Schedule Winter 2009 Semester

Please follow the Schedule and read assignments BEFORE the day they’re assigned.

Introduction
Aside from going over the nuts and bolts, I’ll draw on the first chapter of The Anthropology of Childhood to set the scene. We’ll consider such basic questions as What are children? and Why do people have them?

Date

In-class Activities

Assignments Due

1/6       T    

Introductory Lecture: Chapter 1 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Film Festival

In order to get into the whole notion of childhood in cultural context, you need to hold in your head a collection of scenarios drawn from strikingly contrastive cultures. Hence the next few days of the semester are devoted to a kind of “Film Festival” to assist you in constructing these scenarios. Children are not necessarily the focus of these films. Unfortunately, children are rarely of interest to film-makers as they find more exciting things to focus on. But, as the class proceeds and we talk about Bantu pastoralists or South American forest dwellers you’ll be able to conjure up an image of what that might look like from a child’s perspective. We’ll also screen “Off the Veranda” which tells the story of Bronislaw Malinowski in the Trobriand Islands and how he “invented” the science of ethnography. Some of the films will be shown in class and some you’re to view in the A/V Area of the Sci/Tech Library as “Homework.” One-two quiz questions will be drawn from each film.

Date

In-class Activities

Assignments Due

1/8 TR

Films: “At the Autumn River Camp;” (32”)“Cultural Panorama” (40”)

  View as Homework: “A Man Called Bee.”

1/13  T 

Films: “The Mende;” (51”); “Bushmen of the Kalahari” (24”)
        

View as Homework: “Masai Women;” “Pygmies of the Rainforest.”

1/15 TR   

Film: "Off the Verandah" (52”) “Trobriands” (5.5”)

View as Homework: “Taram—The Maningkabau.”

1/20 T  

Quiz #1 Online,
available from 7AM-11PM.
Covers the films and Introductory Lecture.

Gbarngasuakwelle

We’ll spend three class periods studying children’s culture in the Kpelle town Gbarngasuakwelle. Kpelle culture is similar in many ways to the Mende culture portrayed in the film we viewed on 1/13.

1/20 T        

Reading Assignment: Lancy (1996) Playing on the Mother Ground, Chapters 1, 2 & 3.   

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #1 (Chapters 1,3)
ChapRev #2 (Chapter 2).

Draft of Critical Summary (CritSum) Paper Due. Submit draft to Bb by 5 PM. Sign-up for RA conference. These will be scheduled for TR and F.

1/22 TR       

Reading Assignment: Lancy, D.F (1996) Playing on the Mother Ground, Chapters 5,6,7,8

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #3 (Chapters 5,6)
ChapRev #4 (Chapters 7,8).

Present:
Crit Sum #s 4, 19

1/27 T        

Reading Assignment: Lancy, D.F (1996) Playing on the Mother Ground, Chapters 9,10. 

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #5 (Chapter 9)
ChapRev #6 (Chapter 10).

Present:
Crit Sum #s 22, 29

Revise CritSum Paper based on peer and RA feedback.

Quiz #2 Online,
available from 7AM-11PM.
Covers Playing on the Mother Ground.

Final draft of CritSum Paper Due.

The Ethnology Project

As explained in the syllabus, the major research/writing project in this class is called an “Ethnology.” To prepare for today’s class, read the instructions on the class website, look over the list of possible topics and read three articles. These articles are all based on research that follows the Ethnology model and should suggest ideas for yours.

2/3 T  

Discuss and prepare for Ethnology Project. Come to class with
a couple project ideas that you can bounce off the Instructor and classmates.

Reading assignments: Lancy, David F. (2007) Accounting for variability in mother-child play. American Anthropologist 109(2).

Lancy, David F., Grove, M. Annette (2006) “Baby-parading:” Child care or showing off? Paper   presented at Symposium “Defining Childhood: Cross-cultural Perspectives,” Annual Meeting Society for Anthropological Sciences, Savannah, GA., February.

Schlegel, Alice (1991) Status, Property, and the Value on Virginity. American Ethnologist, 18(4):719- 734.

Writing Assignment Due:

ChapRev #7
ChapRev #8
ChapRev #9

2/5 Th

One-on-one meetings with Instructor to formulate Ethnology Project.

Learning how to access data-sources for your Ethnology. Session conducted by Annette Grove in  Lib Room # TBA...

Class is split in half, on the 5th one half will met w/ Lancy in his office, individually, the other half will meet with Grove. 

2/10 T

One-on-one meetings with Instructor to formulate Ethnology Project.

The two groups trade places today.

The Caretaker’s Perspective

In this section of the course, we’ll consider the varying perspectives of those who have and care for children. We’ll see that the biological parents are only two among many concerned kin in the nurturing of children.  We also note that the value of children varies widely.

