ANTH 120 Anthropology through Expressive Cultures

"As part of my ethnography I follow this shaping process, examining how facts travel in the world, but also how they never travel alone. Instead they are always packaged in the form of stories, explanations, and experiences, as authorized or unauthorized accounts, and they necessarily include definitions of human nature."

-Joseph Dumit A Digital Image of the Category of the Person

Course: Anthropology through Expressive Cultures (Fall 2011)
Classroom: Phillips 0215
Days/Hours: 2-3:15pm Tues/Thurs
Instructor: Jean Dennison
Office: Alumni 409C
Official E-mail: jeand@email.unc.edu
Office Hours: 3:30-4:30pm Tues/Thurs (sign-up on the sakai wiki)

Teaching Assistant: Diana Gomez
Email: gomezcor@email.unc.edu

Teaching Assistant: Paolo Bocci
Email: bocci@email.unc.edu

The purpose of this class is to investigate expressive culture (both written and visual) whose primary aims are to challenge/provide a fresh perspective on cultural assumptions. Rather than presenting a singular truth, these works attempt to engage lived experience and compel viewers to think critically about the world around them. By contextualizing these works within wider anthropological debates, the class will encourage students to explore the various factors shaping their world today including cultural representation, science and technology, disability, race, Indigeneity, gender, and consumption.

Rather than seeing this engagement of lived experience as narrowly limited to the ethnographic/documentary genres, this class will consider a wide range of examples, including novels, science fiction, Hollywood, world, and experimental works. Students will be asked to critically assess the claims made by writers and film–makers and work toward a better understanding of how the real in social life can be understood and represented. In addition to the weekly readings, students will be required to post weekly on the course's sakai page, take two exams, and create their own visual or written response to current cultural assumptions.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1) critically explore issues of cultural anthropological concerns including tourism, science and technology, disability, race, settler colonialism, class, gender, politics, and consumption; 2) use their critical reading/viewing skills to investigate how lived experience through expressive culture; 3) use strategies learned in class to create their own expressive cultural response.

The following books can be purchased at University bookstores or online.

Participation (200 points)

Participation in the recitation sections are a major component of this class. If you do not attend recitation or cannot talk articulately about class lectures, film screenings, and the assigned reading, your participation grade will suffer. The highest grade you can receive without articulate participation in your section is a C. Recitation sections will begin the second week of the semester, with discussions focused around the previous week's class material. No personal technology (including laptops) will be allowed in the recitation sections. The participation grade will be broken into two parts and graded based on your performance during the two halves of the semester. For excused absences, the TA must be notified ahead of time. You are only allowed one unexcused absence before your participation grade will suffer. For each unexcused absence (over the one allowed) students will be deducted 15 points. For each day students are there, but do not talk in class they will be deducted 5 points.

Question Posting (200 points)

For each week, starting the second week, students are required to write two short answer/discussion questions on the in-class lecture, film(s), presentations, and reading assignments due that past week. All questions must be posted to the appropriate place (Assignments / Questions Posting) on the course's sakai page by Saturday at 11:59pm. These questions will not be accepted late and are intended to show student engagement with class material. Because of the number of questions required for the class, missing up to two weeks' question postings will not hurt your grade. If you are going to miss more than two postings due to sickness or family emergency, please contact the TA ahead of time. Students can earn up to 40 extra credit points by completing all 12 posts.

The first question of each posting should engage the lecture from the week, connecting the lecture to at least two pieces of expressive culture from that week. For the student presentations weeks at the end of the semester tie the first question to any lecture from the semester.

The second question should focus on one piece of expressive culture from the week. This question should only be answerable to someone who has viewed/read the expressive culture.

You do not need to answer the questions. The goal of these questions is to show your engagement with that material on both "theme" and "detail" levels. Some weeks the questions will be graded for completion (0 or 10 points per question) and others weeks they will be graded more rigorously. These weeks' questions will each be graded on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being 'exceptional', 8 being 'adequate', and 6 being 'needs improvement.'

Critical Expression Project (200 points)

Utilizing some of the strategies presented within the readings/films from class, students will create a short critical expression response. The goal of this assignment is to create your own expressive culture that challenges stereotypes, interrogates assumptions, and explores complexity. Students are encouraged to engage one of the class themes including: tourism, science and technology, disability, race, settler colonialism, class, gender, politics, and consumption; but other themes can be approved through the professor. To succeed in this project you will need to not just represent stereotypes, but show how they are challenged or connected to larger forces at work. The most successful project will utilize strategies from the expressive culture viewed in class.

Students are strongly encouraged, but not required, to work in groups of up to four students. Time in discussion sections will be devoted to forming groups, but you are also allowed to work with students from other sections. A discussion board will also be made available through the course's sakai page for posting your project ideas and seeking group members.

