Enjoy these cultural anthropology web activities!

PART IV HUMAN INSTITUTIONS

Kinship and Marriage

1. Take this interactive online tutorial in kinship and social organization. What type of kinship system are you in? How can you diagram it using the anthropological notational system? Use the Nature of Kinship Glossary of Terms to check definitions of kin terms. For example, what are the definitions of matrilocal, patrilocal, bilocal, and neolocal? Which residence rule best describes your family? Another excellent site for kin terms exists under the auspices of the University of Connecticut.

2. Claude Levi-Strauss was best known for his structural studies of myths. Follow links at these sites to learn more about his contributions to anthropology. How does his work on myths relate to his analysis of the structure of kinship systems? How did Levi-Strauss contribute to our understanding of marriage as a system of exchange?

3. Sample kinship data at the Linkages Project. What information do these examples provide about different cultures? According to the site, how will this data be applied to real-life situations? How is kinship data important to the study of cultural anthropology?

4. According to Dani ethnography, what is marriage like in this New Guinea society? What are men's and women's gender roles, and how do those roles relate to the way the people make their living? How can Dani domestic organization be described in anthropological terms?

5. Survey online illustrated ethnographies of the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert, starting with a site based on M. Shostak's Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman. What are Nisa's expectations of womanhood, marriage, motherhood, and kinship? Then learn more about Nisa and Marjorie Shostak. How is the incest taboo expressed in San marriage and family? How does their system of bride capture work? What does the custom of bride service accomplish? How is the San system of marriage and family adaptive for the realities of the way they make their living?

6. Visit the American Families web page for ethnographic information about reckoning kinship in the United States. What are some variations and areas of confusion in reckoning kinship? Use Brian Schwimmer's tutorial site on "Systems of Measuring Kinship Degree" to determine your own kindred in a bilineal/bilateral kinship system. Can you diagram your closest kin? According to Schwimmer, what are some group dynamics typical in bilaterial kinship systems?

7. Read this thought-provoking article by Jonathan Marks of Yale University on "Scientific and Folk Ideas about Heredity," which he wrote for the Human Genome Project. How does Marks make the point that kinship is more a cultural and symbolic identity than a biological one?

8. Read a general description of Chinese names and naming practices. What beliefs and values underlie these practices? Explore links at this site to learn the history of Tang/Teng/Deng. Who are the "Hundred Families" in Han history? How does the Chinese system of surnames and generation names work? How has the splitting off of clans over thousands of years reflected the history of Chinese expansion?

9. Compare Yanomamo marriage, which features lineage exogamy, to Turkish peasant marriage, which features village endogamy. What are the different consequences of exogamy and endogamy for social structure and social organization?

10. Read an ethnographic account of the matrilineal Vaturanga people of the Solomon Islands. How are the principal features of matrilinealism expressed in this society? Then read an in-depth anthropological paper on a strongly patrilineal society with patriclans, the Hmong. How does Gary Yia Lee explain the relationship between Hmong world view and the structure of Hmong kinship, marriage, and family?

11. Go to this page to view a diagram of double descent. Based on your living relatives, if you were in a double descent system, who would be your siblings?

12. Find out how language relates to kinship through systematic kinship terminologies. How many terminological systems are there in the world? Study the diagrams at this site. Which system of kin terms is yours and how do you know?

13. Investigate links at the geneaology search service provided by the Church of the Latter Day Saints to find out how much information is available to you about your ancestors. What do you find if you search by residence, religion, ethnicity, or immigrant status? What criteria are you using to select ancestors to search for? Where do those criteria come from?

14. Follow links on this page to diagrams and explanations of preferred cousin marriage. How is cousin marriage different from incest? How is cross-cousin marriage different from parallel-cousin marriage? How does bilaterial cross-cousin marriage differ from matrilateral or patrilateral cross-cousin marriage? What are some advantages and disadvantages of cousin marriage for kin? For society?

15. Follow links at this site to learn more about the practice of polygyny among the Mormons of Utah. What are the origins of this practice? How does the question of polygamy relate to federal and state laws and the U.S. Constitution?

16. Read an Akkadian clay tablet from 1600 years ago in which a slave is freed and permitted to marry in exchange for a payment of brideprice. Then read about the giving of brideprice today among the Kilimeri of Papua New Guinea. What special social and economic bonds does Kilimeri brideprice create?

