Pacific Cultures

Anthropology 273 [TRACS #14500]

Spring 1998

Dr. Charles F. Urbanowicz

Professor of Anthropology

California State University, Chico

Office: 898-6220/Dept Phone: 898-6192

Tue & Thu: 12:30-1:45pm

e-mail: curbanowicz@csuchico.edu and see http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/

DESCRIPTION: "Case studies of peoples of Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Analysis of origins of indigenous peoples and cultures. Description of traditional cultures in this ecologically diverse area. This is an approved Non-Western course." (1997-1999 Catalog, Page 186)

REQUIRED TEXTS:

V. Lockwood, T. Harding, and B. Wallace [Editors] (1993) Contemporary Pacific Societies: Studies in Development and Change (Described below as LH&W.)

D.L. Oliver (1989) The Pacific Islands (3rd Edition).

EVALUATION is based on THREE examinations, in-class presentation and participation, and a writing assignment. (There are NO make-up or late examinations and there is NO extra credit).

EXAM I	Tue 3/3/98 (20%): Area & Ecology, Prehistory & Peopling, and Australia.
EXAM II	Tue 4/21/98 (20%): Melanesia and Micronesia.
EXAM III	Tue 5/19/98 (30%): Polynesia, Changes, and Major Points.
VARIOUS PRESENTATIONS	2/24/98 + 4/14/98 + 5/12/98 (7.5%)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT	5/14/98 (15%) Due.
CLASS PARTICIPATION	1/27/98->5/14/98 (7.5%).

PLEASE THINK ABOUT the INTERNATIONAL FORUM (SOSC 100-01#13959 for One Unit every Tuesday from 4->5:20pm in Ayres Hall 120 and ANTHROPOLOGY FORUM (ANTH 297-01#10222 for One Unit every Thursday from 4->5:20pm in Ayres Hall 120. ALSO CONSIDER: GEOGRAPHY 178 [TRACS #11608] Australia And The South Pacific (Tue & Thu 2->3:15pm). The description for that course is: "Modern Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific Islands, including Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and New Guinea. Cultural and physical environments are analyzed and compared in terms of perceptions, processes, landscape patterns, and problems." (1997-1999 Catalog, Page 355)

ANTHROPOLOGY 273 is heavily mediated with visuals of the area and individuals are responsible for information presented in this manner. Individuals are also expected to locate the major land masses, including locations of indigenous inhabitants, Euroamericans, specific locations, and/or ethnographic facts from lectures, readings, films, slides, etc. Every examination will have a map component based on the maps in Lockwood, Harding, & Wallace (pages 2, 5, and 10): Please make copies to study from! Individuals are also responsible for any additional information distributed in handouts for this course.

THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS TO THE WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE THURSDAY 5/14/98:

OPTION #1} based on readings of your choice, but suggested from such publications available in the library as The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Oceania, The Journal of Pacific History, and other journals that might have articles on a Pacific topic: read SIX (6) articles on Pacific topics for this 15% - read each article and summarize and critique it in one page or so. What were the main points of the author(s) and did the ideas presented in the article make sense based on what you know and are learning about the Pacific? The overall typewritten length for all six articles combined should be approximately 1600-2000 words. Articles may also be selected from any of the SIX items listed below available on one-day reserve in the Meriam Library, from the above journals, or they may be chosen from the Internet. Please see page 3 of this syllabus for appropriate Internet resources; you may also "mix" your articles: some from journals, some from books, and some from the Internet.

OPTION #2} pick a topic relating to YOUR specific interests in the Pacific and do research on it! (This is the "traditional" term paper.) The overall typewritten length for Option #2 should also be approximately 1600-2000 words). [The above two paragraphs contain ~209 words.]

