Anth 370. Contemporary Human Problems. Spring 2008.
Topic: Race, Faith, Nation, Class: Solidarities and Conflicts
MWF 9:00-9:50 Faner 3515
The world is riven with conflicts between people. This course will look at the ways that people create solidarities with one another and through which they oppose other groups. Religion, nationality and ethnicity, race, and class all create powerful loyalties. Sometimes these loyalties crosscut one another; sometimes they converge.
After an introduction, we will look at three specific issues or “trouble spots,” in order to understand how these calls to solidarity operate. We will first take up the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, where ethnic and religious differences contributed to the complete breakdown of civil society.
Next we will look at Bolivia, where an indigenous movement has gained considerable power in recent years.
Finally, we will look at Iraq, trying to understand the complex social landscape there – conflicts that are based partly on religion, partly on region, partly on the specific history and geopolitics of that country.
Organization:
This course requires students to become active researchers, as well as studying assigned materials with the rest of the class. For each unit you will:
| * | read several assigned papers all members of the class, do some additional research on the area. |
| * | do a 5-8 page (1250-2000 word, exclusive of bibliography) report on each country that describes the key aspects of the country, including |
| o | class, |
| o | religion, |
| o | ethnic, national, racial, and/or tribal groups, as well as |
| other elements you see as important in fueling solidarities and conflicts. |
Sources to draw on: Assigned readings, EBSCO, google, other search engines you like.
Topics:
The former Yugoslavia. The problem: To understand the reasons for the dissolution of the country. Key issues: nationalist identities, religion, historical experiences.
Bolivia. The problem: To understand the current indigenous mobilization. Key issues: class, ethnicity, religion, historical experiences.
Iraq. The problem: To understand the nature of the divisions within the state. Key issues: religion, tribes, and ethnicity, historical experience.
Grading:
1) Attendance: The content of this course requires student participation. Attendance is therefore critical. Students are required to attend all classes. You are allowed three (3) absences without penalty. YOU WILL LOSE 1/3 (ONE-THIRD) LETTER GRADE FOR EACH CLASS YOU MISS IN EXCESS OF THREE ABSENCES. If you have exceptional circumstances, please communicate those to me. If you have an emergency that keeps you out of class for more than three class meetings, I will excuse those in excess of three. This means that if you have already used some absences, you will receive three more; any further ones due to your emergency will not be counted.
2) Reading: You will read assigned articles and readings you discover.
3) Response papers. You will write a short (1 page, 250 words) summary of each reading, as assigned. These summaries will be due in class the on the day assigned. (Note: You may hand in copies of your notes on the reading, as well.)
4) Research papers/reports. You will write a three (3) short research papers or reports, one on each topic.
| A) | Papers must be a minimum of 5 pages (1250 words) exclusive of bibliography. You will probably want to write more; please try to not go above 8 pages (2000 words). |
| B) | Papers will describe the major groupings and the historical and structural bases of conflict within each country studied. |
| C) | Papers must conform to standard academic standards regarding spelling, syntax, punctuation, citation, and bibliography Instructions on style are here: http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/~jadams/310g/Style_guide.pdf. If you are unclear about proper form, please ask me. Papers that do not meet minimum standards will be returned ungraded. You will be able to revise and resubmit the first paper; thereafter you will receive a zero for papers that do not meet these standards (see “Statement on Academic Honesty” below regarding citations). I will be glad to review papers before the deadline so that you can make needed revisions. |
| D) | Papers with plagiarized text will receive an automatic zero. You will submit your papers to Turnitin.com, which checks for plagiarized content. See “Statement on Academic Dishonesty” for more information. See me if you are unsure about whether you are citing material correctly. |
| E) | Papers are due on the last day of the unit, as indicated on the Syllabus. LATE PAPERS WILL BE DOCKED ONE (1) LETTER GRADE FOR EACH DAY (INCLUDING SAT. AND SUN.) THEY ARE LATE. If you have a legitimate emergency that prevents you from meeting the deadline, let me know BEFORE the deadline if possible. |
| You may use a non-traditional format such as a web page, a short story, or other non-social science format. If you want to take this option, consult with me so we can specify the standards you need to meet. |
5) Exams. There will be a midterm and a final exam. Exams will test for knowledge of material covered in class, so take good notes on classroom lectures and discussion.
6) Grading:
| Midterm | 25% |
| Final | 35% |
| Papers 3 @ 10% each | 30% |
| Summaries | ...10% |
| . | 100% |
Academic Dishonesty: We welcome you to this classroom community with the assumption that the work you do will be your own. However, distinguishing your work from the work of another can be tricky at times, for both you and your instructor. Presenting another’s work as your own, even if by accident, is a serious violation of the Student Conduct Code.
