Family, Kin, and Community
MWF
10:00- 10:50
MAC 221
Dr. Karen Dalke
MAC B307
Office Hours: By Appointment
I reserve the right to change the syllabus at any time and will inform you in class and via D2L.
This course focuses on family and kinship in comparative and historical perspective. We will look at families in their social and cultural context and ask what relationships exist between family forms, practices, and values and the economic system, political organization, religions and cultures of the larger community. We will also ask what the sources of love and support, as well as conflict and tension, are within families and among kin; and we will question why family forms and ideal family types change over time. Finally, we will examine the role of government in supporting the welfare of families cross-culturally and historically.
Course Texts:
Peacock, James L. (1986) The Anthropological Lens: Harsh Light, Soft Focus
Stone, Linda (2006). Kinship and Gender, An Introduction, 3rd ed.
Hamabata, Matthews (1990). Crested Kimono
Grading and Course Requirements
Your final grade for the class will be determined by your scores on two exams, one project/presentation, and five in-class activities. The in-class activities cannot be made up. If you are not in class on the day of the activity, you will receive a zero. The emphasis of this course will be on knowing the reading material and the ability to discuss and apply it during class. The expectation is that you will be prepared for class and can be called on at any time to participate.
Two exam grades: 100 points (50 points each)
One project grade: 100 points
In-class activities: 50 points
|
A 230-250 |
C 170-194 |
|
A/B 223-229 |
D 150-169 |
|
B 205-222 |
F 0-149 |
|
B/C 195-204 |
|
Exams
Exam dates are shown on
the syllabus. These will be take home exams, which will be completed and
submitted through D2L .I will announce exact exam dates approximately two weeks
in advance. If you are unable to take the exam on that particular day, you
need to contact me in advance. If you do not contact me in advance and you do
not take the exam on the given date, you will receive a zero. There are no
make-up exams.
Papers/Exams will be
created in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and edited for
mistakes. Read your paper once you have written it to identify mistakes
overlooked by the spelling and grammar check tools on your computer. The
exam must be in the drop box by the assigned time. Always keep a hard copy of
your paper and article in case something goes wrong with D2L.
Exams will be in the
general narrative format and should include an introduction, a discussion, and
a conclusion. Your introduction should provide a framework for what will be
discussed in the main body of your paper. A concise thesis statement tells the
reader quickly what is ahead. The body of your paper will discuss a particular
concept. The conclusion of your paper will reiterate what you said you were
going to discuss and emphasize important findings. I will grade your papers
based on completeness and thoughtfulness. I am interested in seeing how you
integrate materials and apply concepts from class. Any summaries that are
copied from some other source will receive a zero.
Project and
Presentation
Every academic discipline
requires the student to learn a new jargon. Memorizing key terms often comes
easily to most students, but applying terms and concepts to real life
situations is more challenging. To understand anthropology, you not only have
to talk the talk, identify basic ideas and approaches; you also have to apply
what you have learned into practice. The project should utilize concepts
and theories from the class and provide an anthropological perspective on
a family setting or activity.
Papers will be created
in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and edited for
mistakes. Read your paper once you have written it to identify mistakes
overlooked by the spelling and grammar check tools on your computer. The project
must be in the drop box by 12 noon on Friday November 30th. Always keep a hard
copy of your project in case something goes wrong with D2L. I will grade your
projects on completeness and thoughtfulness. I am interested in seeing how you
integrate materials and apply concepts from class. Any summaries that are
copied from some other source will receive a zero.
Write a family history,
of your family or someone else's, which ties a family's history to its
historical and cultural context for at least three generations. Your goal is NOT to tell the
specific history of a specific family. Rather, pick a topic, which you find
important and interesting, and study how your family's history relates to that
topic. Some good examples of topics are changes in gender roles in families,
changes in the roles of fathers or mothers over time, family rituals, changes
in the economy as these affected family, the impact of
new technologies on family, etc. We will brainstorm in class about other
possible topics. Some subjects which were chosen by previous students in this
class include: the history of the Olsen family's relationship to a Norwegian
American parish church, how weddings have changed over the generations, how
race and religion affected the history of an African American family in the
South, how television has changed family practices and values, how and why the
family farm house was remodeled over several generations, family reunions as a
source of family continuity and memory, and how and why family Christmas rituals
have changed over generations.
Primary Research and
Data
Your paper must include
primary research and data. The most obvious kind of primary research will be
interviews with family members. Other types of primary data might be family
records, family Bibles, diaries, letters, photos, newspaper announcement of
births, deaths, etc.. We will discuss possible other
types of primary data in class.
Secondary Sources
You will also need to find
some good secondary sources on your problem focus to provide an historical and
cultural framework of data and ideas for your primary data.
Where relevant, cite the
class readings, discussions, and lectures. Stone's chapter 7 should be
especially relevant to most of our families. We will start the class by reading
Stone in order to get more ideas about how to do family history as social
history. The study of history was once the study of kings and presidents, and
an occasional inventor. But since the 1960s, history has also been about
ordinary people doing the ordinary things of everyday life, about their family
life, their work, their beliefs and values, and their trials and tribulations,
and their relationship to their kin and communities. This kind of history is
called social history, and your paper will be an example of social history.
