Weekly Quizzes

Assessment Type : Quiz/Test Indicative Time on Task : 13 hours Due: Weekly from week 2 Weighting: 40%

Weekly quizzes based on lecture materials and weekly readings. They are completed through iLearn and they are open-note and open-book.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of the pharmacology of recreational drugs.
• Show familiarity with anthropological and ethnographic approaches to drug use, including the ritual and symbolic aspects of drug use.
• Describe the physical, psychological and social aspects of addiction.
• Describe the impact of broad social, political, and economic forces on drug use and on social perceptions of drugs, including how social perceptions of drugs are influenced by gender, class, and ethnicity.
• Identify the influence of local, regional, and global factors on drug production and distribution.
• Apply anthropological knowledge to real world issues and clarify your own position on drugs to be able to make informed decisions about drug policy.

Mid-Semester Quiz

Assessment Type: Quiz/Test Indicative Time on Task: 5 hours Due: Week 7 Weighting: 20%

An open-note, online, mid-term quiz will assess comprehensive knowledge of lectures and readings for the first half of the semester

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of the pharmacology of recreational drugs.
• Show familiarity with anthropological and ethnographic approaches to drug use, including the ritual and symbolic aspects of drug use.
• Describe the physical, psychological and social aspects of addiction.
• Describe the impact of broad social, political, and economic forces on drug use and on social perceptions of drugs, including how social perceptions of drugs are influenced by gender, class, and ethnicity.
• Identify the influence of local, regional, and global factors on drug production and distribution.
• Apply anthropological knowledge to real world issues and clarify your own position on drugs to be able to make informed decisions about drug policy.

Final Quiz

Assessment Type: Examination Indicative Time on Task: 13 hours Due: Week 13 Weighting: 40%

A final quiz will assess cumulative knowledge of lectures, readings and films from the entire semester On successful completion you will be able to:

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of the pharmacology of recreational drugs.
• Show familiarity with anthropological and ethnographic approaches to drug use, including the ritual and symbolic aspects of drug use.
• Describe the physical, psychological and social aspects of addiction.
• Describe the impact of broad social, political, and economic forces on drug use and on social perceptions of drugs, including how social perceptions of drugs are influenced by gender, class, and ethnicity.
• Identify the influence of local, regional, and global factors on drug production and distribution.
• Apply anthropological knowledge to real world issues and clarify your own position on drugs to be able to make informed decisions about drug policy.

Late Submission

Please note that in 2022 the Faculty of Arts has adopted a new policy regarding late submission of work: 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.

Practically speaking, though, this doesn't apply to ANTH1006 because all the assessment tasks are online quizzes and you have an extended period of time to take them.

So here's what you need to know about missing an assessment task in ANTH1006: 

Because each quiz and exam is available to take for 6 days, we will not grant make-up quizzes or exams (via a Special Consideration request) without documentation that you were incapacitated for 3 or more days during that period. So don’t leave these assessments until the last minute, in case you get sick on the last couple days it is available!  Any extensions must be requested in writing with valid documentation of their necessity (e.g. medical certificate) through the university’s Special Consideration procedure.  See https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration for information about whether your circumstances qualify under the university’s policy and information on how to apply for consideration. 

This unit is delivered online via iLearn and Zoom. Lectures are delivered live and recorded on Zoom, and the lecture recordings subsequently posted to iLearn. All the unit readings are available via Leganto and the Macquarie library online system. The assessment tasks can all be completed online.  All information about the unit is provided via the iLearn interface.

Below is a list of weekly topics.  The full, detailed unit schedule is available on iLearn, with dates and descriptions of each week's topic. Each year we bring in guest lecturers who are nationally-renowned experts in their field, and occasionally the schedule may change during the semester according to the availability of guest lecturers, so please consult iLearn each week for the latest information about the weekly lecture topics and readings.

Week 1: Drugs, Pharmaceuticals, and Anthropology

Week 2: Cannabis

Week 3: Hallucinogens

Week 4: A Law Enforcement Perspective on Drugs and The War on Drugs 

Week 5: Cocaine and the Dark Web

Week 6: Neuropharmacology, Drug Abuse and Addiction

Week 7: Drug Symbolism and Ethnographies of Drug Use

Week 8: Political Economy of Opiates

Week 9: Family and Community Perspectives on Drugs 

Week 10: Drug Law Reform

Week 11: Tobacco and Shamanism and The Political Economy of Tobacco

Week 12: Two Case Studies in Drugs, Sex, and Gender: Erectile Dysfunction Drugs and Steroids

Week 13: The Placebo Effect