Class Syllabus

Syllabus for Roster(s):

[ANTH 2500 Syllabus] Peoples and Cultures of Oceania

ANTH 2500 / Spring 2014

Peoples and Cultures of Oceania

Instructor: Yu-Chien Huang (yh5x@virginia.edu)

Office: Brooks Hall 310B

Office Hours: Wednesday 11am-1pm and by appointment

Class: M/W/F/09:00-09:50

Classroom: Maury 115

Credits: 3

Course Description and Objectives:

In this class, we will work together to learn the distinctive cultures and contemporary issues of people’s life in Oceania—the vast area covering Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, and Australia. Except for Papua New Guinea and Australia, the major area is covered by the largest sea in the world, dotted with tiny islands. Yet, lying between two major continents, Asia and America, Oceania is not merely a pathway for the sixteenth century European explorers and traders, nor the stepping stones for island-hopping during World War II. The islanders very own life and history, nevertheless, have been deeply intertwined with the Europeans’ presence since the sixteenth century. Throughout the semester, we will read several ethnographies to unravel those encounters. We will discuss the islanders’ pre-colonial expansion, current transnational migration, local understanding of suffering, how others perceive the white men, and a rainforest group’s encounter with modernity over thirty years.

The class requires your active engagement with the reading materials. Attendance and in-class discussions are mandatory. We will have three in-class quizzes, two take-home exams, and one group presentation to the whole class. Everyone is expected to join a group (consisting of 4-5 people) for a 15-minutes presentation on a contemporary issue in the Pacific during the fourteenth week (April 21^st—25^th). The presentation topics may range from climate change, transnational migration, urbanization dilemma, or gender representation, etc. Each group should check with the instructor by the end of February to set up the topic.

The class’ main objective is to help us gain a basic knowledge of the contemporary Pacific cultures, and how the islanders struggle to cope with everyday living situation. The class particularly emphasizes present-day issues, which are significantly interwoven with colonialism, urbanization, tourism, or problems of modernization. Fundamentally, I wish the class help us to cultivate three basic attitudes when approaching other cultures: reading the texts carefully, understanding others empathetically, and reflecting upon the social dilemma critically. Those will be anthropology’s best offers to your life.

Course Evaluation:

In-class Quiz: 20 % (Three, 10% each. You can drop the lowest grade.)
Take-home Exam: 30 % (Two, 15% each)
Group Presentation: 30% (Peer-evaluation form, self-evaluation form and work-division sheet will be provided.)
Attendance and Class Participation: 20%

Books:

Kirch, Patrick Vinton

2000 On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact. Berkeley: University of California Press.

(E-book: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;idno=heb31066)

Knauft, Bruce M.

2012 The Gebusi : Lives Transformed in a Rainforest World. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

(On reserve at Clemons Library)

Small, Cathy A.

2011 Voyages: From Tongan Villages to American Suburbs. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.

(On reserve at Clemons Library)

Kahn, Miriam

2011 Tahiti beyond the Postcard: Power, Place, and Everyday Life. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

(E-book: http://re5qy4sb7x.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&L=RE5QY4SB7X&S=JCs&C=TC0000487801&T=marc )

Throop, C. Jason

2010 Suffering and Sentiment Exploring the Vicissitudes of Experience and Pain in Yap. Berkeley: University of California Press.

(Requesting library to purchase the E-book)

Bashkow, Ira

2006 The Meaning of Whitemen: Race and Modernity in the Orokaiva Cultural World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

(On reserve at Clemons Library)

*Note: Depending on the availability of the materials, class readings may be subject to change.

Week One: What is Oceania?

January 13: Course Introduction

January 15: Defining Oceania

Tcherkézoff, Serge

2003 A Long and Unfortunate Voyage Towards the 'Invention' of the Melanesia/Polynesia Distinction 1595-1832. The Journal of Pacific History 38(2):175-196.

January 17: Early Settlement

Kirch, Patrick Vinton

2000 Defining Oceania. Linguistic, Human, Biological, and Cultural Variation in Oceania. In On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact. Pp. 4–10. Berkeley: University of California Press.

2000 The Pacific Islands as a Human Environment. In On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact. Pp. 42–62. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Read pp.42-50)

[Film] Wayfinders: The Pacific Odyssey