Module Code and Title:         ATH101 Ecological Anthropology

Programme:                          BA in Anthropology

Credit:                                   12

Module Tutor:                       Jelle J P Wouters

General objective: This module introduces students to theories and ethnographies in the field of ecological anthropology. It focuses on biological and cultural adaptation and particularly discusses how culture influences, and allocate meanings to the dynamic interactions between human societies and their environments. It concentrates both on how humans have influenced the environment, and how a changing environment, in turn, affects human behaviour.

Learning outcomes – On completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Discuss the relationship between human societies and their environments through understandings of human ecology, culture, and adaptation.
2. Analyse the relationships between economic activities and ecological relationships in a range of human societies.
3. Examine the basic concepts and principles of cultural ecology.
4. Discuss core debates in selected thematic areas within ecological anthropology.
5. Apply anthropological perspectives to the analysis of environmental debates.
6. Discuss the spiritual linkages between society, culture, and landscapes.
7. Critically analyse how people culturally conceptualize, manipulate, transform, and humanize their natural environments over time.
8. Discuss the relationship between culture and the natural environment in Bhutan.

Learning and Teaching Approach:

Assessment Approach:

A. Response Paper: Portion of Final Mark: 15%

Students will individually write a response paper in which they relate key module concepts (such political ecology or cultural materialism) to an article or reading selected by the tutor. The response paper will be 500-750 words in length.

3%       Draft (Summary and Quality of analysis)

2%       Summary of the article’s main arguments (accuracy and completeness)

5%       Quality of analysis (includes well stated and original analysis, thoughtfulness of reflection, use of relevant and adequate support for all claims made, ties analysis to relevant module concepts)

1%       Organization

1%       Language       

1%       Referencing

2%       Improvement (in comparison to the draft, with particular emphasis on consideration and incorporation of feedback provided)

B. Research Essay : Portion of Final Mark: 15%

Students are required to write a research essay discussing an aspect of Bhutan’s sacred and supernatural landscape. They require to substantiate their arguments with ethnographic examples and theoretical arguments discussed during class lectures, as well as add to these through library research. The assignment will be 500-750 words in length.

2%       Proposal outlining the selected topic and proposed argument

5%       Quality of content and argument (includes well stated and original analysis, use of relevant and adequate support for all claims made, ties analysis to relevant module concepts)

5%       Quality of application to Bhutanese context

1%       Language

1%       Organization

1%       References

C. Class tests: Portion of Final Mark: 10%

Students will undertake a class test twice during the semester; once before mid-term and once after mid-term (5% each). The written test will be conducted within the class for duration of 40-50 min and cover 2-4 weeks of material. The tests are intended to help students better prepare for the exams as well as serve as an early indicator for tutors to gauge student’s level of understanding.

D. Class participation and preparedness: Portion of Mark: 5%

Students will be expected to participate substantially in class discussions, with contributions reflecting adequate preparation for topics under discussion. 2.5% of class participation and preparedness will be assessed before midterm, and the remaining 2.5% post midterm.

E. Midterm Examination: Portion of Final Mark: 15%

Students will take a written exam of 1.5 hr duration covering topics up to the mid-point of the semester.

Pre-requisites: AFD101 Introduction to Anthropology

Subject matter:

1. Unit I: Ecological Anthropology
   • Defining ecological anthropology: key terms and trends
   • Introduction to human and cultural ecology: key terms and trends
   • Definitions and examples of cultural adaptation
   • Debates about cultural materialism (e.g. Marvin Harris)
2. Unit II: Ethnoecology
   • Learning from indigenous ecologies
   • ‘The Giving Environment’ (Bird-David)
   • The relationships between ecology and social structure (e.g. Evans-Pritchard)
3. Unit III: Supernatural and Sacred Landscapes
   • The relationship between religion and ecology
   • Meanings and examples of sacred landscapes
   • Defining spiritual ecology: key terms and examples
   • The relationship between environment and cosmology
4. Unit IV: Political Ecology
   • Introduction to political ecology - origins, approaches, critiques
   • Key causes of environmental conflicts
   • Commodification of the commons: key terms and examples
   • The rise of neo-tribal capitalism
   • Debates about gender and feminist political ecology
5. Unit V: The Anthropocene and Climate Change
   • Processes of environmental justice and equity
   • Key contemporary human ecological issues: examples
   • How climate change and cultural change are interrelated
   • Roles of state and community in environmental protection

Reading List:

1. Essential Reading
   • Bird-David, N. (1990). The giving environment: Another perspective on the economic system of gatherer-hunters. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
   • Harris, M. (1966). The cultural ecology of India’s sacred cattle. Current Anthropology, 7(1), 51-66.
   • Sutton, M.Q., & Anderson, E.N. (2009). Introduction to cultural ecology. Plymouth, UK: Altamira Press.
2. Additional Reading
   • Dove, M. R., & Carpenter, C. (2008). Environmental anthropology: A historical reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub
   • Eck, D. (2013). India: A sacred geography. London: Harmony.
   • Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1940). The Nuer: A description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a Nilotic people. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
   • Karlsson, B. (2011). Unruly hills: A political ecology of India’s Northeast. Oxford: Berghahn.
   • Lipset, D. (2014). Place in the Anthropocene: A mangrove lagoon in Papua New Guinea in the time of rising sea-levels. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 4(3), 215-243.
   • Mathur, N. (2015). It’s conspiracy theory and climate change: Of beastly encounters and corvine disappearances in Himalayan India. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 5(1), 87-111.
   • Nadasdy, P. (2003). Hunters and bureaucrats: Power, knowledge, and aboriginal-state relations in the Southwest Yukon. Vancouver: UBC Press.
   • Ogden, L., et al. (2013). Global assemblages, resilience, and earth stewardship in the Anthropocene. Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment, 11(7), 341-347.
   • Rata, E. (2002). The transformation of indigeneity, Review (Fernand Braudel Center), 25(2), 173-195.
   • Rata, E. M. (1999). A theory of neotribal capitalism. Journal of the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations, 22(3), 231-288
   • Vitebsky, P. (2006). The reindeer people: Living with animals and spirits in Siberia. London: Mariner books.
   • Wangchuk, T. (2010). Change in the land use system in Bhutan: Ecology, history, culture, and power. Journal for Bhutan Studies, 2(1), 1-31.
   • Zimmerer, K., & Bassett, T. (Eds.). (2003). Political ecology. New York: Guilford.

Date: March 15, 2018