17. Read the classifieds for arranged marriages in the English edition of the Hindustan Times of New Delhi, India. What qualities of their daughters do families advertise for "Grooms Wanted"? What qualities are highlighted in ads of men looking for brides? Compare these ads with linked information at Yahoo's page on "Romance." In your analysis what are the cultural correlates of courtship and romantic love versus arranged marriages?

18. View and read a historical reconstruction of Viking weddings. What elements of Viking marriage recognized the importance of marital satisfaction? Do you think Viking households traditionally were more female-centered or male-centered? Why?

19. Read this student ethnographic study of "Widowhood among the Igbo of Eastern Nigeria." According to this paper, what is the cultural construction of widowhood in Igbo society? How are the traditional roles and status of widows changing in the context of Nigerian economic development?

20. Visit the Balch Institute for Ethnic Study, and read selected articles on ethnic weddings in America. How do these weddings reflect ethnic as well as social class differences? For example, choose any two ethnographic descriptions at the following sites to compare and contrast traditional weddings in different societies: Bulgarian weddings, Chinese weddings, Kasalan Filipino weddings, Joglosemar Javanese weddings, and Jashn-e Arusi Persian weddings. Include in your analysis how marriage customs reflect kinship systems and wider social structures in addition to cultural or religious beliefs and values.

21. View linked sample historical documents, such as the marriage certificate of Rufus Wright and Elisabeth Turner, dated to near the end of the Civil War. How do these historical documents suggest impacts of slavery on African kinship, marriage, and family in the United States? See also marriage rituals in African-Amercian weddings today. Read a Washington Post article reviewing Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson's study of changes in black family structure. According to Patterson, what are those changes and how do they influence domestic groupings and family dynamics?

22. Read about traditional weddings in the UK. What English customs and superstitions have been retained in American weddings, and what are their origins? What are the origins of the honeymoon, for instance? Then visit "A Special Memory Wedding Chapel" in Las Vegas, see the pictures, and read about having a drive-through wedding. Also compare the cost of a wedding using different wedding plan packages for other chapels in Las Vegas, also advertised at this site. How does the setting and cost of a wedding in Las Vegas reflect social stratification in the U.S.?

23. Changes in kinship systems through cultural contact may occur because of economic factors that put pressure on obligations of marriage or on systems of ownership and inheritance. Changes in beliefs and values also can lead to changes in kinship.

The Family and Domestic Groups

1. Survey the demographics of American households at the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, in the "Historical Census," how have "Living Alone" and "Family Size" changed? Also view the charts and maps on Households and Families, using links to the 1998-1999 statistical updates and pdf files on this subject. Then follow links at the U.S. Census Bureau to study population statistics on female-headed households in the U.S. What is the incidence and distribution of female-headed and single-parent families, and what are the patterns and trends in those statistics? Then read a fact sheet about Parents Without Partners International. According to this source, how do male-headed and female-headed single families compare statistically?

2. Read a 1997 CNN report on the latest sociological research about childbearing and marital satisfaction in the U.S. Then read a 1998 news report on childless couples. Does marital satisfaction generally increase or decrease after having children? Why? Would you expect the same finding in other societies? Why or why not?

3. According to the American Family Association, the U.S. should reinstate and protect "family values." One way to do this is to make public policy that reestablishes intact patriarchal families. What kinds of policies might accomplish this goal? Compare this page with the Canada Family Action Coalition, which has a similar agenda. How might a cultural anthropologist study both these groups, the situations they try to address, and the concept of family values?

4. Visit Trinity's Sociology of the Family web site and follow the links to topics relevant to domestic groups. For example, for more information on forms of extended family, click on "Other Family Players: Beyond the Nuclear Cast." Who are included among these players? How does their inclusion in family households affect structure and sentiment in family life? See also "Singlehood and Alternative Family Forms." Survey other sites with sociological perspectives on marriage, family, and parenting. How do these sites focus on interpersonal relationships and applied social science?

5. Visit the web page on adoption and sample the resources there. How is adoption viewed in the U.S. in terms of kinship? Then view the page on surrogate mothers. How is surrogacy viewed in the U.S. in terms of kinship?

6. Read definitions of the types of custody at this site. Then review child custody law in the U.S. How many different types of custody are there and what domestic situations do they cover? Now follow links at the Children's Rights Council to research on joint custody and shared parenting. According to the weight of research evidence, what is best for children in cases of separation and divorce? To what extent do you think these research findings might be valid for children in other societies and cultures?

