Human Ecology
Code: 101271 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500256 Social and Cultural Anthropology | OT | 3 | 0 |
| 2500256 Social and Cultural Anthropology | OT | 4 | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Hugo Valenzuela García
- Email:
- Hugo.Valenzuela@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- spanish (spa)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- Yes
Teachers
- Sara Maestre Andres
- Irene Iniesta Arandia
- Andre Braga Junqueira
External teachers
- Petra Benyei
Prerequisites
No previous course is required, but notions of Economic Anthropology and History of Anthropology are recommended
Objectives and Contextualisation
The objectives of the course are:
- To know the programmatic set of theoretical contributions and studies of classic ethnographic cases of Ecological Anthropology in its thematic and historical spheres.
- To learn some basic contributions from the most prominent figures in this field - their theoretical, methodological and ethnographic contributions.
- To know first-hand some current and contemporary ethnographic works that are being carried out by scientists and researchers, as well as the most relevant problems (ICTA and Department of Anthropology).
- To analyse the reality between nature and culture from a multidisciplinary approach (ecology, anthropology, etc.)
Competences
- Social and Cultural Anthropology
- Apprehending cultural diversity through ethnography and critically assessing ethnographic materials as knowledge of local contexts and as a proposal of theoretical models.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Producing cultural diversity materials that could have a critical impact on the common sense conceptions.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the history of anthropological theory and the genesis of its basic concepts.
Learning Outcomes
- Analysing a contemporary fact from an anthropological perspective.
- Analysing data critically from anthropological investigations and reports.
- Applying the knowledge of cultural variability and its genesis to avoid ethnocentric projections.
- Engaging in debates about historical and contemporary facts and respecting the other participants' opinions.
- Enumerating the theories about human species in their relation to society and culture production.
- Explaining the disciplinary developments and current interdisciplinary tendencies from the critique to the nature/culture Cartesian dichotomy.
- Explaining the work's results narratively in accordance with the critical standards of discipline and bearing in mind the different target audiences.
- Identifying main and supporting ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
- Identifying the contemporary interdisciplinary tendencies shared by the Anthropology and social disciplines related to the corresponding field.
- Identifying the recent disciplinary developments and the correlation between the anthropological theory and the social disciplines related in their historical development and the current interdisciplinary tendencies.
- Identifying the various relationship processes between human populations and their environment.
- Interpreting the cultural diversity through ethnography.
- Knowing and understanding the culture's influence in the various institutional systems of environmental intervention.
- Knowing the evolutionary aspect of contemporary human diversity.
- Producing materials related to the human population-environment relationships that may have a critical impact on the political and common sense conceptions in their respective fields.
- Recognising the cultural nature of nature and society conceptualizations.
- Summarizing the acquired knowledge about the relationship between nature, culture and society.
Content
Module 1 (Hugo Valenzuela), presents the basis of Ecological Anthropology and proposes definitions, historical precedents and main currents (Boasian particularism, neo-evolutionism, cultural ecology, ethnoecology, post-structuralism, anthropology of disasters ... .). Case studies and classic ethnographic examples will be presented. Keywords: theory, cultural ecology, neo-evolutionism. Methodology: presentation of theories, readings and debate. Evaluation: multiple choice of theoretical contents.
Module 2 (Petra Benyei) addresses biocultural diversity and the concepts of biocultural diversity and memory, focusing on the rural context and industrialized countries. A study will be presented with students of agrarian professional training in Catalonia and methodologies, from classic ethnobotany to 'citizen science', to preserve bicultural diversity. Key concepts: biocultural diversity, traditional agroecological knowledge, ethnobotanics and citizen science. Methodology: introduction of key concepts, debate on loss and recovery of CET based on two readings and a practical participatory class focused on preparing the assessable activity. Assessment: in teams, an ethnobotanical interview script will be developed based on the structure of the inventory of traditional knowledge and connect (www.conecte.es).
Module 3 analyses environmental and historic ecology (A. Braga)
Module 4 (Sara Maestre Andrés) addresses political ecology of biodiversity conservation. The historical evolution of one of the main conservation policies, the protected areas, the different models and the implicit conceptualization that they represent of the nature-society relationship as well as the social conflicts that they generate are explained. The new market policies applied to the conservation of biodiversity are also examined, taking as an example the conservation banks and analyzing their main conceptual ideas. The controversies generated in terms of rethinking the relationship between society and nature, the practice of conservation and its commodification are addressed. Case studies are presented. Keywords: ecology policy of biodiversity conservation, protected areas, neoliberal conservation, conservation banks. Methodology: master classes on key concepts, classes with participatory dynamics that encourage debate. Evaluation: test type evaluation of these contents.
Module 5 (Irene Iniesta Arandía) will address feminist ecology. It will present its basic principles and budgets with the aim of generating discussion among the students. Keywords: ecology feminist activism, gender. Methodology: presentation of key concepts and practical activity. Evaluation: group activity and / or practice.
Methodology
Methodology includes readings, presentations, lectures and practice (exercices).
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Research presentations dessign | 22 | 0.88 | 2, 1, 3, 13, 14, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 8, 9, 12, 4, 15, 16, 17 |
| Theory (lectures) | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 1, 3, 13, 14, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 8, 9, 12, 4, 15, 16, 17 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Teamwork | 44 | 1.76 | 2, 1, 3, 13, 14, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 8, 9, 12, 4, 15, 16, 17 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Readings | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 1, 3, 13, 14, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 8, 9, 12, 4, 15, 16, 17 |
Assessment
Particular notice for foreign (exchange and Erasmus) students: It is YOUR RESPONSABILITY to be informed about the assessment, principles and norms of this course. This information IS NOT NEGOTIABLE.
