Dr. Thomas Conelly                       Office Hours                       Class hours

G12H McElhaney (x2735)                Tu-Th 2:30-4:30                Tu-Th 5:00-6:30         

email: tconelly@iup.edu                   We 3:15-4:15

                                                

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Cultural ecology is the study of the relationship between human behavior, culture, and the environment. In the introductory section, several important theoretical approaches in the fields of cultural ecology and economic anthropology are introduced. These include natural selection, sociobiology, cultural evolutionism, cultural materialism, and competing economic theories of behavior.  Next, small-scale, mobile hunter-gatherer peoples with a band or family level of social organization are studied and contrasted with sedentary farming societies. We focus on several controversial issues. (a) What is the nature of hunter-gather social relations and how might this be related to resource use and the environment in which they live? (b) Are small-scale mobile hunter-gatherers truly egalitarian? Are men and women really equal? (c) Are modern day hunter-gatherers “pristine” examples of  our early evolutionary history? To what degree can contemporary hunter-gatherers serve as a "window" to the archaeological past when all human peoples lived by hunting and gathering? (d) Are hunter-gatherers the "original affluent society" or has the quality of diet and health improved with the development of agriculture and the advent of complex societies? 

 

The next section looks at more complex agricultural societies with a village level of social organization.  We look at examples of peoples from tropical as well as temperate environments, examining the impact of population growth and the way in which people adapt to living in larger social groups. One theme in this section will be understanding competing explanations for the high levels of violence often, but not inevitably, found in more complex societies with large populations. The final section of the class studies the formation of highly complex chiefdom and state-level societies. We study the process of state formation and analyze the adaptive strategies of people living in intensive farming systems, with special emphasis on Boserup's important theory that explains the process of agricultural intensification. 

 

Throughout the semester, we will examine a series of interesting case studies of indigenous peoples to illustrate the theories and concepts of cultural ecology. These case studies will include both ethnographic accounts of contemporary societies and archaeological evidence of “prehistoric” peoples. The class is designed as a seminar for upper level Anthropology majors but may also be of interest to advanced students in related fields such as Geography and Biology.

 

 

REQUIRED READING

1. Johnson and Earle: The Evolution of Human Societies (2^nd edition, 2000)

2. A series of articles by ecological anthropologists on electronic reserve (ER)

3. Four issues (one year) of the journal Human Ecology — for a review/evaluation assignment

4. A book selected from a list written by an ecological anthropologist — for a book review

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

This upper level seminar class will require considerable reading, active class participation, and the completion of several different writing assignments:

(a) both mid-term and final exam — typed, take-home essays about 10 pages in length.

(b) two short (5 page) papers — first to write a summary and evaluation of one year of the journal Human Ecology, and second to read and critically review an ecologically oriented book written by an anthropologist. The book review and the journal review assignments will be explained in more detail in separate handouts. 

(c) regular in-class writing activities — usually responses to questions from reading assignments.

(d) class participation

 

The readings are an essential part of the course — you will be expected to do the reading on time in order to be prepared for class discussions.  The course will include lectures but will be conducted primarily as an upper level seminar that requires active participation in class. I expect regular and thoughtful class participation from all students and will give a grade of 0 points (out of 50 possible) to those who rarely or never make a contribution to class discussion. Frequency of participation alone, however, does not assure a high grade. A frequent talker who is often off the point, confused and inarticulate, and/or who tries to dominate discussion or put down others will receive a low grade for participation. What I am looking for is regular, thoughtful, articulate, collegial discussion. It is expected that you will demonstrate that you have completed and thoughtfully considered the reading assignments. Absence from class means no participation so missing class (without a serious, documented excuse) will automatically lower your participation score. Be aware that a low grade for participation can drop the final grade you receive by one whole letter grade. I will give you a pre-liminary participation grade at the midterm so you know where you stand well before the end of the semester.

 

Your final grade will be computed on the following basis:

 

	NOTE	POINTS
Midterm exam	Take-home, due Oct. 14th	100
Review of Journal	Due Oct. 23rd	100
Book Review	Due Dec. 4th	100
In-class writing	Count best 4 of 6 (25 pts. each)	100
Class Participation	See comments above	50
Final exam	Take-home, due Dec 11th	100
TOTAL		550 pts.