7. Read a 1997 article on families under stress and what makes them resilient. This article explains the family systems perspective and points out that family resiliency cuts across class lines. What are the resiliency factors and how are they measured? What qualities of domestic relationships among family members are thought to protect the family across the life cycle?

8. Read about legislation and debate relating to same-sex marriage in the U.S. What is the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)? What have been the outcomes of state initiatives to allow gay and lesbian marriages? How could you use this example to show the relationship between structure and sentiment in a society?

9. Read about the Alternatives to Marriage Project at this site. Follow links to take the Online Survey to express your attitudes, beliefs, and values about marriage alternatives.

10. For psychological perspectives on family processes and social networks, go to this National Institutes of Health (NIH) informational article (Chapter 6). How does the perspective in this article relate to the anthropology of domestic groups cross-culturally?

11. Sample pages at this support site for grandparents and grandparenting. What are some difficulties and rewards of grandparents raising their grandchildren? In what social contexts are grandparents involved in childrearing in the U.S.? How might a cultural anthropologist study grandparents in different societies?

12. Read the National Domestic Violence Awareness Manual at this government site, and analyze the statistics on the different forms of family violence and their incidence and distribution. Who are the most likely perpetrators and victims of domestic violence in the U.S.? Then visit the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline. What resources are available for battered wives, children, and husbands through that site?

13. Take the pop quiz and read "Get the Facts" at the home page for the Family Violence Prevention Fund. How did you do on the self-assessment? What facts surprised you the most? Then check the status of domestic violence today through links at the Violence Against Women Office. How do statistics compare among states and with the U.S. as a whole? What resources might victims of family violence in rural Kentucky and other states find on the site for Domestic Violence Hotlines and Resources?

14. Read about the Model Domestic Violence Policy for Counties developed for New York State. Follow links in the table of contents to answer the following questions. According to the researchers, what is the problem? What are the four primary goals in strengthening a community's response to domestic violence? How does the model program address the three forms of isolation (physical, sociocultural, and institutional) associated with wife and child abuse?

Religion, Symbols, and Rituals

1. Explore links on religion at Anthro.Net and on the WWW Virtual Library of Religion. Also survey Religion in Indiana University's Theory in Anthropology site. For one topic in religion that interests you most, what resources can you find online?

2. Read a biography of Edward Tylor and a summary of his contributions to the study of religion and culture. How did Tylor's definition of culture place people's beliefs and values at the core of ethnographic study? Read a synopsis of Emile Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. What sociological concepts did Durkheim give to the anthropological study of religion in different societies? How are perspectives in the psychology of religion different? What other perspectives on religion can you identify at Alan Liu's Voice of the Shuttle?

3. This site analyzes and compares mysticism in six world religions (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist) and contains many links to sites on these religions and their sacred texts. How do all six religions explain the nature of reality, the struggle individuals must undergo to get a clear vision of that reality, and the transformation of consciousness that individuals experience as a result?

4. Read about the Aztecs (Mexica) at this comprehensive site and view photographs of the archaeological evidence for human sacrifice. What and where is the Wall of Skulls? Why did the Aztec religion and world view require human sacrifice? Then read about the structure and organization of the Aztec priesthood and the sacrificial rite. How did the Mexica describe warrior sacrifice to the Spanish conquistadors? What explanations are there for the sites with child sacrifice? How many sacrifices were made at the dedication of the Great Temple and why? Do experts seem to favor the materialist interpretation or the symbolic interpretation of human sacrifice and cannibalism?

5. Trace an argument about the reasons for a 20^th-century instance of an act of cannibalism committed by two unassimilated Australian Aborigines. Why did they kill a man and eat his liver? Do you favor a cultural materialism or religious symbolism interpretation of this instance? By whose laws do you think the Aborigines should have been judged?

6. Look up human sacrifice and cannibalism with reference to Christianity in Rutger University's Virtual Religion Index and in the Hartford Seminary's Sociology of Religion site. What do you think of the idea that Christ's execution and the eucharist, in which people eat the body and blood of the martyr, are examples of human sacrifice and cannibalism in religious symbolism?

7. At this virtual site, experience the Kotel, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, through audio, video, and text. Listen as Israeli soldiers reclaim this wall at the end of the 1967 Six-Day War. Why does the Kotel have such strong religious significance? Study a chronology of the activities of the "Women of the Wall." When and in what circumstances did this movement for the liberalization of religious practice begin? What happened when women went to the wall to pray? What was the status of the movement by 1996? Then read a 1998 article, Women Try on Tallit at Western Wall." What is a tallit? What was the Lubavitch movement? What were men's objections to women praying aloud at the wall?