The Student Conduct Code identifies the following as acts of academic dishonesty: Plagiarism, representing the work of another as ones own work; preparing work for another that is to be used as that persons own work; cheating by any method or means; &soliciting, aiding, abetting, concealing, or attempting conduct in violation of this code (p. 18).
Whether quoting or paraphrasing (or even summarizing) someone else’s work, you should cite your sources; failure to do so constitutes an act of plagiarism. This policy applies to papers and speeches.
Buying a paper online, copying text from several web sites, and turning in someone else’s paper (even with a few words changed) are all examples of plagiarism when you claim such work as your own.
Note: As services selling such papers have increased in number, so have services that track plagiarism using sources from the internet.
Suspected cases of plagiarism will be investigated following Article V of the Student Conduct Code. If plagiarism is substantiated, the perpetrator may face failing the assignment, failing the course, disciplinary censure, and/or suspension from the university, depending on the details of the case (see Article III of the Student Conduct Code).
Rule of thumb: when in doubt, cite where the information is coming from. If you are uncertain whether you are citing sources sufficiently and appropriately enough to avoid plagiarism, please consult your instructor or a tutor at the Writing Center.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
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Week 1 Jan. 14-18 |
Monday - Introductions. What is the nature of “truth?” Friday – Hale, Henry E., Explaining Ethnicity. Comparative Political Studies 37(4):458-485 (May 2004). (available through EBSCO. url: http://cps.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/37/4/458). Summary due in class. |
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Week 2 Jan. 21-25
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Monday – NO CLASS - MLK Holiday Wednesday – Tambiah, Stanley J., Ethnic Conflict in the World Today. American Ethnologist 16(2):335-349 (May, 1989) Summary due in class. (Available in JSTOR) Friday - Discuss |
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Week 3 Jan 28-Feb1 |
Monday – BEGIN YUGOSLAVIA UNIT. Overview of Breakup of Yugoslavia. Gordana Rabrenovic, “The Dissolution of Yugoslavia: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Exclusionary Communities. Dialectical Anthropology 22:95-101. 1997. Summary due in class. (available through EBSCO) Wednesday, Friday - Historical narratives and national identities. Analyze the historical narratives concerning Serbia and Croatia in the following web sites, using worksheet provided. On Serbia: http://www.serbia-info.com/enc/history.html On Croatia: http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/et01.html (main page for site here: http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/etfss.html) On
You may also be interested in the history of the other territories. Wikipedia is a good (though not authoritative) source for histories of the other repubics and semi -autonomous regions that formed Yugoslavia: Herzogevena, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Dalmatia, Kosovo, and Vojvodina, . |
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Week 4 Feb. 4-8 |
Monday – Bieber, Florian, “Nationalist Mobilization and Stories of Serb Suffering: The Kosovo myth from 600th anniversary to the present. Rethinking History 6(1):95-110 (2002). (Available through EBSCO) Summary due in class Wednesday - Denich, Bette, “Dismembering Yugoslavia: Nationalist Ideologies and the Symbolic Revival of Genocide” American Ethnologist 21(2):367-390. (Available through JSTOR) Summary due in class. Friday – Discuss articles |
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Week 5 Feb. 11-15 |
Theories of the bases of ethnic conflicts. Monday – Bax, Mart. Planned Policy or Primitive Balkanism? A Local Contribution to the Ethnography of the War in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ethnos 2000. 65(3):317-340. (Available on EBSCO) Summary due in class. Wednesday – Marko-Stockl, Edith, “The Making of Ethnic Insecurity: A Case Study of the Krajina Serbs,” Human Security Persepctives 1(2):24-33 (2004). (google on title) Summary due in class. Friday – Kaufman, Stuart J., “Peace-Building and Conflict Resolution” Paper for Conference, “Living Together After Ethnic Killing: Debating the Kaufmann Hypothesis,” Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, Oct. 14, 2000. (google on title) Summary due in class. |
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Feb. 18-22 |
Review: a) History of the former Yugoslavia b) Ethnic/religious composition of region c) Theories of bases of conflicts of the 1990s PAPER DUE FRIDAY, FEB. 22
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Week 7Feb. 25-29 |