THE INFORMATION ON THE VARIOUS PRESENTATIONS IS AS FOLLOWS:

On three Tuesdays below (2/24/98, 4/14/98, and 5/12/98) I would like approximately 1/3rd of the class to make "brief" (5-to-10 minute) individual presentations about a specific reading assignment to date combined and compared with a similar article from another source: this should encourage you to (a) keep up with the readings, (b) be thinking about your second writing assignment (see above!), and (c) space out the course requirements throughout the semester. I will elaborate on this course requirement during the first week of class (1/27/98 and 1/29/98); please be advised that the presentation dates are tentative at this moment: depending on class enrollment, an additional day (or two) might have to be added (and the class schedule adjusted accordingly) for those days of 2/24, 4/14, and 5/12/98.

FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, THE FOLLOWING SIX ITEMS have been placed on one-day reserve:

Harding & Wallace (1970) Cultures of the Pacific (GN/662/H3/1970)

A. Howard (1971) Polynesia: Readings On A Culture Area.... (GN/670/H68)

A. Howard & R. Borofky (1989) Developments in Polynesian Ethnology (GN/670/D48)

Howe, K. et al., eds. (1994) Tides of History : The Pacific Islands in the Twentieth Century [DU/28.3/T53]

Langness & Weschler (1971) Melanesia: Readings On A Culture Area....... (GN/668/L3)

A. Vayda (1968) Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific (GN/662/V36)

TENTATIVE TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS IN OLIVER AND LH&W FOR THE WEEKS OF (INCLUDING "LEARNING OBJECTIVES"):

1.	1/27 + 1/29	Intro & Overview; Area & Ecology; Peopling & Prehistory.
		Oliver: 1} The Islands and the Islanders in Pre-colonial Times; part of [hereafter p/o] Ch. 10} Coconuts (pp. 130-138); and Ch. 12} Sea Harvest.
		LH&W: #1} An introduction to Contemporary Pacific Societies - V. Lockwood

A positive appreciation and awareness of the origin and diversity of past humans.

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

Knowledge of a methodology and personal experience at conducting and documenting an aspect of human diversity.

The ability to present and communicate in anthropologically appropriate ways anthropological knowledge and the results of anthropological research.

Knowledge of the history of anthropological thought and major issues in the sub disciplines.

2/3

Peopling & Prehistory, Europeans, and into the Pacific and Australia.

2/5 [NO CLASS] MLIB DAY

Oliver: 2} Explorers: 1521-1792; Oliver: 3} Whalers, Traders, and Missionaries: 1780-1850; Oliver: 7} Lives; p/o 11} Sugar (pp. 174-175).

LH&W: #2} Tonga's Contemporary Globalization Strategies: Trading on Sovereignty Amidst International Migration - George Marcus.

LH&W: #7} From the Stone age to the Age of Corporate Takeovers - Ben Finney.

LH&W: #16} The Fist, the Stick, and the Bottle of Bleach: Wife bashing and Female Suicide in Papua New Guinea - Dorothy Counts

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

2/10 + 2/12

Australia (No New readings)

A positive appreciation and awareness of the origin and diversity of past humans.

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

2/17 + 2/19

Australia & Pacific Changes Continued (No New readings)

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

2/24 + 2/26

TUE: selected student presentations (to-be-determined) & REVIEW on 2/26

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

The ability to present and communicate in anthropologically appropriate ways anthropological knowledge and the results of anthropological research.

3/3 + 3/5

EXAM I (20%) on TUESDAY 3/3 and Into Melanesia on 3/5.

Oliver: #4} Planters, Labor Recruiters, and Merchants: 1850-1914.

LH&W: #3} Imagining a Nation: Race, Politics and Crisis in Post-Colonial Fiji - Martha Kaplan

LH&W: #4} The Law of the State and the State of the Law in Vanuatu - Bill Rodman

3/10 + 3/12

Melanesia.

Oliver: #5} Miners and Administrators: 1914-1939; p/o 10} Sugar (pp. 154-173); p/o Ch. 11} Sea Harvest (pp. 194-203); and p/o Ch. 13} Mines (pp. 220-228).

