ONLINE QUIZ

VERY IMPORTANT: It’s important that you allow others to learn for themselves. These are open-note quizzes, but the point of this assessment task is to give you the chance to familiarise yourself with the online quizzes, iLearn technology and the lecture material. That point is defeated if students share quiz answers. DO NOT discuss the quiz questions or post answers on the iLearn discussion board. Anyone who distributes quiz answers, whether through iLearn or any other print or electronic media, is in violation of the Academic Honesty Policy 

RESEARCH ESSAY

SUBMISSION

You must submit your essay assignment through Turnitin.

Turnitin: Turnitin can be accessed through the link on the iLearn page for ANTH106. Please note that you cannot resubmit the same assignment twice, so please make sure that you do not make a mistake and submit an earlier draft to Turnitin,  because it is not possible to undo this. Once you submit to Turnitin, you cannot withdraw what you have submitted.

Feedback: Your essays will be returned through the ANTH106 iLearn page, approximately two and a half weeks after submission date, except in the case of late submissions, which will be returned at the markers’ discretion. Your marker will write the feedback on your electronic submission through Grademark. Pay close attention to the feedback you get on your essay so that you can benefit from it when writing future essays.  EXTENSIONS

Extensions must be requested in writing with valid documentation of their necessity (e.g. medical certificate) through the  university’s disruption of studies procedure. See http://www.student.mq.edu.au/ses/Special%20Consideration.html for  information about whether your circumstances qualify under the university’s policy and information on how to apply for disruption of studies. Any work which is submitted after the due date without an extension will be penalised at the rate of 2 percentage points per day.

The University recognises that at times an event or set of circumstances may occur  that: 

• Could not have reasonably been anticipated, avoided or guarded against by the student AND • Was beyond the student's control  AND • Caused substantial disruption to the student's capacity for effective study and/or completion of required work AND • Substantially interfered with the otherwise satisfactory fulfilment of unit or program requirements  AND • Was of at least three (3) consecutive days duration within a study period and/or prevented completion of a formal examination.

In such circumstances, students may apply for Special Consideration. Special Consideration applications must be supported by evidence to demonstrate the severity of the circumstance(s) and that substantial disruption has  been caused to the student's capacity for effective study. Applying for disruptions of study consideration:

The Disruptions of study application must be completed by the student and submitted online through www.ask.mq.edu.au. For an application to be valid, it must include all supporting evidence. For more information, see: http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/special_consideration/policy.html

What disruptions of study may not be used for:

A disruptions to study application may be used to request a deadline extension or to take a supplementary (make-up) quiz that you missed. However, disruptions of study may NOT be used to raise your grade on an assessment task or to get out  of completing an assessment task in the unit.

Academic or personal difficulties:

Macquarie University provides a range of Academic Student Support Services. Details of these services can  be accessed at http://www.student.mq.edu.au.

Students experiencing academic difficulty should approach the unit convenor in the first instance. On other academic matters you should see the Dean of Students of the University Health and Counselling Service (Ph: 9850 7497/98). On matters  pertaining to regulations you should seek information from the Registrar or seek advice from the Arts Student Centre.

All required and recommended readings are available on eReserve.  

Attendance at the university is not required in this unit.

All lectures will be recorded on Echo (previously iLecture) and can be accessed via iLearn ilearn.mq.edu.au. Listen to the recordings and study the associated lecture slides. 

ESSENTIAL: REGULAR INTERNET ACCESS IN ESSENTIAL TO COMPLETE THIS COURSE!

It is YOUR responsibility to procure a reliable and accessible Internet connection throughout the semester. This will be essential for you to complete quizzes, submit assignments and obtain your readings.

Lack of Internet access or an unreliable Internet connection will not be a valid excuse for incomplete assessments.

The Unit Homepage can be accessed through iLearn. The iLearn page for this unit should be your first source of information about this unit. It is ESSENTIAL that you regularly check the iLearn page, forums and announcements, as these will be the main means of communication between you and your convener. 

