Anthropology 490: Senior Seminar in Anthropology
T, TR
Karen Stocker
Office Hours: T, TH
DDH CC207
Course Description:
This course, often referred to as the culminating undergraduate experience in Anthropology, will explore the potential future options for Anthropology Majors. In this course, we will discuss what one might do with a B.A. in Anthropology, as well as how to decide whether or not to attend graduate school, how to choose a graduate school, and how to apply to it. Students will learn about writing for academic journals in their subfield, about writing proposals for research in their area, and about presenting research findings at conferences. Finally, since many students of Anthropology end up teaching, this course will offer students an introduction to teaching methods and give them the opportunity to see if teaching might be of interest to them. Throughout the course, students will develop their own project (in their own subfield of Anthropology) in accordance with these various avenues of application.
Course Objectives:
Students will further their own research projects and learn to cater reports of their research to the various venues for distribution that exist in academia. They will evaluate a variety of teaching techniques, they will gain knowledge about the major academic journals in their subfield and the instructions for authors in those journals. Finally, students will work toward the effective presentation of their work in both written and oral formats.
Course Requirements:
Students are required to attend class on a regular basis, use the internet to search for appropriate graduate programs for their specific interests, and draft an effective letter of application to a specific graduate program. Students will read about life in graduate school, participation in conferences, and about the topic of their own research interest. Students will also seek the instructions to authors for two journals in their subfields, and turn in a short article written in accordance with those standards. They will elaborate a literature view and a problem statement for a sample funding proposal, take the Human Subjects Research tutorial and test online, and deliver a sample conference presentation based on the information from their literature review. Finally, students will evaluate suggested techniques and activities for teaching anthropology and they will develop an exercise of their own and demonstrate its use in a sample lecture.
Required
Students should purchase the following book:
Rice, Patricia C. and David W. McCurdy
2002 Strategies in Teaching Anthropology,
third edition.
Prentice Hall.
Additional readings will be placed on reserve at Walter Stiern Library (in the case of the first listing) or on electronic reserve (in the case of the second and third listings. These readings will be drawn from:
Stephens, W. Richard
2002 Careers in Anthropology: What an Anthropology Degree Can Do For You.
Toth, Emily
1997 Ms. Mentor’s Impeccable
Advice for Women in Academia.
Petrone, Marcha C.
2002 “Teaching and
Learning as a Transactional Process,” pp. 143-176 in
Wheeler, ed., Teaching
and Learning in College.
Grading and
Assignments:
• Exercise on choosing a graduate program (20 points)
• Letter of application (30 points)
• Find instructions to authors for two journals in your subfield (10 points)
• Human Subjects Research test (25 points)
• Problem statement (30 points)
• Literature review (60 points)
• Mock journal article (60 points)
• Mock conference presentation (30 points)
• Evaluation of teaching strategies (20 points)
• Sample lecture and development of activity (40 points)
TOTAL: 315 points
Grading scheme:
100-93% =
A
92 - 89 = A-
88-86 = B+
85 - 83 = B
82 - 79 = B-
78-76 = C+
75 - 73 = C
72 - 69 = C-
68 - 66 = D+
65 - 63 = D
62 - 59 = D-
58 = F
Classroom
policies:
1. I will not accept late papers unless you have a documented
excuse
(proving illness, death in the family, or
participation in university-sponsored events). See the guidelines below for
policies related to response papers. All papers are due at the beginning of
class on the date listed, and you must attend class that day to have your paper
received.
2. There is no extra credit offered. Please focus your efforts on
the regularly assigned work.
3. Do not come into class late or leave early, unless you have a
compelling reason that you have discussed with me prior to class.
4. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what
you missed. Any more than three unexcused absences will negatively affect your
grade.
5. Please turn off your cell phones or pagers.
6. All students must adhere to CSUB’s policy on Academic
Integrity, as outlined under Rights and Responsibilities on page 48 of the Fall 2003 Class Schedule. Students who do not do so will
receive an F in the course and will face disciplinary sanction by Student
Discipline and Judicial Affairs. Please read the following for specifics: http://www.csubak.edu/ssric/Modules/Other/plagiarism.htm
7. Qualified students with disabilities who need appropriate
academic adjustments should contact me soon as possible to ensure that your
needs are met in a timely manner. Any disability needs to be verified by
Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). Upon such verification, all
handouts and assignments will be available in alternative accessible formats
upon request.