8. Follow links at this religion information site to learn more about Judaism. What are the different denominations of Judaism, and where do the different forms of Orthodox Judaism fit in? What are the implications of orthodoxy for women? Also visit a site for young Zionists, read some photo essays and explanations, and tour the virtual kibbutz. What exactly is Zionism? Would you ever be interested in attending an ulpan school on a kibbutz? If you did, what would you learn there? Then read about the four Jewish life cycle rituals or rites of passage. What are these four events and how are they observed or celebrated? What symbolic objects, gestures, and taboos are part of these rituals?

9. Review the controversies surrounding women in Islam. How is the traditional role and status of Muslim women similar to that of Jewish women? Read an article on the campaign of Muslim women in Kerala, southern India, to be allowed to enter mosques. According to this site on Women and the Mosque, how should women look and act in a mosque if permitted to enter? How is this situation similar to that of the Jewish Women of the Wall? Read "About Islam and Women" at this university site. How are women viewed in Islam? How does the Qur'an define women, marriage, divorce, and child custody? Then read sections 5 and 6 of "Are Human Rights Compatible with Islam: The Issue of the Rights of Women in Muslim Communities." What are the general rights of Islamic women according to Qur'anic law? According to the Muslim author of this site, in what ways does Muslim practice sometimes fall short of Qur'anic ideals?

10. Read a Pakistani's account of his family's pilgrimage to Mecca, the hajj and umrah in the Muslim religious tradition. What advice does he give to others making this pilgrimage? What does it mean to be "in ihram"? What rituals are performed at the Ka'bah? What mistakes in the ritual should be avoided, and if one makes a mistake, what dum might have to be arranged?

11. View photos and text describing the religion and mythology of the Huarochiri, contemporary Quechua-speaking peoples of Peru. What is a khipu? How and by whom are sacred regalia preserved in Huarochiri villages? How might an anthropologist compare this example with Sumerian mythology? Sample information and images of clay tables with cuneiform writing. Who was Gilgamesh? Why do experts hypothesize direct links between the ancient Sumerians and the origins of the Judeo-Christian tradition?

12. Compare and contrast the Norse pantheon of principal gods and goddesses with the Greek pantheon, including the Titans (2^nd generation gods and goddesses) and the gods of Olympus (3^rd generation gods and goddesses). What do you think might be the significance of the fact that ancient peoples represented deities in terms of kinship relationships? What resemblances do you see in the family trees and "biographies" of individual deities? How might a cultural anthropologist explain the similarities and differences?

13. Bulfinch's Age of Fable is a classic work on myths and folklore of the world that can be read online. Sample this text. For example, what was the religion of the ancient Celts? Read a student's paper on the use of animal symbolism in Celtic Mythology. What did a horse represent? A boar? A dog? How were these animals abstracted and symbolized in Celtic art?

14. View archival photos and read Ernestine Cody's accounts of her female ancestors and the coming of age of Apache Indian girls. What are the 8 phases of the Apache puberty ceremony? How does the performance of the Sunrise Dance symbolize the "Changing Women"?

15. Santeria is a Caribbean religion representing a syncretism between Christianity and the traditional African religion of the Yoruba. What is a syncretism? Who is Orisha? Who are some other Afro-Caribbean deities? What role does animal sacrifice serve in Santeria? Then read a paper explaining how the traditional Yoruba religion in Nigeria was altered as a result of European colonial rule. What religious symbols and practices were outlawed and with what consequences?

16. Vodoun as it originated in Haiti is a religion representing a syncretism between Christianity and traditional African religion of Dahomey. What is the role of ancestors in Haitian Vodou? Where did Hollywood notions of voodoo and zombies come from? Compare this religion with Rastafarianism, which originated in Jamaica as a religion representing a syncretism between Christianity and African religious traditions of Ethiopia. Who was Ras Tafari Makonnen? Who were the maroons? What is the original symbolism of dreadlocks? According to a believer, what are some myths and stereotypes about Rastafarianism?

17. Read a definition of cargo cult, and visit images and text at Vanuatu online, a Pacific island famous for its World War II cargo cult. Are cargo cults a thing of the past?