LH&W: #8} Pigs, Pearlshells, and 'Women's work': Collective Response to Change in Highland Papua New Guinea - Lorraine Sexton

LH&W: #11} Keeping Options Open: Copra and fish in Rural Vanuatu - Margaret Rodman

LH&W: #12} Some Pohnpei Strategies for Economic Survival - Glenn Petersen

LH&W: #13} Education Is Development on a Ten-acre island - Alice Pomponio

LH&W: #14} Migration, Urbananization, and Rural-Urban Links: Toaripi in Port Moresby - Dawn Ryan

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

Knowledge of a methodology and personal experience at conducting and documenting an aspect of human diversity.

3/17 + 3/19

Melanesia and World War II.

Oliver: #6} The Dimensions of Change; p/o Ch. #9} Souls (pp. 126-129).

LH&W: #14} Migrations, Urbanization, and Rural-Urban Links: Toaripi in Port Moresby - Dawn Ryan

LH&W: #15} The Historical Course of True Love in the Sepik - Errington & Gewertz

LH&W: #18} Melanesian Cargo Cults - Ken Burridge

LH&W: #19} The Brokers of the Lord: The Ministration of a ChristianFaith in the Sepik Basin of Papua New Guinea - Paul Roscoe

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

Knowledge of the history of anthropological thought and major issues in the sub disciplines.

3/24 + 3/26

SPRING BREAK!!

10.

3/31 + 4/2

Micronesia.

Oliver: #7} Lives; p/o Ch. #10} Coconuts (pp. 138-141).

LH&W: #5} New Political Statuses in American Micronesia - Bob Kiste

LH&W: #17} A Pacific Haze: Alcohol and Drugs in Oceania - Mac Marshall

LH&W: #20} Christmas on Ujelang: The Politics of Continuity in the Context of Change - Laurence Carucci

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

Knowledge of the history of anthropological thought and major issues in the sub disciplines.

11.

4/7 + 4/9

Micronesia, and World War II Continued (No New readings)

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

Knowledge of a methodology and personal experience at conducting and documenting an aspect of human diversity.

Knowledge of the history of anthropological thought and major issues in the sub disciplines.

12.

4/14 + 4/16

TUE: selected student presentations (to-be-determined) & REVIEW on 4/16

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

The ability to present and communicate in anthropologically appropriate ways anthropological knowledge and the results of anthropological research.

13.

4/21 + 4/23

EXAM II (20%) on TUESDAY 4/21 and Into Polynesia on 4/23.

Oliver: 8} Land; 9} Souls; and p/o Ch.13} Mines (pp. 220-228

LH&W: #6} Welfare State Colonialism in Rural French Polynesia.

LH&W: #9} The Cult of Custom Meets the Search for Money in Western Samoa - Tim O'Meara.

LH&W: #10} The Samoan exodus - Paul Shankman.

14.	4/28 + 4/30	Polynesia and Changes:
		Oliver: p/o Ch. 10} Coconuts (pp. 141-154); 15} Losses & Gains; 16} WW II. LH&W: #21} The Maori tradition of Prophecy: Religion, History and Politics in New Zealand - Karen Sinclair.

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

Knowledge of a methodology and personal experience at conducting and documenting an aspect of human diversity.

15.

5/5 + 5/7

Hawai'i and Pearl Harbor after 56+ years.

A positive appreciation and awareness of the diversity in contemporary societies and cultures.

16.	5/12 + 5/14	TUE: selected student presentations on 5/12 & REVIEW on 5/14 and WRITING ASSIGNMENT (15%) DUE
		Oliver: Ch. 17} After the Battles; 18} Epilogue.

Familiarity with anthropological literature, data sources, and knowledge of how to critically access such information.

The ability to present and communicate in anthropologically appropriate ways anthropological knowledge and the results of anthropological research.

17.