Format

Students should choose the format of their response based on their previous experience and what they are trying to communicate. Whether working alone or in a group Ethnographic/fictional writing responses should be between 5-7 double spaced pages long; poem/spoken word should be between 3-4 double spaced pages long; video projects should be 2-5 minutes long; audio composition should be between 4-5 minutes long; drawing/design projects should contain 1-5 images depending on size and detail; and photography projects should contain at least 10 sequenced images/combined images. All material must be created specifically by your group members during the semester and be used only for this class.

Requirements

Each project must include at least three interviews, using the interview strategies discussed in class. These interviews can be used for background or can be directly incorporated into the project. All interviews require gaining written informed consent and projects must follow the ethical code laid out by the American Anthropological Association. Please use the template to create your informed consent. The informed consents for the 3 interviews must be scanned and uploaded along with the final project. If you work with a group you must also turn in a separate word document that outlines how the work was divided among group members. You will automatically lose 25 points if you do not include the informed consent for your three interviews or your one page or shorter outline of tasks.

In this course, you will be working with a Graduate Research Consultant, who will assist you in designing your expressive culture project. Each group is required to spend 30 minutes talking with the GRC about their project before you present it. You will automatically lose 25 points on the project if you do not meet with the GRC. Please sign up to meet with the GRC on the course's sakai wiki page by 10/27/11. The GRC Program is sponsored by the Office for Undergraduate Research. I encourage you to visit this web site to see other ways that you might engage in research, scholarship and creative performance while you are at Carolina.

Class Presentations

By 10/27/11 students are also required to sign-up on the course's sakai wiki page to present their expressive culture project or 25 points will be deducted from their project. Class presentations will take place 11/22/11 through 12/6/11. Presentations will be limited to 5 minutes and will involve reading a section of or displaying your visual work for the entire class. Students are required to post these projects on the course's sakai page as a .ppt, .tif, .jpg, .pdf, .mov, or .mp3 file before their class presentation, along a digital copy of your interview informed consent sheets, and a brief document describing how work was divided among group members. Files larger than 200MB will need to be compressed or broken into multiple parts. Unless students get permission through the IRB they are not allowed to show these project publicly, and can only be placed on the internet on password protected sites, such as sakai. Each group should bring any technology necessary, including their own computer (and VGA adapter for Macs) to ensure quick display.

Grading

The grade for this project will be divided into three different areas including: following the format guidelines (50 points), the content's critical engagement (50 points), and its expressive qualities (50 points). Students must also meet with the research associate (25 points) and upload the supporting material to the web page (25 points).

Equipment

Around the UNC campus there are several places to access equipment. The Beasley Multimedia Resource Center and The Media Resources Center both have still and video cameras available as well as computers with video and web page design software. You are strongly encouraged to reserve the equipment from the MRC well ahead of time, but the Beasley center is on a first come first serve basis, so get there early. While the Beasley center is only open to students enrolled in classes registered with the center, such as ours, the Media Resource Center is open to all students, faculty and staff. During the semester the Beasley center will provide various training sessions including in Final Cut Pro for video editing and various software for web page design. The MRC also offers online tutorials and one-on-one media lab classes in a wide range of visual media programs to fit your schedule. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these training opportunities. The Beasley center also has trained staff on hand during operating hours to answer additional questions.

Of course, students are also welcome to edit/design their projects at home with their own or free editing software.

Technology problems are very common, so please do not wait until the last minute to attempt this assignment. Problems with technology will not be accepted as an excuse for late projects.

To edit video students will need:

External Hard drive – mac platform ($25-800)
Mini-dv tapes ($5-10 a piece)
DVD-R discs for saving final project ($3-20 depending on # of discs)
A great deal of patients and time

Midterm (200 points)

Based on the lectures, films, and readings from the first half of the semester, students will complete a short-answer in-class exam. Prior to the exam, students will be given a list of possible questions, from which five will be selected for the exam. Each question will be worth 40 points and should be answered in 250 words (8-10 sentences). One source for these questions will be students' postings. Students must bring their own blank Blue Book to the exam.

Final (200 points)

Based on the lectures, films, and readings from the second half of the semester, students will complete a short-answer in-class final exam. Prior to the exam, students will be given a list of possible questions, from which five will be selected for the exam. Each question will be worth 40 points and should be answered in 250 words (8-10 sentences). One source for these questions will be students' postings. Students must bring their own blank Blue Book to the exam.

Grading

930-1000 (points) A
900-929 A-
870-899 B+
830-869 B
800-829 B-
770-799 C+
730-760 C
700-729 C-
670-699 D+
600-669 D
599 and below F

Extra Credit Events

Around the University there are various expressive culture events that can be attended for extra credit. Approved events will added to the course's sakai assignments page at least one week before they occur. You can petition via email to have additional event added. Only those events that can easily be related to class lectures will be added as potential extra credit options.

To receive extra credit, students are required to attend the event and post a one double-spaced page discussion of the event, connecting it to at least one class lecture (not just general theme) and two pieces of expressive culture from the class. Students can earn up to 20 points for each event listed on the syllabus. The extra credit reports are due on the appropriate sakia assignment page prior to the final exam date.