Lectures

Where: Online (on ilearn)

Convenor and teaching staff 

Convenor: Dr Guy Threlfo

Email: guy.threlfo@mq.edu.au

Phone: 0406 743 872 

Guest lecturers:

Dr Anjalee Cohen, Anthropology Dept, University of Sydney

Prof. Paul Cohen, Anthropology Dept, MacquarieUniversity

Dr Greg Downey, Anthropology Dept, MacquarieUniversity

Ms Niree Kraushaar, Dept of Psychology, MacquarieUniversity

Dr Ross MacKenzie, Dept of Environment and Geography, MacquarieUniversity

Tony Trimingham, Founder and Director of the Family Drug Support Group

Dr Alex Wodak, Director, Alcohol and Drug Services, St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney Page 19 of 28

Detective Inspector Jason R Smith, Drug Squad, NSW Police Force 

For general enquiries

Name: Payel Ray, Anthropology Department administrator

Email: payel.ray@scmp.mq.edu.au

Phone: +61 2 9850 8077

Office: W6A 615

Introduction: Drugs, Pharmaceuticals, and Anthropology

1.1 Introduction: This lecture is an introduction to the unit, the topics and lecturers, and the unit requirements. The introductory lecture begins with a review of the major categories of drugs andtheir effects and covers a brief history of drug use.

Required Reading:

Robson (1999).Forbidden Drugs, second edition, chapter 2:“Consequences of Drug Use”

1.2 Hallucinogens: The hallucinogens lecture begins with a consideration of the religious and ritual context of the use of hallucinogens among indigenous peoples of North and South America, with particular reference to shamanism. Among the specific issues discussed will be: the characteristics of shamanic trance-states, trance-states and psychotherapy, the social functions of trance-states (e.g. diagnosis of illness). Then follows a discussion of hallucinogens in the West. During the 1940s and 1950s and increasing number of Westerners, including prominent intellectuals such as Aldous Huxley, began experimenting with hallucinogens by using them personally. Later, psychologists and scientists, such as Dr Timothy Leary, began extensive studies of the hallucinogenic experience. The qualities of the drug were so powerful, revealing what seemed an alternative reality, that their use quickly became a feature of the counterculture and alternative society of the 1960s and 1970s. However, connections between hallucinogens and mental illness were also proposed and the dangers of hallucinogenic experiences led to a rapid decline in their popularity. These issues are explored in the film Psychedelic Science, which we will watch next week.

Required Reading:

Weil, A (1973) ‘Clues from the Amazon’. In The Nature of Mind, Jonathon Cape, London, pp. 98-115.

1.3 Cannabis: This lecture will explore the history of cannabis in Asia and the West – from its use for religious and medical purposes to its appropriation by literary and artistic circles – and examine the reasons for the shifting image of marijuana in Western countries, including the “gateway hypothesis.” Finally, debates over decriminalisation and legalisation will be examined.

Required Readings:

Himmelstein, J.L. (1983) ‘From Killer Weed to Drop Out Drug’, Contemporary Crises, 7(1): 13-38.

W. Hall & M. Lynskey (2005) ‘Is Cannabis a Gateway drug? Testing Hypotheses About the Relationship Between Cannabis Use and the use of other Illicit Drugs’, Drug and Alcohol Review 24:39-48

1.4 Tobacco and Shamanism: This lecture will look at the pharmacology of the tobacco plant and the biochemistry of nicotine addiction. The biogeography of tobacco varieties in the New World reveals something of its earliest domestication and diffusion throughout the Americas, not as a drug of pleasure but as a sacred medicine, the use of which enable humans to visit and influence the Gods via a hallucinated ‘bridge of smoke’. Only fifty years after Columbus’ first voyage, tobacco was being smoked in the Portuguese royal court, and fifty years after that it was being traded and smoked around the world.