18. Read about the Ghost Dance movement, follow links, and view archival photos of this Native American revitalization movement. In what circumstances and in what ways did the Ghost Dance religious cult seek to revitalize Plains Indian cultures?

19. Research the rise of the Promise Keepers, an emergent evangelical Christian organization that made headlines during the 1990s. Survey the official site of the Promise Keepers, and read an article that focuses on the conservative ideology of this organization as part of the "religious right." As a cultural anthropologist studying new religious movements, how might you design a study to explain the Promise Keepers?

20. Read about the recent return of openly practiced ancient religions in China. Who is Mazo, for example, and how is she worshipped? Why might a socialist government such as China's feel threatened by the widespread practice of ancient religions?

Spirituality, Magic, and Healing

1. Follow links at this site to learn more about traditional native North American shamanism. What is a medicine wheel? How is a medicine wheel made and used? What medical model of health and illness does the "Path of the Feather" represent? Now trace the activities of a shaman of the Amazonian rainforest in his practice of medicine and magic. This PBS series, "NOVA: Warriors of the Amazon", features shamans and their healing arts. What similarities and differences do you notice between North American and South American shamans?

2. Read summaries of articles from Shaman, a journal for studies on shamanism worldwide. On the basis of this sample, develop a research plan to compare and contrast the beliefs and practices of shamanism in two different societies. What will you expect to find? Explore Aado Lintrop's indepth site, The Incantor, on Siberian shamanism and view the photographs. According to Siberian traditions what are shamans' gifts and how do shamans receive their gifts? What is an incantor's role in society?

3. On Mental Health Net, how does the American Psychiatric Association define geophagia, or pica, in DSM IV? How does this definition support the idea that health and illness are cultural constructions?

4. Survey this Yahoo Health page for information, news stories, and images related to anorexia nervosa. What are the causes, incidence, and risk factors of this condition? Which risk factors can be regarded as culture-bound? What does the National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders (ANAD) say about "Who suffers from Anorexia?" To what extent are characteristics of sufferers culture-bound?

5. Compare and contrast British attitudes and American attitudes toward anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Also compare statistics on the incidence and distribution of these conditions in the American and British societies. How do descriptions of anorexia differ? What differences do you discover in the distribution of anorexia across age groups? How does your comparison highlight the cultural basis of health and illness?

6. Survey the Folk Illness Glossary. How would you define a folk illness? Would you include anorexia and bulimia as folk illnesses? Why or why not? In what sense are illnesses both caused and cured through social and cultural agency? What are some other illnesses that are culture-bound and how do we know this?

7. Visit the American Indian Ethnobotany Database. What kind of information is in this database? How does ethnobotany interface with medical anthropology? Read an ethnobotanical essay on coca. When did coca cultivation first begin in Bolivia and Peru? How have native South Americans traditionally used coca?

8. To get an idea of the scope of the field of medical anthropology, survey the Medical Anthropology Links. What are ten categories or topics that would hold the greatest interest or relevance for you? Explore the field of medical anthropology further through links provided by the Society for Medical Anthropology. What is the mission of this organization? What are the main subjects of articles published in their journal?

9. What social behavior and cultural choices contribute to the rise of diseases such as Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD). How is Lyme Disease in the U.S. related to KFD?

10. Read about the contributions of Arab physicians and Arab surgeons to the development of Western medicine in the Middle Ages. Who , for example, were Albucasis, Rhazes, and Avicenna, as they were known in Europe?

11. For information on Ayurvedic healing, visit Yahoo's Alternative Medicine site. What is this medical model? On what body of Sanskrit literature is this medical model based? Explore the site of the first International Congress of Tibetan Medicine, 1998. How does the Dalai Lama introduce the subject for Western audiences? What is meant by the "Medicine Buddha," and how does the religion of Buddhism guide Tibetan medical practice? How is Tibetan medicine similar both to traditional Chinese and traditional Indian systems of healing?

12. Read about suicide in the Centers for Disease Control government files to analyze from the point of view of medical anthropology. What are the social and cultural parameters of suicide in the United States? Read about Durkheim's theory of anomie and his other contributions to sociology at the Emile Durkheim Page. How does the anomie concept relate to Durkheim's work on social and cultural factors involved in suicide?

13. Read about workplace violence in the Centers for Disease Control government files to analyze from the point of view of medical anthropology. What are the social and cultural parameters of homicide in the workplace in the United States?