Honor Code

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has had a student-administered honor system and judicial system for over 100 years. The system is the responsibility of students and is regulated and governed by them, but faculty share the responsibility. If you have questions about your responsibility under the honor code, please bring them to your instructor or consult with the office of the Dean of Students or the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance at:http://honor.unc.edu. This document, adopted by the Chancellor, the Faculty Council, and the Student Congress, contains all policies and procedures pertaining to the student honor system. Your full participation and observance of the honor code is expected.

Plagiarism is the deliberate or reckless representation of another's words, thoughts, images or ideas as one's own without attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether graded or otherwise. Students seeking more information are encouraged to take the online plagiarism tutorial. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class and will result in a failing grade for the class and suspension for one academic semester. Materials for class assignments should be produced specifically for this class unless prior approval from the professor is granted.

Accommodations

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with Disability Services, Division of Student Affairs. They will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to me when requesting accommodation.

Week 1 - Expressive Culture

8/23 – Intro to class; Lecture.
8/25 – Read for class: A Small Place 3-37; View in class: Resolved (90)

Weeks 2 - Tourism

8/29 – Discussion sections begin
8/30 – Read for class: SP 41-62; Lecture; View in class: The Bubble Trap, Rent A Dread.
9/1 – Read for class: SP 63-81; View in class: Cannibal Tours (70)
9/3 - Question posting due

Weeks 3 - Science and Technology

9/6 – Read for class: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 1-41; CLASS CANCLED: On your own time view Gattaca (Sakai-Resources).
9/8 – Read for class: ILHL 42-86; Lecture. View in Class: The Sequence.
9/10 – Question posting due

Weeks 4 - Disability

9/13 – Read for class: ILHL 89-126; Lecture; View in class:
9/15 – Read for class: ILHL 127-169; View in class: Autism the Musical (94).
9/17 - Question posting due

Weeks 5 - Race

9/20 – Read for class: ILHL 170-211; Lecture; View in class: Racism in the Elevator and Invisible Whiteness.
9/22 – Read for class: ILHL 212-258; View in class: Precious Knowledge (70).
9/24 - Question posting due

Week 6 - Midterm

9/27 – No Class; Read: ILHL 259-304.
9/29 – Read: ILHL 305-337. Midterm Exam (bring bluebook)

Weeks 7 - Settler Colonialism

No discussion sections
10/4 – Read for class: Pigs in Heaven 1-61; Lecture. View in Class: How: We are Present, Bad Indians, and Geronimo E-KIA, a poem by the 1491s.
10/6 – Read for class: PH 62-123; Lecture. View in class: Rabbit Proof Fence (93).
10/8 - Question posting due

Weeks 8 - Class

10/11 – Read for class: PH 124-196; Lecture. View in Class: Opening to People Like Us (9:28).
10/13 – Read for class: PH 199-251; View in class: Capitalism: A Love Story (124)
10/15 - Question posting due

Week 9 - Critical Expression Projects

10/18 – Introduce Final Project
10/20 – No Class

Weeks 10 - Gender Codes

10/25 – Read for class: PH 252-297; Lecture. View in Class: Male Image (2:46), Black and White (17) 65-DVD12642, No Homo, and En Bild (25) 65-DVD4576.
10/27 – Sign-up deadline on sakai for GRC and final presentation.
10/27 – Read for class: PH 298-343; View in class: The Codes of Gender (73) 65-DVD10121.
10/29 - Question posting due

Week 11 - Queering Gender

11/1 – Read for class: Does My Head Look Big in This 1-69; Lecture.View in class: The Queer Bathroom Monologues (25), Trapped in the Closet Part 1, 2, and 3 (12) and Queering Masculinity (11) (Sakai-Resources).
11/3 – Read for class: DMHLBT 70-116; View in class: Boy I Am (72) 65-DVD12639.
11/5 - Question posting due

Week 12 - Consumption

11/8 – Read for class: DMHLBT 117-188; Lecture. View in class: The Story of Stuff; The Newman Family.
11/10 – Read for class: DMHLBT 189-234; View in class: China Blue (88) 65-DVD3651.
11/12 - Question posting due

Week 13 - Politics

11/15 – Read for class: DMHLBT 235-296; Lecture. View in class: Faces of the Other (4) and Language of My Reality (3).
11/17 – Read for class: DMHLBT 297-360; View in class: Walk on Water (103).
11/19 - Question posting due

Week 14 - Presentations I

No discussion sections
11/22 – Student Presentations
11/24 – NO Class
11/26 - Question posting due

Week 15 - Presentations II

11/29 – Student Presentations
12/1 – Student Presentations
12/3 - Question posting due

Week 16 - Presentations III

No discussion sections
12/6 – Student Presentations

Final Exam (Bring Bluebook)

Tuesday December 13, 2011 4pm