Reading Assignments

You will need to purchase the following texts (complete listing of specific readings and films are found on the class website):

Benjamin, Gail R. (1997) Japanese Lessons: A Year in a Japanese School Through the Eyes of an American Anthropologist and Her Children. New York: New York University Press.

Peshkin, Alan (1988) God's Choice: The Total World of a Fundamentalist Christian School . Chicago,IL: University of Chicago.

Lancy, David (2008) Studying Children and Schools: Qualitative Research Traditions. Logan, UT: Utah State University.

Textbooks are available through the USU bookstore, and, alternatively, through Amazon.com as a fundraiser for the USU Museum of Anthropology (Old Main 252).  Ordering through Amazon.com often nets students a better price on both new and used texts, and, if the link is made through the museum’s website, your books will be cheaper AND the Museum benefits as well, receiving a percentage of the price of everything purchased. 

http://www.usu.edu/anthro/museum/catalog/amafundmus.html

To facilitate buying books through Amazon.com, museum personnel have created links for all SSWA courses.  Simply go to the website listed above, look up your course, click on the textbook(s) featured for your class, place them in your Amazon.com shopping cart, make your purchase, and voila—your textbooks are shipped to you and the museum automatically receives a commission on the sale. Shipping is free for orders of $25 or more.

Keep in mind, as well, that any time you plan to make a purchase from Amazon.com, if you go to their website via a Museum of Anthropology link (by clicking, for example, on any featured book, whether or not you plan to buy it), the museum will then receive a small commission on everything you buy—not just books related to your courses.  It’s a nice way for the museum to fund outreach events here at USU, programs for Cache Valley families, and even undergraduate internships in the museum.  

Additional Readings are available through the class website. You can access them on the “Additional Readings” link on our Blackboard homepage.  They are organized according to topic.

5 Main Points (5MPs)

This is a seminar, which means that, in lieu of lectures, members will collaborate in the creation of knowledge. The Instructor has laid the groundwork, in selecting reading material and in designing the class, but the area we'll cover is so vast, no single scholar can claim expertise. 

To facilitate discussion and inquiry, 100% attendance and completion of reading assignments is expected. Any absence must be accounted for in writing. Further, each member is expected to bring insights to the discussion—there will be no on-lookers.

As a way of structuring in-class discussion, each student must complete ten 5MPs. These are brief written (typed) assignments that list the five main points in the particular reading assigned for a particular class. These will also serve as "sound bites" for you to refer to when called upon to contribute to discussion. Hence, although the 5MPs are designed to be brief, you must be prepared to defend your choices and elaborate on the points in discussion.

You will be randomly assigned to a group of readings you will do for your 5MPs. You will get 12 readings (spread out over the course of the semester) and only need complete 10, so you may skip or drop two. If you're absent on the day your reading is discussed, you may not hand in a 5MP. On the other hand, if you are present and have a 5MP due, you will be called on to present your ideas.

The 5MPs will receive 10 points each, if satisfactory, for a total of 100 points. 

The 5MP assignments can be found on Blackboard under the “Writing Assignments” link. If you do not find your name on the list, please email the course assistant.

You can also find a complete list of readings and their corresponding 5MP#s here.