Required Reading:

Wilbert, J (1987) ‘Tobacco and Shamanistic Ecstasy Among the Warao Indians’. In P Furst (ed), Flesh of the Gods: the Ritual Use of Hallucinogens. New York: Praeger, pp. 55-83.

2.1 Ethnographies of Drug Use: Dr. Paul Cohen examines how anthropologists have studied drug use. The lecture focuses on ethnographies of drugs use and highlights their value, particularly in relation to understanding the meaning of drug use in context. This lecture defines 'ethnography' and outlines ethnographic methods. Then follows an analysis of ethnographies of illicit drug use, such as those by Angela Burr, David Moore, Lisa Maher and Grund et al. This analysis highlights the value of drug use ethnographies, in particular the understanding of the meaning of drug use in context. The lecture also examines the contribution of ethnographies to an understanding of drug rituals and symbolism and drug subcultures.

Required Reading:

Zinberg, N.E. (1984) ‘Historical Perspectives on Controlled Drug Use’. In Drug, Set and Setting: the Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use. Yale University Press, pp. 1-10.

2.2 Drug Symbolism: This lecture outlines theories of drug use in context, with emphasis on the way rituals and social sanctions operate in drug sub-cultures and the contribution of ethnography to understanding these processes. There will be some discussion of the symbolic analysis of drugs in relation to ‘drug problems’.

Required Readings:

Manderson (1995). 'Metamorphoses: Clashing Symbols in the Social Construction of Drugs.’ Journal of Drug Issues 25(4): 799-816.

Manderson, D. 2005. Possessed: Drug policy, witchcraft and belief.Cultural Studies 19(1)

2.3 From Tears to Hope: A family Perspective on Drugs: The founder of Family Drug Support will provide a powerful personal account of drug addiction from the perspective of the family members of drug users. He will also talk about addiction treatment and drug policy.

NO READINGS FOR THIS LECTURE

2.4 Drug Pharmacology and Addiction: Niree Kraushaar of Macquarie’s Psychology Department will lecture on the pharmacology and neurobiology of drugs. She will examine how psychoactive drugs exert their effects on the central nervous system and discuss the neurotransmitters (or brain chemicals) including dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine and GABA. She will also explore the difference between substance abuse and substance dependence (or addiction) and examine what properties of the drug determine its harm potential and whether there are any individual differences that make it more likely that a person will become addicted.

Required Readings

Parrott et al. (2004).Excerpt from “Principles of Drug Action.”

William A. McKim, 2007. “Dependence,Addiction, and the Self-Administration of Drugs.” Chapter 5 of Drugs and Behavior: An Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology, sixth edition. New Jersey:Pearson Prentice Hall, pp.92-127 (on eReserve).

2.5 The Political Economy of Tobacco: This lecture is about the broad health implications of smoking and the role of media in health policy and advocacy. Dr. MacKenzie will discuss his research on global trade liberalisation and the tobacco industry, primarily in SE Asia, looking at the growth of the globalisation of Western brands and consequences for lower- to middle income countries, consolidation of the tobacco industry, and smuggling.

Required Readings:

Lee, S., Ling, P. M. and Glantz, S. A (2012). ‘The vector of the tobacco epidemic: tobacco industry practices in low and middle-income countries’. Cancer Causes Control 23:117-129

Yach D and Bettcher D, 2000. ‘Globalisation of tobacco industry influence and new global responses.’ Tobacco Control 9: 206-216

3.1 The Placebo Effect: Anthropologists, neurologists, and psychologists have studied the placebo effect and talk about the ethics of drug research. Numerous medical studies have illustrated how powerful placebos are. Placebos can cure a headache, ameliorate depression, and even induce a powerful high in drug addicts. Yet placebos are, by their very definition, inert. Therefore, it's not the placebo that's doing all these things. It's the meaning that we attribute to the placebo, and that is a complex blend of psychology and culture acting on physiology. In the first two hours of lecture, Dr Lisa Wynn will explore Moerman and Jonas's theory that the placebo effect is actually a meaning effect and we will test the correlative theory, namely that sensory perception is determined by expectations, with a class experiment involving a blind wine tasting featuring special guest participants!