Percentage of evaluations:
30% - theoretical test about the content of the course (modules)
30% - Practices or final activities of each module: evaluation is pass/ not pass These activities are not recoverable.
40% - Work and exhibition of monograph by groups: about an author (20%) and presentation in class in a group (20%) In order to be evaluable, a student must have done (do not need to approve) 2/3 of the system 'evaluation.
IMPORTANT:
The qualifications and results of continuous evaluation will be reviewed in class only. In exceptional and justified cases it will be allocated a tutorial or specific space for the reviews of continuous tests.
The final grade will be communicated on the virtual campus individually and a grade review session will be scheduled, as well as a re-evaluation, if applicable. Outside of these scheduled dates, or channels, no claims or reviews will be dealt with. Furthermore emails related to evaluation will not be answered. Doubts and claims will be addressed exclusively to the scheduled review session and preferably face-to-face.
The work will be done exclusively by means of the "Delivery of files" option of the virtual campus that will have an established period of validity. If it is not possible to make the shipment within the established period, it may be delivered on paper on the day of the last exam.
Personal causes that may influence the normal follow-up of the course by a particular student (illnesses, jobs, personal issues ...) may be discussed with the teacher, who will try to give a flexible option to the student if it is reasonably justified. However, these issues will only be taken into account when they are, exceeded and properlyjustified (with formal certificates) and, when they are known in advance, they will be discussed with the teacher during the first calendar month - not later or last moment If these requirements are not met, the student will be assessed as NA or Suspended.
If a student does any irregularity that can result in a significant variation of the qualification of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be qualified with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be later instructed. In case there are several irregularities in the evaluation acts within the same course, the final grade of this course will be 0.
In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contend assessment and written work | 30% | 2 | 0.08 | 13, 14, 5, 10, 8, 9 |
| Group presentations | 40% | 16 | 0.64 | 2, 1, 3, 13, 14, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 8, 9, 12, 4, 16, 17 |
| Partial tests and practic exercises | 30% | 6 | 0.24 | 1, 3, 13, 6, 11, 15, 16, 17 |
Bibliography
Acheson, James M. (1981) “Anthropology of Fishing”, Annual Review of Anthropology 10: 275-316.
Alegret Tejero, J.L. y Vicente Temprano Gutiérrez (1989) “La antropología marítima como campo de la antropología social”, Agricultura y Sociedad 52: 119-142
Berkes, Fikret; Colding, J. and Folke, C. (2000) “Rediscovery of Traditional Ecological Knowledge as Adaptative Management”, Ecological Applications, 10(5), pp. 1251-1262.
Brosius, Peter J.; George W. Lovelance and Gerald G. Marten (1986) “Ethnoecology: an Approach to Understanding Traditional Agricultural Knowledge”, en Gerald G. Marten (1986) Traditional Agriculture in Southeast Asia: a Human Ecology Perspective. Westview Press. Boulder. Colorado.
Crumley, Carole L. (ed.) (2001) New Directions in Anthropology and Environment: Intersections, Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Dove, Michael R., and Carl Carpenter (eds.) (2008) Environmental Anthropology: A Historical Reader, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Ellen, Roy (1982) Environment, Subsistence and System: The Ecology of Small-Scale Social Formations, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ellen, Roy (1998) “Comments to P. Sillitoe: The Development of Indigenous Knowledge. A New Applied Anthropology”, Current Anthropology, Volume 39, Numer 2.
Fairhead, James and Leach, Melissa Misreading African Landscape. Society and Ecology in Forest-savanna Mosaic. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Haenn, Nora y Richard R. Wilk (2006) The Environment in Anthropology. A Reader in Ecology, Culture, and Susteinable Living. New York University Press.
Harold C. Conklin “Hanunóo Color Categories”, Journal of Anthropological Research. Vol. 42, No. 3, Approaches to Culture and Society (Autumn, 1986), pp. 441-446
Ingold, Tim (1986) The Appropiation of Nature. Manchester University Press
Marten Gerald G. (2008) Human Ecology. Basic Concepts for Sustainable Development. London and New York: Eathscan, Primera edición 2001
Moran, Emilio F. (2006) People and Nature. An Introduction to Human Ecological Relations. Blackwell Publishing.
Orlove, Benjamin S. (1980) “Ecological Anthropology”, Annual Review of Anthropology 9, 235-273.
Redclift, M. (1996) Wasted: Counting the Costs of Global Consumption. EarthScan: London.
Russell, Diane, and Camilla Harshbarger (2003) Ground Work for Community-Based Conservation, Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.
Sánchez Fernández, Juan Oliver (1996) “Ecología y cultura”, Política y Sociedad 23, pp. 51-64
Sillitoe, Paul (1998) “The Development of Indigenous Knowledge. A New Applied Anthropology”, Current Anthropology, Volume 39, Numer 2.
Sponsel , Leslie E. y David Casagrande (2008) "Sacred places and biodiversity conservation". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment).
Townsend, Patricia K. (2009) Environmental Anthropology: From Pigs to Policies (Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., Second Edition).