14. Read the facts about the number of hysterectomies performed annually in the United States and Europe. What regional and national differences do you see in the number of hysterectomies performed and the age of patients receiving this operation? How might a medical anthropologist explain these differences?

Economic Systems

1. Read a biography of the life and work of Bronislaw Malinowski. What were his contributions to anthropology in addition to his study of the Trobriand Islanders? Read the text of an article Malinowski wrote on "Primitive Economies of the Trobriand Islanders," which was published in a 1921 issue of Economic Journal. Just scroll down the list of articles and click on the appropriate symbol. What significance of anthropology for economics was Malinowski suggesting?

2. What is being exchanged in the gahwa tradition in Saudi Arabian hospitality? How does the gahwa ceremony reflect the social status of both hosts and guests?

3. Follow the alphabetical link at this site to locate biographical information on Marcel Mauss. Why was his 1925 book, translated from the French as The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies, so influential in economic anthropology?

4. In his classic work on the Mbuti pygmies of the Ituri rainforest, how did anthropologist Colin Turnbull describe the economic relationship between the forest pygmies and the Lese farmers? How do the farmers and hunter-gatherers of the Ituri rainforest sustain their families today? What economic and political pressures and challenges do they face?

5. Find out more about the kula ring of the Trobriand Islanders at this site. What types of goods were exchanged in the kula ring, and how could you map the flow of these goods? How is the kula ring an example of balanced reciprocity?

6. Perform a content analysis of a bibliography on the Agta Negritos of Eastern Luzon in the Philippines. How have cultural anthropologists and anthropological linguists contributed to knowledge about the Agta? What topics relating to the Agta economy can you find?

7. Find out more about the potlatch as it is practiced today in the Pacific Northwest among the Kwakwaka'wakw people, and read accounts of potlatches of the past. Who are the Cedar People? What are coppers? How was the authenticity and value of a copper determined? How are coppers like and unlike money? What was the traditional meaning of the potlatch? What is the functionalist explanation of the potlatch in relation to the concepts of production and consumption? According to this Native American web site, how do potlatches today differ from those of the past?

8. Follow the alphabetical link at this site to locate biographical information on Marshall Sahlins. What were his specific contributions to the field of economic anthropology? What were his chief conclusions in his 1972 book, Stone Age Economics?

9. View the homepage of the Qashqai, pastoral nomads of the Zagros Mountains in Iran, and read about other ethnic groups described at Iran Online. How is the local economy different from the national and international economies of Iran? How is local government different from national government? In terms of political economy, why might groups in power regard nationalism as desirable in a traditional multiethnic nation such as Iran?

10. Read about Mongolia and the economic challenges its people face today. What are those challenges? What economic and political roles and statuses do you think Mongolia's pastoral nomads will occupy in the future? View photographs of pastoral nomads of Mongolia and other nomadic groups, such as the Turkana of Kenya. How do the Turkana make their living compared to the Mongols? How are both groups challenged to adapt to economic development and political changes in their respective countries?

11. View this site on the Maasai of Kenya. How does the changing economy of the Maasai compare to that of other tribal people with pastoralist and transitional economies? What role does the tourist industry play in these changes?

12. Survey sites for members of the Navajo Nation and read news stories relating to the local economy, informal economic cooperation, and employment. What generalizations can you make about economic issues and trends in life among the Navajo people today?

13. Read about the indigenous peoples of Mexico and about the Zapotecs of Oaxaca and their subsistence agriculture. How do modern food production and the market economy affect traditional Zapotec farming practices and market activities? How do changes in the economy affect Zapotec society and culture?

14. Read about the economic roles and statuses of Malay women at these sites. What is the traditional division of labor by gender in Malaysia? How has the spread of Islam in Malaysia affected women's economic rights? How has modernization changed the economy in ways that affect women's wealth, power, and prestige?

15. Explore links at this site for the Amish people of the Pennsylvania Dutch country, and view some of the many catalogues of Amish arts and crafts and goods for sale via the Internet. How would you describe the traditional economy of the Amish people? How has their economy changed in relation to that of the broader culture of which the Amish are a part?

16. According to the Erik Pugh article on credit cards, what are the chief causes and consequences of student debt? How does credit card debt relate to the anthropology of conspicuous consumption? Do you think student spending limits should be regulated? Why or why not?

17. At this site follow links to see samples of raffia cloth and kente cloth produced by peoples of Central Africa (Kuba) and Ghana respectively. How are these textiles made? According to your text, what is the traditional economic significance of cloth in these African cultures?

