

Film: The Nuer (Ethipia, Sudan) (73 min)

·       Groups meet to discuss research projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 4:  September 20

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 3:  Robert Gardner  Ruby Online tests continue throughout the semester.

Read:  A reading on The goddess and the Computer is posted in MyCourses (Course Materials)

Post group video proposals to wiki by 8am. Remember that these must make explicit reference to Tosuner-Fikes (1982) from Week 1 and other anthropological references are encouraged.

 

Clip:  The Goddess and the Computer (Bali; 8 minutes of 59 minute video)

Film:  First Contact (Papua New Guinea; 54 min)

Clip:  Dead Birds (Chpt 3) (Dani; Indonesian New Guinea)(9 minutes of 85 minute film on DVD)

Clip:  Karl Heider on Dani Sweet Potatoes (6.25):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMvY8gUAtPQ

Film: Remembering John Marshall (15 min)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 5:  September 27

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 5:  Ethics and Realism

Film:  Keep the River on Your Right (Asmat--Indonesian New Guinea /Amazon)(93 min)

 

·       Discussion of Research Proposals.           

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 6: October 4

Read:   Elliston, Deborah A.

   1995            Erotic Anthropology: "Ritualized Homosexuality" in Melanesia and beyond. American             Ethnologist 22(4):  848-867  (MyCourses)

Film:  Guardians of the Flutes (Sambia; Papua New Guinea) (70 min)

 

Wiki Space 1

Wiki Space 2 

Wiki Space 3

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 7: October 11            I will be en route to New Brunswick Canada this week

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 9:  Eric Michaels and Indigenous Media (Australia)

Film: All My Babies (USA) (54 minutes)

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/all_my_babies_a_midwifes_own_story

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 8:  October 18

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 6:  Reflexivity

Read: Voorhees, Courte C. W. , Vick John, and Perkins Douglas D.

     2007  ‘Came hell and high water’: the intersection of Hurricane Katrina, the news media, race             and                            poverty. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 17(6):415-429.

Film   Bury the Hatchet (New Orleans) (86 min)

 

Wiki Space 4 

·       Discussion of research progress

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 9:  October 25

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 7:  The Reception of Ethnographic Films, Television.

Film:   The Bro Code (USA) (58 min)

            Wiki Space 5           

Wiki Space 6

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 10:  November 1

·       This week we view the last film that is eligible for a written response.

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 8:  Speaking for etc.  Representation, objectivity, consent

Film:  N!ai, Portrait of a San Woman (Chpt 8)(San; Namibia) (59 minutes)

Film:  Bitter Melons (!Kung)(30 min)

 

Wiki Space 7

Wiki Space 8

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 11: November 8

·      Your three written responses should be posted to your personal wiki page by 8 am.

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 4:  The Cinema of Tim Asch

Read:  Chagnon, N.  1992 “Doing Fieldwork among the Yanomamö.” In Yanomamö: The Fierce People, Fourth Edition, pp.5-31.   Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.  (MyCourses)

 

Film:  The Axe Fight (Yanomamo; Amazon) (30 min)

Film:  The Feast  (Yanomamo; Amazon)(30 minutes)

Film:  A Man Called Bee (Yanomamo; Amazon) (40 min)

 

Wiki Space 9

Wiki Space 10

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 12:  November 15   I will be en route to Honolulu Hawaii this week

Read:  Ruby (2000) Chapter 10:  Conclusions

Film:  Shooting Freetown (student video from Manchester England about filmmaking in Sierra Leone) (29 min)    http://vimeo.com/33610757

____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 13:  November 22 Thanksgiving Break, no class

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 14:  November 29

·      5 Student Videos with discussion

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Week 15:  December 6

·      Final wiki revisions due for all groups by 8 am

·      5 Student Videos with discussion

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Final Exam:  Thursday, Dec. 13th 2012 from 6:45 to 9:45 pm in regular room

·       Post Reflexive Statement on wiki by 8 am. Be prepared to discuss it.

·       Review of final wiki Spaces.