Required Reading:

Daniel Moerman and Wayne Jonas, 2002. “Deconstructing the Placebo Effect and Finding the Meaning Response.” Annals of Internal Medicine136 (6):471-476.

3.2 The Political Economy of Opiates Guest lecturer Paul Cohen begins to examine the political economy of opiates in Asia, where he has conducted original ethnographic research. Professor Cohen outlines the history of opium in Asia with emphasis on the factors contributing to the growth of the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent regions as the major sources of illicit opium production. The post World War II politics of opium in these regions will be analysed as well as the way in which local opium production and trade is linked to a global market in heroin. There will also be discussion of the social context of opium production and consumption by ‘hill-tribe’ and peasant growers.

Required Readings:

Cohen, PT (2013) Symbolic dimensions of the anti-opium campaign in Laos, TAJA 24:177-192

Trocki, C. A. (1999) ‘All the Drowsy Syrups of the World’. In Opium Empire and the Global Political Economy: A Study of Asian Opium Trade, 1750-1950. London: Routledge, pp. 13-32.

4.1 Drugs On The Digital Frontier: This lecture examines the new generation of online illicit marketplaces, or cyptomarkets, that are increasingly facilitating the sale and distribution of illicit drugs. These websites have proliferated rapidly in recent years, with the most well known, Silk Road, closing under dramatic circumstances in late 2012. Questions we will be addressing in the lecture include: how does the sale and distribution of illicit drugs occur on the digital frontier? Are drugs distributed through cryptomarkets more of less harmful than those that reach consumers through conventional distribution networks?

REQUIRED READING:

Martin, J. (2013) ‘Lost on the Silk Road: Online drug distribution and the ‘cryptomarket’. Criminology and Criminal Justice, Online. pp.1-17, http://crj.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/10/06/1748895813505234

4.2 Cocaine: This lecture will discuss coca and cocaine in the Silver Triangle (Bolivia, Colombia, Peru) of South America. The lecture examines the traditional uses of coca and then examines the contemporary situation in which peasant production of coca has become enmeshed in a global economy.

Required Readings:

Leons, M. B. & H Sanabria (1997) ‘Coca and Cocaine in Bolivia: Reality and Policy Illusion’. In MB Leons & H Sanabria (eds), Coca, Cocaine, and the Bolivian Reality. New York: State University of New York Press, pp. 2-46.

Wilson, S & M Zambrano (1997) ‘Cocaine, Commodity Chains and Drug Politics: a Transnational Approach’. In Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism. Westport, CT: Praeger, pp. 297-315.

4.3 DMT and the Ecological Consciousness: This lecture is an introduction to ongoing research into the impact of psychoactive plants on ecological consciousness. Some westerners claim that 'plant teachers' like Ayahuasca, DMT and Salvia Divinorum can 'reconnect' people to nature, revealing the soul’s kinship with all living things. If this is in any way accurate it could be significant for future attempts to tackle environmental destruction and develop more biocentric societies. In this lecture Dr Job will consider the culture of use of these plants in the West and evaluate the ecological claims made on their behalf.

Required Reading:

Hanna J. "Aliens, Insectoids, and Elves! Oh, My!". Erowid Extracts. November 2012;23:8-21. Online edition: Erowid.org/chemicals/dmt/dmt_article3.shtml (free online access)

4.4 Ayahuasca Tourism in Peru: Lily Ainsworth has just returned from doing research on tourists who go to Peru to experience ayahuasca. She’ll talk about ayahuasca centres, what tourists learn there through their psychedelic drug experiences, and their subsequent efforts to integrate what they’ve learned when they return home.