8. Students are responsible for tracking their own grade progress
(see “Grading and Assignments,” and “Grading Scheme” above).
9. When I grade your papers, I do not want to know who you are, so
as to avoid any unfair bias in grading. To this end, I request that you turn in
all papers with your name typed on the right corner of the first page only, and
with that corner folded over, toward the back of the page.
Assignments are due on the day under which they are listed. For example, for Thursday, April 1, read chapter 1 and five character profiles (of your choice) in Careers in Anthropology.
Tuesday, March 30
Topic: Introduction
Thursday, April 1
Topic: Careers in Anthropology
Assignment: Read chapter 1 of Careers in Anthropology (on reserve – but not electronic reserve – at Walter Stiern Library) as well as 5 “character profiles” in the book. Choose the character profiles that are of greatest interest to you. Be prepared to talk about them in class.
Tuesday, April 6
Topic:
Assignment: Read “
Thursday, April 8
Topic:
Assignment: Check out the website of the department that was highest on your list for the best graduate program for you. Find out who teaches there, what their specialties are, and find out whatever else you can about the program. If it no longer seems appealing to you, go to the website for the second choice graduate program on your list. Once you have found a program that sounds interesting, write a letter of intent to apply to the program (you will not need to mail it in as part of this course). You will turn your letter of intent in at the beginning of class.
Tuesday, April 13
Topic: Proposals: Writing an effective problem statement and designing a literature review
Assignment: Turn in a list of at least ten articles that you will read for your literature review and find a dissertation in your subfield and related to your area of interest (order it through Interlibrary loan, if need be), in keeping with Ms. Mentor’s “impeccable advice.” You will use it in your final paper.
Thursday, April 15
Topic: Proposals, continued; peer critique of your problem statements (bring a draft)
Assignment: Bring a draft of your problem statement for peer review. Turn in your revised letter of intent. This one will be graded.
Tuesday, April 20
Topic: Proposals
Assignment: Turn in your problem statement
Thursday, April 22
Topic: Academic writing
Assignment: Find two articles from two different reputable journals from your subfield as well as the instructions for authors set forth by each one of those journals. Keep a copy of each for your own reference. Decide which journal is more in keeping with your interests and preferred writing style. Turn in the guidelines for authors and a sample article from that journal (but keep a copy for yourself, as well). ALSO, take the HSP training course online as well as the Human Subjects Research test on the website www.csub.edu/gradstudies/irbhsr. Have your scores e-mailed to you and to me (at kstocker@csub.edu). Do not delete the e-mail sent to you regarding your scores until you have confirmed that I also received a copy.
Tuesday, April 27
Topic: Journals
Assignment: Work on a journal article, in keeping with the guidelines or authors. This will not be turned in until the end of the quarter.
Thursday, April 29
Topic: Conclusion of proposals and academic writing units
Assignment: Turn in your literature review
Tuesday, May 4
Topic: Conferences
Assignment: Read “The Conference Scene,” by Emily Toth (on electronic reserve) and be working on a 15-minute version of your literature review summary to present to the class.
Thursday, May 6
Topic: Conferences (half of the class will present their papers)
Assignment: Have your conference paper ready to present orally.
Tuesday, May 11
Topic: Conferences (the second half of the class will present their papers)
Assignment: Turn in feedback to presenters
Thursday, May 13
Topic: The Teaching Track
Assignment: Turn in feedback to presenters and read “Teaching and Learning as a Transactional Process,” by Martha C. Petrone (on electronic reserve).
Tuesday, May 18
Topic: Teaching Anthropology
Assignment: Read all the activities from your subfield in Strategies in Teaching Anthropology.
Thursday, May 20
Topic: Teaching Anthropology
Assignment: Turn in a typed, double-spaced paper evaluating the activities for your subfield, as presented in Strategies in Teaching Anthropology. What was effective about them? What would you change about them and why? Begin thinking about an activity of your own design.
Tuesday, May 25
Topic: Teaching Anthropology
Assignment: Turn in your own activity for teaching an issue in your subfield.
Thursday, May 27
Topic: Sample lectures and activities
Assignment: Prepare your sample lecture.
Tuesday, June 1
Topic: Sample lectures and activities
Assignment: Peer reviews of sample lectures due
Thursday, June 3
Topic: Conclusions
Assignment: Peer reviews of sample lectures due
Final papers (your
journal articles) are due on final exam day: Tuesday, June 8 (by