ANTH 591E Ethnoecology
(Traditional Ecological Knowledge)
Spring 2007
T Th 2:00-3:15
Hamilton 101
Instructor: Dr. Gail E. Wagner
300 Hamilton (777-6548; gail.wagner@sc.edu
Office Hours: Mon 10:00-11:00; Thurs 1:00-1:45
or easily by appointment
Ethnoecology is the way in which people understand and use human-plant-animal-natural interactions. People acquire Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and, in successful systems, pass on knowledge and cultural means of coping with ecological concerns. In this course we examine ethnoecological frameworks and case studies focused on data and methods. The course is weighted toward practice and methods, requiring students to participate in ethnoecological research. Students also learn analysis techniques.
This course is in seminar format, in which students help present course insights and learning objectives. All students will be assigned one topic to cover in 10 minutes in class (e.g., acculturation and loss of TEK; consensus analysis; participatory monitoring) and two web pages to review in class (5-10 minutes). All students will write annotations on selected readings. All students will become certified in Human Subject Research. All students will be involved in data collection and analysis. All students will compile a Course Notebook. Finally, all students will compile a calendar of personal nature observations.
Undergraduate students will additionally research and present one case study (20-minute PowerPoint). They will undertake some basic data collection on our joint project(s). They will undertake some basic data analysis of the data they collected and write a short or collaborative paper on the results.
Graduate students will act as team leaders for group research projects. They will oversee the IRB process for their project. They will supervise undergraduate researchers who participate in their project. They will complete background research, compile and analyze the data for their project, and write a hypothesis-driven paper on their results.
Required Textbook:
How to Think About Statistics, 6 th ed. by John L. Phillips, 2002. W. H. Freeman, Owl Books, Henry Holt & Co., NY.
Required Software:
ANTHROPAC http://www.analytictech.com/
UCINET http://www.analytictech.com/
Readings: Articles, book chapters, and books
ANTH 591E Ethnoecology
Projected Syllabus
Goals: In this introduction, the scope and methods of ethnoecology are explored from multiple viewpoints. The class examines theoretical frameworks. What is Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and how is it acquired? We look at individual vs institutional learning, and learning by children as opposed to adults.
JAN 16 - Introduction
18 - What is Ethnoecology and Traditional Ecological Knowledge?
Annotate: Posey 1998
23 - Ethnoecology as Science, Social Science, and Natural History
Annotate: Berkes 1999; Salmon 2000
Read: Ramirez 2002
Web review: Resilience Alliance
25 - Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Annotate: Berkes et al. 1998
Read: Kinzig 2001
Society of Ethnobiology abstract deadline (conference is March 28-30)
Topic: Learning by Children
Web review: Conservation International
Goals: Some of the basic methods for collecting ethnographic data are learned. Critical ethical issues connected with human subject research, such as intellectual property rights, prior informed consent, appropriate remuneration, commons issues, professional codes of ethics, and the IRB process, are explored. Students become certified (through an online short course) in Human Subject Research.
30 - Methods for Fieldwork: Collecting Data
Annotate: Martin 1995:96-112 (Martin 1995d)
Topic: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Web review: American Anthropological Association
FEB 1 - Ethical Issues
Annotate: Martin 1995:239-251 (Martin 1995a)
Web review: Traditional Knowledge Information Portal
6 - Ethical Issues, cont.
DUE: Certification in Human Subject Research
Topic: Commons Issues
Web review: Cultural Survival
8 - Initiation of Project
Read: Phillips 2002, Ch. 1-3 (pp. 1-34)
Goals: What methods are appropriate for collecting ethnoecological data, and how can such data be analyzed? Freelisting, Ranking, Triads, Participant observation; Interviewing; Voucher specimens; Consensus analysis; Cultural domain analysis; Social network analysis; Diversity indices. We initiate our TEK project for the semester by submitting our IRB application. We begin the fieldwork for our project.
13 - Methods for Fieldwork
Annotate: Quinlan 2005
Read: Davis and Wagner 2003
Web review: People and Plants International
SAS 15 - Methods
Annotate: Bye 1986
Read: Phillips 2002, Ch. 4-6 (pp. 35-88); Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2000
Web review: First Peoples Worldwide
20 - Methods
Annotate: Miller et al. 2004
Read: Phillips 2002, Ch. 7-8 (pp. 89-107); Platt 1964
Topic: Social Network Analysis
Web review: ETC International Group
Goals: We examine some basic issues and look more in depth at some case studies in TEK. Are humans hard-wired in how they accumulate knowledge about the natural world? As Medin and Atran (1999:1) say, “People’s actions on the natural world are surely conditioned in part by their ways of knowing and modeling it.” We examine the pros and cons of cultural consensus vs expert knowledge.
22 - Folkbiology
Annotate: Brown 2000 first, then annotate Hays 1982
Web review: Center for World Indigenous Studies
27 - Folkbiology, cont.
Annotate: Basso 1996
Read: Amazon Conservation Team Puts Indians on Google Earth to Save the Amazon (link on Blackboard under Assignments)
Topic: Significance of Place
Web review: Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development
MAR 1 - Contact with Nature
Annotate: Atran et al. 2004
Topic: Learning Nature
Web review: Center for Applied Biodiversity Science
6 - Is All Knowledge Equal? Midpoint of semester
Annotate: Boster and Johnson 1989
Web review: Mongabay
8 - Case Studies
1 – Cree, Canada
2 – Kuna, Panama
3 – Zuni, New Mexico
13 – 15 NO CLASS, Spring Break
Goals: We complete collection of data for our project and explore how to analyze and present it.
20 - Project Update
Read: Phillips 2002, Ch. 10 (pp. 125-149)
22 - Analysis of Data
Read: Phillips 2002, Ch. 11-12 (pp. 150-165)
23 - Discovery Day abstract deadline by 5:00 pm. (Day is April 27)
see: http://www.sc.edu/our/abstracts.php
Goals: We return to broad TEK issues and case studies, including (1) what differences or similarities we see in ethnoecology when we explicitly factor in gender; (2) acculturation and the loss of TEK; (3) commons issues; (4) participatory research; and (5) how local resource management systems can inform sustainable resource management in today’s world.
27 - Case Study: The Kayapo
Disappearing World: Out of the Forest (52 min)
Annotate: Posey 2002a
Read: Posey 2002b; on Blackboard: Kayapo Indigenous Territories
28-30 Society of Ethnobiology annual conference, UC Berkeley
29 - Case Study: Shea Butter Production in West Africa [Dr. Joanna Casey]
Annotate: Atran et al. 1999
APR 3 - Gender and Ethnoecology
Annotate: Ohmagari and Berkes 1997
5 – Open topic
10 - Case Studies
1 – Malinau in Borneo
2 – Uganda Parks management
3 – Marine ecosystem management in Chile
12 - Project Update
17 - Ethnoecology Informing Ecological Management
Annotate: Berkes et al. 2000; Holling et al. 1998
18-21 Association of Southeastern Biologists annual meeting, USC
see: http://www.asb.appstate.edu/
19 - Management, cont.
Annotate: Dietz et al. 2003; Pretty 2003
24 - Pulling it All Together: What’s in the Future?
Annotate: Gosz 1999; Salick et al. 2003
26 - Future, cont.
Annotate: Sheil and Lawrence 2004; Wear 1999
27 - Discovery Day, USC Russell House
Course Notebooks DUE at Final Exam Meeting