 

    

 

     TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

 

CLASS                                                   TOPIC                                                        READING

 

Aug 27             #1 —  Introduction of key concepts: social evolutionism,                  J&E, Chp. 1 (pp. 1-16)                                         role of population                                                                    ER Kelly: ‘Environment

                                                                                                                                    … Anthropological Theory

 

Sep 2               *** LABOR DAY HOLIDAY — NO CLASS ***

 

Sep 4               #2 —  Introduction (cont.): economic anthropology, cultural J&E,    Chp. 1 (pp. 16-37)

materialism, human ecology, political economy                      ER Moran, “Cultural Ecology” (pp. 47-50)

 

                 BAND-LEVEL SOCIETIES AND TRANSITION TO FARMING

 

Sep 9               #3 —   Hunter-gatherers: adaptation to environment                           J&E, Chp 2 (pp. 41-53)

                                                                                                            Chp. 3 (pp. 54-58)     

 

Sep 11             #4 —   Theories of environment-culture relationship                         J&E, Chp 3 (pp. 58-65)

            Steward's concept of cultural ecology — Shoshone case       

 

Sep 16             #5 —   Perceptions of hunter-gatherers — San case study                  J&E, Chp 3 (pp. 65-82)

                                    Concept of “original affluent society”                                                            

 

Sep 18             #6 —   Are contemporary HGs “pristine”? What can they tell            ER Kelly: HG & Prehistory                                      us about prehistoric HGs?                                                       J&E, Chp. 3

 

Sep 23             #7 —   Are small-scale, mobile HGs truly egalitarian?                      ER Kelly: ‘Egalitarian and

                                    Are men and women really equal?                                          Non-egalitarian HGs’

 

Sep 25             #8 — “Complex” hunter-gatherer societies: Case of                          J&E,  Chp. 8, pp. 203-217

                                    Northwest Coast Potlatch       

 

Sep 30             #9 —   Early domestication: swidden cultivation                               J&E, Chp. 4 (pp. 90-112)

Palawan Island case study

 

Oct 2               #10 — HG transition to agriculture: Increasing Complexity               J&E, Chp. 5 pp. 123-140)

                                                                                                                                   

Oct 7               #11 — Process of domestication. How did agriculture emerge?        ER Diamond: ‘History’s              Why did it develop in some areas and not others?                   Haves and Have-Nots’ AND

                                                                                                                                    ‘To Farm or Not Farm’

Oct 9               #12 — Impact of domestication on quality of life. What effect           ER Cohen: ‘Changes in             on diet, health, fertility rates, social relations?                       Human Diet’

                                   

Oct 14             NO CLASS — Midterm Take-Home Exam  due TUESDAY OCT. 14 at 5:00

 

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES:

 GROWING CONFLICT AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY

 

Oct 16             #13 — Behavioral ecology (sociobiology)                                         ER Kelly: 'Behavioral                                                                                                                                     Ecology’ (pp. 50-64)      

 

Oct 21             #14 — Warfare in horticultural societies                                            J&E, Chp. 6 (pp. 141-170)

                                    Yanomamo case                                                                      ER Chagnon,‘Life Histories’

 

Oct 23             #15 — Competing explanations for warfare                                       ER Harris: Population, War-

                                                                                                                                    Fare, Male Supremacist’ and

                                                                                                Ferguson ‘Savage Encounter’

 

Oct 23             Review of journal Human Ecology due — no exceptions!

 

Oct 28             #16 — Agriculture and social organization: polygyny                        ER Kanazawa: 'Why                                                                                                                                     Monogamy’ and Cadigan:

                                                                                                                                    ‘Woman-Woman Marriage’

 

Oct 30            #17 — Agriculture and social organization: polyandry                        ER Goldstein: ‘When                                           Brothers Share Wife’                                                                and Levine: ‘Why                                                                                                                                      Polyandry Fails’

 

Nov 4              #18 — Rise of Complex Societies (Regional Polities)                       J&E, Chp 9, pp. 245-264

 

Nov 6              #19 — Pacific Islands: From Simple to Complex Chiefdom               J&E, Chp. 10 (265-280)

 J&E, Chp. 11 (281-294)

 

                    STATE FORMATION AND INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE

 

           

Nov 11            #20 — Archaic State Formation: Inka, France, and Japan                  J&E, Chp. 12 (304-329)

 

Nov 13            #21 — State Formation II: Southeast Asia                                          ER Heidhues, ‘Temples and                          

                                                                                                                                    Rice’ (pp. 35-49)

 

Nov 18            #22 — Boserup’s theory of agricultural intensification                      ER Boserup, ‘Conditions of

                                                                                                                                    Agricultural Growth’

 

Nov 20            #23 — Intensive “peasant” agriculture in modern states                     J&E Chp 13 (330-32, 345-65)

Three case studies in China, Indonesia, and Kenya                

 

Nov 25            #24 — Case Study: Agricultural Intensification in Kenya                   ER Conelly & Chaiken,                                                                                                                                     ‘Intensive Farming .. Kenya’

Nov 27                        *** THANKSGIVING BREAK ***

 

Dec 2               #25 — Case study: Agricultural intensification in Philippines           ER Conelly ‘Agricultural

                                                                                                                                    Intensification … Philippine

 

Dec 4               #26 — Case Study: Amish Agriculture                                               ER Hostetler, 'Agriculture                                                                                                                                          and Subsistence'

 

Dec 4              *** Book review Paper Due.  No exceptions!! ***

 

Dec 11            *** Final Take-home Exam Due by 5:00 PM ***