5/19

TUESDAY

EXAM III (30%) from 2-3:50pm

WITH AN interest in Anthropology and the Pacific you should find the following items of interest:

Northern Light Search [ in my opinion, the BEST "search engine" on the WWW]: http://www.nlsearch.com/

A MASSIVE ANTHROPOLOGY SITE [my term for it]: http://www.unipv.it/~webbio/dfantrop.htm

A HUGE PACIFIC SITE [My name for it]: http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/spin/wwwvl-pacific/index.html

Pacific Islands Report [up-to-the-date news]: http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/pireport/

Pacific Islands Development Program: http://166.122.161.83/

The Kingdom of Tonga in Cyberspace: http://www.netstorage.com/kami/tonga/

Some Urbanowicz "Pacific Words"} http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/FSep-30-93.html

"The largest ocean [on the planet Earth] is the Pacific. Excluding adjacent seas, it represents 45.8% of the world's oceans and is 64,186,300 sq miles in area. The average depth is 13,740 feet. From Guayaquil, Ecuador, on the east, to Bangkok, Thailand, on the west, the Pacific could be said to stretch 10,905 miles in the shortest navigable line. ... The world's most distant point from land is a spot in the South Pacific, approximately 48o30'S., 125o30'W., which is about 1,660 miles from the nearest points of land, namely Pitcairn Island, Ducie Island and Cape Dart, Antarctica. Centered on this spot, therefore, is a circle of water with an area of about 8,657,000 sq mi--about 7,000 sq mi larger than the [former] USSR, [formerly] the world's largest country" [stress added!]. (1985, Guiness Book of World Records, page 122).

"That great sea, miscalled the Pacific." (Charles Robert Darwin [1809-1882]

Journal...During the Voyage...of H.M.S. Beagle, 1832-6 (1839)

NOTE:

Pacific Ocean	=	64,186,300 square miles
Atlantic Ocean	=	33,420,000 square miles
Indian Ocean	=	28,350,000 square miles

LOOKING AT THE "MAP" on the following page, please consider the following:

Australia is approximately	2,966,200 square miles
New Guinea is approximately	306,000 square miles
California is approximately	163,707 square miles
Japan is approximately	145,850 square miles
New Zealand is approximately	104,454 square miles
Tasmania is approximately	26,200 square miles
The Islands of Fiji are approximately	7,055 square miles
The Hawai'ian Islands are approximately	6,471 square miles
The Gal·pagos Islands are approximately	3,086 square miles
Butte County, California, is approximately	1,640 square miles
Tahiti is approximately	402 square miles
The Islands of Tonga are approximately	270 square miles
Nauru Island is approximately	8 square miles

SEVEN GOALS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT CSU, CHICO

1.	An understanding of the phenomenon of culture as that which differentiates human life from other life forms; an understanding of the roles of human biology and cultural processes in human behavior and human evolution.
2.	A positive appreciation of the diversity of contemporary and past human cultures and an awareness of the value of anthropological perspectives and knowledge in contemporary society.
3.	A knowledge of the substantive data pertinent to the several sub disciplines of anthropology and familiarity with major issues relevant to each.
4.	Familiarity with the forms of anthropological literature and basic data sources and knowledge of how to access such information.
5.	Knowledge of the methodology appropriate to the sub-disciplines of anthropology and the capacity to apply appropriate methods when conducting anthropological research.
6.	The ability to present and communicate in anthropologically appropriate ways anthropological knowledge and the results of anthropological research.
7.	Knowledge of the history of anthropological thought.

Alexander Besher [Editor & Author], 1991, The Pacific Rim Almanac (Harper Collins) [CFU: Interesting book, but a bit dated: similar information can also be found in the latest edition of many good almanacs, such as The World Almanac And Book of Facts (1998 edition).

Pacific Islands Monthly [also known in the past as PIM]; Back issues available in The Meriam Library.

The Newsletter of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania [also known as ASAO], Editor: Jan Rensel, ASAO, 2499 Kapi'olani Blvd., #2403, Honolulu, HI 96826.

The Centre for South Pacific Studies Newsletter, Dr. John Lodewijks (Editor), University of New South Wales Centre for South Pacific Studies, Kensington BSW 2033, Australia/email: J.Lodewijks@unsw.edu.au

Tok Blong Pasifik: A Quarterly of News and Views on the Pacific Islands, SPPF, 1921 Fernwood Road, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8T 2Y6.

The Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i @ Manoa, 1890 East-West Road, Moore 215, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 96822.

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