18. Trace the earliest history of coinage at this university site. What did early coins look like? In what contexts did the use of coins and other objects of permanent wealth arise? What noneconomic functions did coins also serve? How did the uses of coins change?

19. How might an anthropologist analyze the information about electronic money at the National Consumer Information Center? In what sense is electronic money an example of "multipurpose money" as a medium of exchange? How did virtual money come to exist, and what impact will it have on life in the 3^rd millennium?

20. Survey information from the home page of the Society for Economic Anthropology. How does this organization define itself? What do they identify as the three key issues in the field of economic anthropology today?

Politics and Law

1. Learn more about the philosopher Hegel, and read a challenging essay that expresses a Hegelian view on the creation of a civil society. What kind of postmodern U.S. civic culture does the author of the essay envision as representing a Hegelian ideal? Do you agree with that vision? Why or why not?

2. Survey this information site for details on Kuwait's political system and present-day government at a glance. Who can and cannot vote in Kuwait? Who are the bidoons? What percentage of the people living in Kuwait are not citizens? How do non-citizens contribute to the benefits of citizenship?

3. Survey the home page of the Indian Defense League of America and follow the links. In 1926, why did Tuscarora Chief Clinton Rickard found the League? View historic images and read interviews of Tuscarora chiefs in the 1880s. How does Luther Jack describe the political structure of the Tuscarora Nation and the Iroquois Confederacy? How did Luther Jack get to be a chief? Why did Luther Jack's interviewers find his story difficult to grasp? How was the Iroquois Confederacy formed? View the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs maps of New York showing the locations of members of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

4. Take a comprehensive online anthropology tutorial on Society, Culture, and Social and Political Leadership. Follow links to images and text on the characteristics of chiefdoms, the bigman as leader, and a host of other topics in political anthropology. For example, what kinds of decision making and leadership are characteristic of the different levels of social organization?

5. Read about Timuca chiefdoms at the time of European contact with Timuca Indians in present-day Florida. Click on "Political and Social Organization." How were chiefdoms organized in terms of Timuca kinship? How did chiefs fulfill their role of uniting villages across kinship lines?

6. What roles do images and symbols of power and identity play in political systems? View chiefly artifacts of the Kayapo. How did feathers figure in politics? At the National Museum of African Art online, use country links to view exhibits of symbols of power in Cameroon and in other African nations. Then visit the Akan Cultural Symbols Project. Click on the linked terms in picture captions to learn the meaning of symbols. What were some traditional symbols of political power of Ghanaian chiefdoms? In Akan belief, where does legitimate power come from?

7. Follow links at the web page of the Grand Council of the Crees to learn about their organization and goals. How does the Council function as a political organization? What is the role of elders in traditional Cree society and today? Read the history of the Cree at this site. What kind of political organization did Cree society have? Did the Cree join a confederacy like the Iroquois Confederacy in response to the pressures of contact with white settlers? Why or why not?

8. Read a paper from the Third (1995) Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern Studies by Eva Evers Rosander on networking and leadership among women in Morocco and Senegal. What does Rosander mean by "female linkage" and how does it relate to leadership?

9. Visit the home page of the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology (APLA), and also see the presentation of the APLA on the web site of the American Anthropological Association. What are the current special concerns of this subdiscipline of anthropology? What do legal anthropologists do?

10. Go to the home page of the Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG) for the Anthropology of Politics, Law, Ritual. Click on Books Online and read papers and articles on diverse topics relating to political anthropology. For example, what is the history of the ethnographic study of politics and law? Read about women's organizing abilities in Kenya and Malawi, about warfare and state formation among the Zulu, about traditional rulers of the Igbo and Buganda, and about kingship in Namibia. For instance, what is ethnopolitics? What are some features of Sami ethnopolitics?

11. Survey links at the site of the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) and the World Wide Legal Information Center. What resources might you use as a cultural anthropologist for a cross-cultural study on social deviance and crime?

12. Political analysts point out that dynastic values, incumbency, comparative wealth, and political partisanship all act against open elections in democracies. How open are electoral politics in the U.S.? What's in a name? How does campaign cash figure in? How can elections become more open in democracies? What does Ohio Citizen Action do to provide for more open state elections?

13. Examine the Ukraine's strategy for achieving more democratic elections. Visit the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) and see how in 1998 the Ukraine changed its single-member voting districts (oblasts) to better reflect the diversity of its population. How did the changes combine majority rule with proportional representation? How did the new system work in Ukraine's 1999 elections?

