Anthropology 2010: |
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Winter
Semester 2009
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This course is based on the premise that historically and cross-culturally schooling was rare to non-existent. We will look, briefly, therefore, at how children learn their culture when there are no classrooms or teachers. But for the majority of the semester, we will wrestle with this 800-pound gorilla in the world’s living room called education. Schools are now found in virtually every corner of the globe and educating the masses is seen as a panacea to all the world’s ills. But, as we will see, this isn’t happening consistently. We will view village schools where children cannot understand the language used by the teacher or in the textbook. We will see classrooms that are poorly equipped and overcrowded. Across “developing societies,” we will see evidence of both failure and success in terms of education transforming the economy and improving wellbeing. The evidence of success is not distributed evenly as we’ll note in comparing education in East Asia and Africa.
Following our world tour, we will examine the enormous inter-cultural variation in the nature of education in developed societies. This survey will be preceded by an overview of the methods employed by anthropologists in studying children and schooling.
Even in countries that provide fine facilities, schooling may not be synonymous with education. It turns out that the child’s experiences prior to the onset of schooling may be critical in governing or mediating their experience in school. In East Asia, for example, the mother may be as much on trial in the quest to survive “examination hell” as the child. We will examine socialization practices that facilitate and that impede academic success.
Ethnicity and social class are important sources for cultural factors that influence the nature of schooling. In this section, we will survey education among Native American communities, and among various immigrant populations. We will then eavesdrop on teachers who are trying to cope with this incredible diversity.
Throughout much of the semester, we have operated on the premise that getting an education is a good thing but that view is not universal. The Taliban government in Afghanistan, for example, executed school principals who permitted girls to enroll. Indeed, religious opposition to education and in favor of censorship is found throughout the US—as we will examine in this section.
Secondary schooling often looks quite different from schooling at lower (and higher) levels because of the enormous influence of adolescent culture. We will observe this culture in action through readings and film.
The last topic we will take up is the teaching of anthropology. Anthropology is one of the most diverse bodies of knowledge known to humankind and demands a correspondingly diverse arsenal of teaching tools. We will try out some of these tools.
The course website can be found on Blackboard (Bb). Students are encouraged to utilize the information and tools that are contained on the site, which includes instructions and resources for the writing assignments, quizzes, student grades and other resources.
To access the USU Blackboard system, go to http://bb.usu.edu and enter your UserID and your password. Your UserID is your Banner ID Number. Your password will default as your Banner PIN. If you wish to change your password, you must do so via http://password.usu.edu/. This website manages your password for Aggiemail, Blackboard and Banner. Do not try to change your password in Bb.
Once you log in, you will be taken to “My Blackboard,” a page listing all Bb courses you are enrolled in. Our course is listed as ANTH 2010: Peoples of the Contemporary World.
Aside from the introductory lecture, this class depends on reading, viewing, discussing and testing as the prime methods for learning the material. The reading material has been meticulously selected to reflect good anthropology, vital questions and engaging writing. The material is 100% original, none of it dummied down or filtered through the lens of a textbook author.
You will read the material assigned before it is to be discussed. Your notes on the main points in the reading will be typed up and brought to class. These “5 Main Points” will be your cue cards to use when you volunteer or are called upon to contribute to the discussion. (See Discussion section below.) These discussions are meant to review and analyze the material as well as to provoke a lively debate and critique of prevailing policy. Your instructor will be the ringleader in this effort but appreciates active, informed participation. Discussion is, therefore, rewarded. In addition to the readings, the instructor has Googled for hours on end to find relevant films. His contacts with the BBC and Open University have opened a cornucopia of material on India and Africa not otherwise available in the US.
There are periodic multiple-choice quizzes and short and one longer writing assignment. There will be a comprehensive, objective Final Exam.