Students

ANTH304 – Ecological Anthropology: Body and Place

2016 – 2016

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor, Lecturer, Tutor
Eve Vincent
eve.vincent@mq.edu.au
Contact via Email
W6A
Wednesday 12-1pm
Lecturer
Sophie Chao
Lecturer
Paul Keil
Credit points Credit points
3
Prerequisites Prerequisites
39cp or admission to GDipArts
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
We live in a geological epoch increasingly referred to as the 'Anthropocene' - a term that references the profound impact industrialised human society has had on the environment. The central concern of this unit is to consider the complex 'entanglements' that characterise life in the Anthropocene. How might we think about the range of relationships that humans have with other species, be they animal or plant, as well as human relationships with entities such as minerals, forests and rivers? We will explore theoretical concerns such as interspecies relations, toxic 'externalities' and non-human agency, as well as learning about specific case studies that deal with resource extraction, hunting and poaching, deforestation and others.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • Understand the concept of the 'Anthropocene' and critical perspectives on its usage
  • Gain insight into current theoretical discussions concerning humans' relations with other species
  • Apply anthropological analysis to contemporary issues to do with environmental degradation, Indigenous rights, conservation and climate change
  • Enhance communication and interpersonal skills through oral discussion and written work that focuses on conveying understanding, argument and information in a clear and concise fashion
  • Use the anthropological method of immersion and ethnographic description to analyse an inter-species encounter
  • Cement critical analysis and creative thinking skills through research assignments.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Due
Tutorial Participation 15% Weekly
Critical Summary 15% Friday August 19
Encountering Another Species 30% Monday October 10
Research Essay 40% Monday November 14

Tutorial Participation

Due: Weekly
Weighting: 15%

You are required to attend a minimum of 80 per cent of our tutorials. Please email your tutor directly if you need to miss a tutorial for unavoidable reasons. Active engagement in our class discussions is vital: please come to class having done the required reading, willing to contribute your ideas, and ready to listen to others' contributions.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Understand the concept of the 'Anthropocene' and critical perspectives on its usage
  • Apply anthropological analysis to contemporary issues to do with environmental degradation, Indigenous rights, conservation and climate change
  • Enhance communication and interpersonal skills through oral discussion and written work that focuses on conveying understanding, argument and information in a clear and concise fashion

Critical Summary

Due: Friday August 19
Weighting: 15%

You are required to submit a 500 word summary of a reading. Details for this assessment task will be available in Week 1, and will be discussed in class in Week 2.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Cement critical analysis and creative thinking skills through research assignments.

Encountering Another Species

Due: Monday October 10
Weighting: 30%

For this assignment, you are required to write an ethnographic account of an encounter with another species or with the elements or a natural form (think pets, plants, pests, the sun, wind or even a river). A full description of this task will be released in Week 5. Your Week 7 lecture deals with methodological questions and is designed to help you with this assessment item. Furthermore, in Week 8 we will workshop drafts of this assignment together in class. 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Gain insight into current theoretical discussions concerning humans' relations with other species
  • Use the anthropological method of immersion and ethnographic description to analyse an inter-species encounter

Research Essay

Due: Monday November 14
Weighting: 40%

Your final essay is due on Monday November 14. Questions and criteria will be released in Week 9.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Understand the concept of the 'Anthropocene' and critical perspectives on its usage
  • Apply anthropological analysis to contemporary issues to do with environmental degradation, Indigenous rights, conservation and climate change
  • Cement critical analysis and creative thinking skills through research assignments.

Delivery and Resources

All required readings for this unit are available via the library site for this unit or via iLearn. A list of readings is included as part of the Unit Schedule

Unit Schedule

Week 1 (Wednesday August 3). Unit introduction

Lecturer: Dr Eve Vincent

Please select one of the following readings for the first week. There are no tutorials this week; tutorials begin in Week 2.

Readings

  • William Cronon (1996) The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature. In Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. W. Cronon, ed. New York, London: W. W. Norton and Company.
  • Rob Nixon (2013) ‘Slow Violence, Gender and the Environmentalism of the Poor’ In Rob Nixon, Slow Violence  and the Environmentalism of the Poor, Harvard University Press, 2013. 
  • Val Plumwood (1996), Being Prey. In Terra Nova: Nature & Culture. Vol. 1, no. 3, p. 33-44
  • Tim Ingold T. (2006) Rethinking the animate, re-animating thought. Ethnos 71: 9-20.