Format of Paper
Your paper should have a
thesis. That is, it should make some significant statement about the problem
focus which is supported by your primary and secondary research and which
organizes your paper. Your paper should be 10-12 double-spaced typed pages. Be
sure to cite all sources with correct in text and bibliographic citations. You
may write your paper either in the first person or the 3rd person. You may
write it as a story or as a social science history. If you chose to write your
paper as a story, the story should have a significant narrative, relevant and
interesting detail, and a good creative style.
Near the end of the
semester, you will present your paper and findings to the class (about 15
minutes). I will try to group similar projects together. You are required to
attend all presentations as part of your project grade. I will take attendance
every day when presentations begin. A typical format might be:
Introduction,
in which you state your purpose and your thesis.
A section
on methodology.
The main
body of the paper, integrating the primary and secondary research.
Brief
conclusions.
Questions
for more research.
SOME RULES ABOUT
INTERVIEWING INFORMANTS
1. Before
you begin interviewing your informant, you must tell the person 1) who you are,
2) why you are talking to them, 3) what you want to find out from them, 4) what
will happen to the information they will give you. Remember to thank your
informant when ending the interview as they are doing you a favor.
2. For
purposes of this course, you may not do any live research that involves
information about sex or crime.
3. You should not,
under any circumstance, expose yourself to a dangerous
situation: there are plenty of safe places to do interviews.
4. If you begin interviewing
your informant and they ask to end the conversation, do not argue and leave.
5. You can only talk to
an informant that is over 18 and a family member.
Attendance
Attendance will be gauged
by participation in class activities. The first activity will involve library
research. In addition, volunteers can present one of the chapters as one of the
in-class assignments. These in-class activities will make up 50 pts of your
grade. These points cannot be made up. If you are not in class on the assigned
day and have not contacted me for a legitimate absence, you will lose the
points.
Course Syllabus
The following is a list of weekly reading assignments and discussion topics for
the course. You are responsible for completing each reading assignment before
coming to class. This is important so that we can have active involvement
in classes. We start new readings every Wednesday.
Sept 5 Introduction to the Class/ Theoretical Overview
Sept
12 Peacock Chapter 1: Seeing and Thinking Anthropologically
Sept 19 Peacock Chapter 2 & 3 :
Method and Significance
Sept 26 Stone Chapter 7 (omit pp. 237-244 on dowry) History of Euro-American Kinship
EXAM I Handout in Class Sept. 28th. Due in Dropbox by 12 noon on October 5th
Oct 3 Stone Chapter 2: The Evolution of Kinship
and Gender
Oct 10 Stone Chapter 6: Marriage
Oct 17 Stone Chapter 4: Through the Mother
Oct
24 Stone Chapter 3: The Power of Patrilines
EXAM II Handout in Class Oct. 26th. Due in Dropbox
by 12 noon on Nov. 2nd
Oct 31 Class and Families: Hambata
Chapters 1 & 2
Nov 7 Class and Families: Hambata
Chapters 3 & 4
Nov 14 Class and Families: Hambata
Chapters 5-7
Nov
21 Stone Chapter 8: Kinship, Gender, and the New Reproductive
Technologies
Nov 28 Stone Chapter 8 Continued/ Paper
Presentations
PAPER DUE IN DROPBOX NOV 30TH BY 12 NOON.
Dec 5 Paper
Presentations
Dec 14 Last day of classes
Final Exam
Dec. 17 at 10:30am
Expectations for Student Performance
As a college student attending a four-year liberal arts college in the
University of Wisconsin system, you have the right to expect that your
instructors will come to each class on or before the scheduled meeting time;
that she or he will have selected appropriate course materials and will have
made that material available in a timely manner; that he or she will have
prepared materials based on that day's reading assignment; and that she or he
will return your written assignments, exams, and other work by the date
specified in class (no more than two weeks after the assignments have been
turned in). If your expectations for any course are not met, you should discuss
the situation with the chair of the appropriate academic program. Similarly,
UWGB faculty have expectations for students enrolled
in each of their courses. My expectations for student performance in this class
are as follows:
1. Students will attend all classes as scheduled. It is the responsibility of
the student to notify the instructor of any absences before any classes are
missed. Note that
2. Students will arrive for class on or before the scheduled meeting time. The
class period goes for a full 50-minute time period. Students will not pack up
their materials, put on their coats, and begin to leave the classroom, etc.,
until the end of the scheduled class period. In the rare circumstance when the
course material requires the instructor to run over the 50-minute class period,
students will not leave their seats, pack up their materials, etc., until the
instructor has finished the class discussion for the day.
3. Students will come to each class prepared to discuss the material assigned
for that day. This means that you should complete all reading assignments
before the scheduled class period, take the appropriate notes on the reading
material, and that you should able to contribute to a knowledgeable discussion
of the course material.
4. If you are unable to take an examination at the regularly scheduled time,
you must make arrangements prior to the scheduled class period.
5. Plagiarism and cheating will be treated as academic misconduct, under the
UWGB student code of ethics. Plagiarism and/or cheating is
an offense that may result in receiving a grade of F for the specific
assignment and/or for the course. Plagiarism and/or cheating in this or any
other course could potentially result in dismissal from the university.
6. Please silence all cell phones and pagers during class. If you need to
respond to a call, please do so outside of the classroom.