2/12 TR

Reading Assignments:

To Make a Child, Chapter 2 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Daly, M. & Wilson, M. (1984). A sociobiological analysis of human infanticide. In G. Hausfater & S.B Hrdy (Eds.), Infanticide: Comparative and evolutionary perspectives (pp 487-502). New York: Aldine

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #10.
ChapRev #11.

Present:
Crit Sum #s 3, 6, 14

2/17 T   

No Class: Monday classes on Tuesday

2/19  TR

Film: “Not to be Modern: The Amish” (SASci Conference)

2/24 T

Reading Assignment:
The Child’s Worth, Chapter 3 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #12

Present:
Crit Sum #s 5, 11

2/26 TR

Reading Assignment:
It Takes a Village, Chapter 4 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Writing Assignment Due:ChapRev #13.

Present:
Crit Sum #s 27, 28

3/3 T

Quiz #3 Online
available from 7AM-11PM.
Covers readings and film from 2/3 through 2/26.

Children Growing into Their Adult Roles

As we discovered last week, children's greatest value to their kin may be as workers. And, best of all, parents don't see the need to actually teach them how to do their work; they figure it out on their own, often through play.  Some teaching does occur, however, in the mastery of complex crafts and moral lessons are conveyed during initiation rites.

3/3 T        

Reading Assignment:
Making Sense, Chapter 5 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #14

Present:
Crit Sum #s 16, 20, 24

3/10, 12     

No Class: Spring Break

3/17 T

Films: “Children and Culture Panorama”

3/19 TR

Reading Assignment:

Of Marbles and Morals, Chapter 6 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Bock, John and Johnson, Sara E. (2004) Play and Subsistence Ecology among the Okavango Delta Peoples of Botswana. Human Nature 15(1) 63-82.         

Raitt, M.  &  Lancy, D. F. (1988) Rhinestone Cowgirl: The Education of a Rodeo Queen. Play and Culture 1 , 267-281.

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #15
ChapRev # 16
ChapRev # 17

Present:
Crit Sum #s 6, 8, 9

3/24 T

Quiz #4 Online
available from 7AM-11PM. Covers readings and films from 3/3 through 3/19.

3/24 T

Reading Assignments:

His First Goat: Chapter 7 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.  

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev # 18.

Present:
Crit Sum #s 12, 13, 17

3/26 TR

Reading Assignment: 

Polak, Barbara (2003) Little peasants: On the importance of reliability in child labour. In D’Almeida-Topor, Hèléne, Monique Lakroum and Gerd Spittler (Eds.) Le travail en Afrique noire: Représentations et pratiques à l’époque contemporaine p. 125-136. Paris: Karthala.

Hardenberg, Roland 2006. Hut of the
young girls: Transition from childhood to adolescence in a middle Indian tribal society. in Deepak K. Behera (ed.), Childhoods in South Asia. Pp. 65-81, Singapore: Pearson Education

Leavitt, Stephen C. (1998) The Bikhet Mystique: Masculine identity and patterns of rebellion among Bumbita adolescent males. In Adolescence in Pacific Island Societies. Herdt, Gilbert & Leavitt, Stephen C. (Eds.) Pp. 173-194. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #19
ChapRev #20
ChapRev #21

3/31 T 

Reading Assignment:

Living in Limbo: Chapter 8 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev # 22.

Present:
Crit Sum #s 2, 7

4/2 TR

Film: “Coming of Age: Ethnographic Profiles from a Global Perspective”

4/3  F

Quiz #5 Online
available from 7AM-11PM. Covers readings and films from 3/24 through 4/2.

Contemporary Children: In School, On the Job and In the Streets

In this last segment, we'll look at children around the globe and assess their situation and discuss ideas on how to improve the conditions of childhood.

4/7  T

Films: “We Are Not Beggars,” (30”)“Danger: Children at Work.” (27”) “Invisible Children” (10”)

4/9 TR 

Come to class prepared to discuss your Ethnology Project.  

Reading Assignment:

How Schools Can Raise Property Values: Chapter 9 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Sign-up for RA conference. These will be scheduled for M & T.

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev # 23.

Present:
Crit Sum #s 25, 26

Due by 5PM: Draft of Ethnology Paper. Submit on Bb Assignment Tool.

4/13-17

Meet with RA. Revise Ethnology Paper based on RA feedback.

4/14 T 

Reading Assignment:

Suffer the Children: Chapter 10 from The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings.

Writing Assignment Due:
ChapRev #24.

Present:
Crit Sum #s 1,15, 21, 23

4/16 TR 

Quiz #6 Online
available from 7AM-11PM. Covers readings and films and from 4/2 through 4/14.

4/16 TR

Oral Presentations
Student presentations summarizing their studies.

4/17 F 

Final draft of Ethnology Paper due.

4/21 T 

Oral Presentations
Student presentations summarizing their studies.

4/23 TH

Oral Presentations
Student presentations summarizing their studies.

4/28 T 

Final Exam to be Submitted by 5PM