Week 2 (Wednesday August 10) Nature and Culture in Anthropology

Lecturer: Sophie Chao 

Required Reading

  • Marvin Harris (1992) ‘The Cultural Ecology of India’s Sacred Cattle’ in Current Anthropology. Volume 33(1). Pp. 261 – 276.
  • Clifford Geertz (2005) ‘Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight’ in Daedalus. Volume 134(4). Pp. 56 – 86.
  • Phillipe Descola (2013) [2005] ‘Configurations of Continuity’ in Beyond Nature and Culture. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London. Pp. 3 – 31. 

Week 3 (Wednesday August 17) Wild or Domestic, Native or Alien? Revisiting Dichotomies

Lecturer: Sophie Chao

Required Reading

  • Bulmer R (1967) ‘Why is the Cassowary Not a Bird? A Problem of Zoological Taxonomy Among the Karam of the New Guinea Highlands’ in Man. Vol 2(1). Pp. 5 – 25.
  • Comaroff J and JL Comaroff (2001) ‘Naturing the Nation: Aliens, Apocalypse and the Postcolonial State’ in Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture. Volume 7(2). Pp. 233 – 265.

Further Reading

  • Shir-Vertesh D 2012 ‘“Flexible Personhood”: Loving Animals as Family Members in Israel’ in American Anthropologist. Volume 114(3). Pp. 420 - 432.

Week 4 (Wednesday August 24) Resource Frontiers and Extractive Economies

Lecturer: Dr Eve Vincent

Required Reading

  • Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (2003) Natural Resources and Capitalist Frontiers, Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 38, No. 48, pp. 5100-5106
  • Alex Golub (2006) Who Is the "Original Affluent Society"? Ipili "Predatory Expansion" and the Porgera Gold Mine, Papua New Guinea The Contemporary Pacific 18.2 265-292
  • Kirsch S. (2006) ‘The Mine’ and ‘Sorcery and the Mine’. In Reverse Anthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Social and Environmental Relations in New Guinea: Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Week 5: Extractive Colonialism and Indigeneity in Contemporary Australia

Lecturer: Dr Eve Vincent

Required Reading

  • Muecke, S (In Press),' Indigenous-Green Knowledge Collaborations and the James Price Point Dispute', In E Vincent & T Neale (eds), Unstable Relations: Environmentalism and Indigenous People in Contemporary Australia, University of Western Australia Publishing, Perth.
  • Heritage Fight (We will watch this documentary in class)

Further Reading

  • Vincent E and Neale T. (2016) Unstable Relations: A Critical Appraisal of Environmentalism and Indigeneity in Contemporary Australia. The Australian Journal of Anthropology.
  • Trigger DS. (1997) Mining, landscape and the culture of development ideology in Australia. Cultural Geographies 4: 161-180.

Week 6 (Wednesday September 7) Lecture title and readings TBA

Associate Professor Juan Salazar from Western Sydney University will be coming to talk to us about his research in Antarctica. 

Week 7 (Wednesday September 14) Flora, Fauna and Fieldwork: Interviewing Plants and Other Methodological Challenges

Lecturer: Sophie Chao

 

Mid-semester break: Monday September 19-Sunday October 2

 

Week 8 (Wednesday October 5): NO LECTURES.

We will be workshopping our 'Encountering Another Species' assignments in class. Please attend tutorials as per normal, brining with you a draft of this assessment task.

 

Week 9 (Wednesday October 12) Hunting re-visited: Cross-cultural and ecological perspectives

Lecturer: Dr Catie Gressier

Required Reading

  • Nadasdy, Paul. 2007. The Gift in the Animal: The Ontology of Hunting and Human–Animal Sociality. American Ethnologist. 34(1): 25-43. 
  • Gressier, Catie. 2014. An Elephant in the Room: Safari Hunting as Ecotourism? Ethnos79(2): 193-214.

Further Reading

  • Nelson, Richard. 1997. Heart of the Hunter (Chapter 10). Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, pp 312-341. 

 

Week 10 (Wednesday October 19) Conservation: The politics of living with and protecting ‘natural’ ecologies

Lecturer: Paul Keil

Required Reading

  • Guha, R. and Gadgil, M. (1989) State forestry and social conflict in British India. Past & Present, (123), pp.141-177
  • West, P., Igoe, J. and Brockington, D. (2006) Parks and peoples: the social impact of protected areas. Annual Review of Anthropology., 35, pp.251-277.

Further Reading

  • Chapin, M (2004) A challenge to conservationists. World Watch Magazine, Nov/Dec.  
  • Orlove, B.S. and Brush, S.B. (1996) Anthropology and the conservation of biodiversity. Annual Review of Anthropology, pp.329-352.