4.5 Drug Law Reform: This lecture reviews international drug policy and the legislative options available for dealing with illicit drugs. Following a consideration of current legislation regarding illicit drugs and some of their harms, the lecture considers the importance of a harm minimisation approach and what it entails. Our guest lecturer, Dr Alex Wodak, is one of the most prominent academics in drug research and policy in Australia.

Required Readings:

Mather, LE, Rauwendaal, ER, Moxham-Hall, VL and Wodak, AD (2013) (Re)introducing medicinal cannabis. Medical Journal of Australia 199(11):759-762

Wodak, A (2000) ‘Developing More Effective Responses’. In G Stokes, P Chalk & K Gillen (eds), Drugs and Democracy, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, pp. 183-200.

5.1 A Law Enforcement Perspective on Drugs: Detective Inspector Jason R. Smith will speak about law enforcement and how drugs are policed in NSW with a brief personal account of his history of working on the NSW drug squad.

5.2 War On Drugs: Detective Inspector Jason R. Smith will speak about law enforcement and how drugs are policed in NSW with a brief personal account of his history of working on the NSW drug squad.

Required Readings:

Farrell, G (1998) ‘A Global Empirical View of Drug Crop Eradication and the United Nation’s Substitution and Alternative Development Strategies’, Journal of Drug Issues, 28(2): 395-436.

5.3 Alcohol Abuse in the Thai Burmese Border: Alcohol use is common in many conflict-displaced populations; population perspectives of alcohol use have not been well studied. This lecture will focus on research conducted among people in Mae La, a long standing refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border. It discusses the role of alcohol abuse in relation to intimate partner violence. IT considers how alcohol use is subject to strongly gendered social controls, but it is changing under the pressures of displacement. 

Required Reading:

Ezard, N (2013) It’s not just the alcohol: Gender, alcohol use and intimate partner violence in Mae La Refugee Camp, Thailand, 2009. Substance Use and Misuse:1-10

5.4: Steroids: Associate Professor Dr Greg Downey from the Anthropology Department will talk about performance-enhancing drugs and their use in sports.

Required Readings:

Hoberman, J. (1995). Listening to Steroids. The Wilson Quarterly Vol. 19, No. 1, pp.35-44

5.5 Emergency Contraception: Dr Wynn will discuss her research on debates over access to emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) in the United States and Australia. Though ECPs are not mind-altering drugs (they are just a higher dose of the same hormones found in regular oral contraceptive pills), it is striking how the American discourse surrounding them has tended to focus on many of the same concerns – one might say paranoias – that surround discourses about illegal drug use. Is it the association between these pills and sex that leads this pharmaceutical product to be imagined in the same way as mood-altering illegal drugs?

Required Readings

Wynn & Trussell (2006). “Images of American Sexuality in Debates Over Nondescription Access to Emergency Contraceptive Pills” Obstetrical Gynecology 108(5):1272-6

Desmond Manderson (2011). “Possessed: The unconscious law of drugs.” In S Fraser and D Moore, eds., The Drug Effect: Health, Crime and Society. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, pp.225-239.

5.6 Erectile Dysfunction Drugs: Lisa Wynn will look at the history of the development of the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil (Viagra) and how it is consumed cross culturally, with a comparison of the different ways that Viagra is imagined and used in Egypt, China, and the U.S. and the ways it has shaped popular understandings of masculinity and sexuality.

Required Readings:

Fishman (2007). “Making Viagra: From Impotence to Erectile Dysfunction.”

Changes to previous offerings of the unit:

The content of this course is taken from recordings of live lectures given at Macquarie University during semester 1, 2014. The assessment schedule for this summer session of Drugs Across Cultures has been altered in order to make it easier to complete a 13 week course in 5 weeks. You will hear several 'exam reviews' as part of the audio content for the lecture series. However, these reviews do not apply to the exams that you will sit in this course.  Details for the multiple choice tests are contained in this course outline.