MIDTERM MONDAY Wednesday - BEGIN BOLIVIA Ho, Tin-Yun, Mass Movement: Indigenous Turmoil in Bolivia. Harvard International Review, Spring 2004. pp. 10-11. (Available through EBSCO) Hylton, Forrest and Sinclair Thomson, The Roots of Rebellion. NACLA Report on the Americas. November-December 2004. pp. 15-19. (Available through EBSCO) Summary synthesizing both articles due in class. Friday – More background. (NOTE: Find a relevant article and email to me) |
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Week 8, March 3-7 |
Monday - Find article on the ethnic conflicts in Bolivia. Can be a news story. Email to me by Friday evening. - Come to class with a brief statement (250 words) of what the article says about collective or cultural identity. Use this form: 1. Author, Title, Source, Date, page numbers (bibliographic citation form) 2. Your name 3. “This paper is about” – a brief summary of who, what, when, where the article deals with. 4. What the article says about issues of collective or cultural identity. Wednesday - Brysk, Alison and Carol Wise. Liberalization and Ethnic Conflict in Latin America. Studies in Comparative International Development, vol. 32(2):76-104. Summer 1997. (Available through EBSCO) Summary due in class. Friday – Continue Brysk and Wise |
SPRING BREAK WEEK 9 -- March 12-20
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Week 10, March 17-21 |
Monday - (The politics of water) - Laurie, Nina, “Establishing Development Orthodoxy: Negotiating Masculinities in the Water Sector.” Development and Change 36(3):527-549 (2005). (Available through EBSCO; link is to abstract; open pdf of full article) Summary due in class. Wednesday Robert Albro, Actualidades:
Friday – Postero, Nancy, “Indigenous Responses to Neoliberalism: A look at the Bolivian Uprising of 2003." PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 28(1):73-92 (2005). Available through http://www.anthrosource.net/ |
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Weeks 11 March 24-28 |
Monday - Canessa, Andrew, Evangelical Protestantism in the Northern Highlands of Bolivia. Studies in World Christianity 1998. 4(1):21-40. (Available through EBSCO) Summary due in class. Wednesday – Review a) Regional, ethnic, and class composition of Bolivia b) Nature of economic transformations in region c) Nature of social transformations in region Friday – PAPER DUE |
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Week 12 March 31-April 4 |
Begin Unit on Iraq Monday–Cockburn, Andrew, Iraq’s Oppressed Majority. Smithsonian. Dec. 2003. 34(9):98-106 (pdf lacks pictures). (available through EBSCO, google) Summary due in class. Wednesday - Find article on the social organization of and/or divisions within Iraq. Email to class by Tuesday evening. Come to class with a brief statement (250 words) of what the article says about collective or cultural identity. Use this form: 1. Author, Title, Source, Date, page numbers (bibliographic citation form) 2. Your name 3. “This paper is about” – a brief summary of who, what, when, where the article deals with. 4. What the article says about issues of collective or cultural identity. Friday – Haqqani, Husain “Islam’s Medieval Outposts” Foreign Policy 133:58-64 (Nov.-Dec. 2002). (Available on EBSCO) Summary due in class.
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Week 13 April 7-11 |
Monday -- Mellon, James G. Islam and International Politics: Examining Huntington’s “Civilizational Clash” Thesis. Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions Summer 2001 2(1):73-83. (Available on EBSCO) Summary due in class. Wednesday -- Al-Nouri, Qais N., The Impact of Economic Embargo on Iraqi Families: Re-structuring of Tribes, Socio-Economic Classes and Households. Journal of Comparative Family Studies. Summer 1997, 28(2):99-112. (Available through EBSCO) Summary due in class. Friday - Discuss articles |
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Week 14 April 14-18 |
Monday – Yaphe, Judith. Tribalism in
Wednesday Find news analysis about Iraq. Email it to class by Friday evening. Come to class with a brief statement (250 words) of what the article says about collective or cultural identity. Use this form: 4. Author, Title, Source, Date, page numbers (bibliographic citation form) 5. Your name 6. “This paper is about” – a brief summary of who, what, when, where the article deals with. – continue discussion of news articles Friday - Acker, Vanessa. Religion Among the Kurds: Internal Tolerance, External Conflict.
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Week 15 April 21-25 |
Monday – Wimmer, Andreas, “Democracy and Ethno-religious Conflict in
Wednesday – Review a) Regional, ethnic, and religious composition of Iraq b) Nature of economic transformations c) Nature of social transformations Friday – PAPER DUE
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Week 16 April 28- May 2 |
Monday – Review theoretical/analytical issues covered Wednesday – Review substantive issues covered Friday – Discuss implications for future |
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Week 17 May 12 10:10 a.m. -- 12:10 p.m |
FINAL EXAM –Thurs., May 8, 10:10 a.m - 12:10 p.m. |
