Video links

Here are some links to YouTube videos that we've looked at in class. They may help you with your final exam preparations. (I've spared you the music videos. You can find them on your own.)


Apache women's rite of passage

The New Rulers of the World: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Globalization as a success strategy


Also of potential interest:

a plot synopsis of Ongka's Big Moka

Naming systems

If you're like me, naming systems can be a bit confusing. There's several of them, and the differences aren't always easy to remember--or study!

Dennis O'Neill's page on kinship naming systems just might help. There are other kinship-related goodies on that site, all of which could prove handy on final exam study night.

Kinship diagrams

There's a 20 point extra credit assignment available for y'all. All you have to do is make an accurate kinship diagram of your family tree, using yourself as Ego.

Remember the basic rules:

1. Circles represent females, triangles represent males

2. Ego is square if you don't know the sex, but I expect you to know that, since you will be Ego.

3. An equal sign represents a marital union.

4. A slash through an equal sign means that the two people have divorced.

5. A slash through a circle or triangle means that the person is deceased.

6. A vertical line denotes parentage and a horizontal line represents sibling bond. (Two children from a particular union, then would be represented by a staple-shaped line connected to a single line that extends down from the equal sign that represents the union.)

7. Normally, all members of the same generation should be on the same level with one another. there may be exceptions--ask me if you get confused.

8. People are labeled according to their relationship to Ego:

F = Father
M = Mother
S = Son
D = Daughter
B = Brother
Z = Sister
W = Wife
H = Husband

So, a grandfather would be FF or MF, depending on which parent's father it is.

A niece might be BD or ZD depending on which of your siblings is the parent.

It should be a fun exercise. Remember to use a large sheet of paper and leave yourself plenty of time to rewrite it; they seldom fit on one piece of paper on the first try. If you need to use oversize paper, that's fine.

Cuesta Test Scores

I presented these in class already, but for posterity's sake, here they are:

29 tests, 98% of precincts reporting:

A = 7
B = 8
C = 9
D = 4
F = 1

I think it's a fairly decent spread. Grades seem to be directly proportional to both attendance (big surprise!) and your performance on the writing assignment. Again, I encourage everyone to check out the Writing Center on campus and, for you internet-lovers, Purdue's Online Writing Laboratory. You can get general advice on how to write papers and essay questions, as well as advice on more specific concerns like formulating a good thesis statement or punctuation.

Rapping about test results

This is Snoop Dee O' double gee
Kicking back scores from the LVC
And I know somehow, someway,
I'll be marking up tests like every single day.

Hancock/LVC results:

8 tests.

A = 2
B = 1
C = 0
D = 3
F = 2

This seems like an odd pattern; there's far too many people on the bottom of that chart. I'd love to know if you have any input as to what I can do to help make the material more manageable or palatable for you guys. The As make me think it can be done, but the Ds and Fs make me think I've done something wrong. What do you guys think?

Mid-terms: what did you think?

Were they hard? Easy? A little from column A, a little from column B?

When I get through grading the mid-terms I'll have the overall grades (no names, sorry) for both classes available here. So far, it's looking like it was at least a semi-difficult test.

Cuesta students who happen to be hanging out here this morning: arrive as early as you can--assuming I make it on time...man, what a morning! Blackbirds began an onslaught on our garden and I had to go get netting to cover our pots lest they eat every seed we planted this year.

Freegans

Before class last Friday at Cuesta, we heard about an exciting trip to Los Angeles to find vegan mayonnaise. I thought it might be a nice idea to flesh out the "freegan" subculture a bit.

Check out these links:

Article about freegans in LA Times, Sept. 11, 2007

Freegan.info: Strategies for sustainable living beyond capitalism

Interview with a Freegan



What do you guys think? What are the benefits of this practice and what are the potential costs? What theoretical approaches might be particularly good for examining this behavior?

Subsistence Week outline

Here's an outline for the lectures I'll be giving in class this week.

Subsistence Week lecture

I. Cultural ecological approach revisited

• Cultural adaptation
• Ecosystems

II. Cultural Evolution

• Cultural evolution (vs. progress / improvement)
• Convergent vs. parallel
• Culture areas

III. Modes of Subsistence

• Foraging
• Horticulture
• Agriculture
• Pastoralism
• Intensive Agriculture / Urbanization

Theoretical Approaches

In addition to the materials in your book, my lectures, and my Powerpoint presentation, you may wish to review the very fine Anthropological Theories guide to get information that will help you with your projects.

If you have any preferred links of your own, feel free to share them in the comments section.

-Pat

First Post

Here's the first post in what I hope will be a semi-steady stream of comments, observations, etc. that are at least somewhat relevant to the issues we discuss in class. You'll note to the right that there's a sidebar with "Important Links" to critical documents. I'll add another soon, I think, to include chapter handouts and other things.