 

Week 11 (Wednesday October 26) Mutual ecologies: How humans and other animals give shape to, and are given shape by their environment

Lecturer: Paul Keil

Required Reading

  • Ingold, T. (2000) Building, Dwelling, Living: How animals and people make themselves at home in the world. The perception of the environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. Psychology Press.
  • Paul Keil (2016) Colonising in the Footsteps of Elephants. Conference Proceedings, SOAS Elephant Conference, 2016, Bangalore
  • Fuentes, A. (2010) Naturalcultural encounters in Bali: Monkeys, temples, tourists, and ethnoprimatology. Cultural Anthropology, 25(4), pp.600-624

Further Reading

  • Jakle, J. A. (1968) The American Bison and the Human Occupance of the Ohio Valley. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 112(4), 299–305.

Week 12 (Wednesday November 2) Climate change, social change, and the role of anthropology in the Anthropocene

Lecturer: Paul Keil

Required Reading

  • Moore, A. (2016) Anthropocene anthropology: reconceptualizing contemporary global change. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute,22(1), pp.27-46.
  • Van Dooren, T. (2014) Urban Penguins. Stories for lost places. Flight ways: life and loss at the edge of extinction. Columbia University Press

Further Reading

  • Lazarus, H. (2012) Sea change: island communities and climate change. Annual Review of Anthropology, 41, pp. 285-301.
  • Latour, B. (2014) December. Anthropology at the time of the Anthropocene—A personal view of what is to be studied. In Distinguished lecture delivered at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting, Washington. 
  •  

Week 13 (Wednesday November 9) Endpoints: Waste and Toxic Excess

Lecturer: Dr Eve Vincent

Required Reading

  • Kim Fortun (1998) The Bhopal disaster: Advocacy and expertise, Science as Culture, 7:2, 193-216, DOI: 10.1080/09505439809526501
  • Joshua Reno (2016) ‘Leaky Bodies’ from Waste Away: Working and Living with a North American Landfill, Oakland, CA, University of California Press 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

New Assessment Policy in effect from Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html. For more information visit http://students.mq.edu.au/events/2016/07/19/new_assessment_policy_in_place_from_session_2/

Assessment Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html​

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.

Please note: ALL ASSESSMENT ITEMS MUST BE ATTEMPTED IN ORDER TO PASS THIS UNIT

 

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Gain insight into current theoretical discussions concerning humans' relations with other species
  • Use the anthropological method of immersion and ethnographic description to analyse an inter-species encounter

Assessment task

  • Encountering Another Species

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Apply anthropological analysis to contemporary issues to do with environmental degradation, Indigenous rights, conservation and climate change
  • Use the anthropological method of immersion and ethnographic description to analyse an inter-species encounter

Assessment tasks

  • Tutorial Participation
  • Encountering Another Species
  • Research Essay

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • Cement critical analysis and creative thinking skills through research assignments.

Assessment tasks

  • Critical Summary
  • Research Essay

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Understand the concept of the 'Anthropocene' and critical perspectives on its usage
  • Gain insight into current theoretical discussions concerning humans' relations with other species
  • Apply anthropological analysis to contemporary issues to do with environmental degradation, Indigenous rights, conservation and climate change

Assessment tasks

  • Tutorial Participation
  • Encountering Another Species
  • Research Essay

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • Cement critical analysis and creative thinking skills through research assignments.

Assessment tasks

  • Critical Summary
  • Research Essay

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • Gain insight into current theoretical discussions concerning humans' relations with other species

Assessment task

  • Encountering Another Species

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Enhance communication and interpersonal skills through oral discussion and written work that focuses on conveying understanding, argument and information in a clear and concise fashion
  • Use the anthropological method of immersion and ethnographic description to analyse an inter-species encounter
  • Cement critical analysis and creative thinking skills through research assignments.

Assessment tasks

  • Tutorial Participation
  • Critical Summary
  • Encountering Another Species
  • Research Essay

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Understand the concept of the 'Anthropocene' and critical perspectives on its usage
  • Gain insight into current theoretical discussions concerning humans' relations with other species
  • Apply anthropological analysis to contemporary issues to do with environmental degradation, Indigenous rights, conservation and climate change
  • Use the anthropological method of immersion and ethnographic description to analyse an inter-species encounter

Assessment tasks

  • Tutorial Participation
  • Encountering Another Species
  • Research Essay

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Understand the concept of the 'Anthropocene' and critical perspectives on its usage
  • Gain insight into current theoretical discussions concerning humans' relations with other species
  • Apply anthropological analysis to contemporary issues to do with environmental degradation, Indigenous rights, conservation and climate change
  • Use the anthropological method of immersion and ethnographic description to analyse an inter-species encounter

Assessment tasks

  • Tutorial Participation
  • Encountering Another Species
  • Research Essay