14. Visit the English language version of New Wind Online, a law enforcement site of the Ukraine. What is the purpose of the Ukraine Law Enforcement organization that operates this site? What is meant by a "new wind"? What is meant by "open police services"? What effect do you think organizations like New Wind Online could have on international law enforcement?

15. Read this article, "Punishment vs. Healing: How Does Traditional Indian Law Work?" How does traditional Indian law reflect a model of restitutional or restorative justice? In what ways do Native Americans treat criminal justice as a form of community healing?

16. Learn about ancient Anglo-Saxon law, including the practice of suing and trial by ordeal. How do systems of law serve to maintain social order and mediate social conflicts? Contrast Anglo Saxon law with trial by ordeal in ancient Vietnam.

17. Change in political systems is a challenging topic. Are there patterns in the rise and fall or transformation of the different types of political organization? Consider the emerging statehood of Swaziland in southern Africa, for example. How does this 1998 editorial in The Swazi Observer point out a difficulty in the transition from chiefdoms to states? Then read an abstract and summary of a work that applies world systems theory to chiefdoms: the Rise and Fall of Complex Chiefdoms in North America. What is world systems theory, and what are its strengths and weaknesses as an explanation of political change?

18. Based on your exploration of these news and interest group web sites on sex offender registries, develop a plan for an anthropological analysis of the social and cultural contexts of Meghan's Law.

Conflict and Order

1. Survey links at the Journal of Material Culture and the Journal of Political Ecology. How do topics in these journals relate to social norms and questions of social order and social conflict?

2. Compare and contrast social conflict between separatists and the countries that claim their territories. For example, what common goals and problems of order and conflict do you see among the Eritreans and the Kurds? As a cultural anthropologist, how might you go about comparing these societies in terms of their responses to external rule and nontraditional systems of legal justice and social control?

3. The Ogaden is a region between the Ethiopian mountains and Somali rangeland. Why do Somalis claim this land and reject Ethiopian claims to it? Read an article on Anti-Colonialism and Class Formation in the Eastern Horn of Africa before 1950 from the International Journal of African History Studies. Why are imperialism and nationalism viewed as irreconcilable in the development of these countries?

4. Read about efforts to democratize Burma (Myanmar) in contrast to the official government's totalitarian stance on the "Development of Border Areas and National Races," explained in a mission statement to the UN and other international organizations. What do Burmese rebels want? What does the official government have in store for them? How and when do you think this conflict might be resolved?

5. Read about the two sides in a 1997 dispute between the Kayapo Indians and The Body Shop, a British cosmetics firm. What do the Kayapo do for the firm? What do they get in return? What has caused conflict? What do you think will happen? How do you think the conflict should be resolved? As an applied political anthropologist how might you help in this conflict resolution?

6. Survey the Peace and Conflict Archives. What resources are available there? What tools for conflict resolution can you find at this site? What opportunities are described for service learning programs in peace studies worldwide?

7. Visit the ACT UP site on civil disobedience. What forms can civil disobedience take, and what can civil disobedience accomplish? How can social change be brought about through nonviolence?

8. Read about and view the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi at this comprehensive site. Then study an explanation of how Gandhi developed his philosophy of nonviolent social change. What is satyagraha? What is swaraj? How were these concepts a part of Gandhi's philosophy? What were some immediate and long-term consequences of his example to the world?

9. The 40th anniversary of the Chinese takeover of Tibet was in 1999. Read a report by the Tibetan government in exile in India outlining ways in which the Chinese have sought to eradicate Tibetan society and culture. For example, in Chapter 5 of the report, what are regarded as human rights violations concerning the content of education in Chinese-occupied Tibet? Then read the official white paper of the People's Republic of China (PRC) outlining its ownership of Tibet. On what grounds does the PRC claim this ownership? Could China claim to own Taiwan on the same grounds?

10. Trace Internet debate over geopolitics in the East China Sea. Read a Chinese statement defending China's claim of ownership of the Diaoyu Islands and calling for more demonstrations. Compare this to the Japanese Communist Party's statement defending Japan's claim of ownership of the Diaoyu Islands, which the Japanese call the Senkaku Islands. How do these sources come to different conclusions? Now read Daniel Dzurek's objective summary of the dispute, which includes Hong Kong's and Taiwan's claims to these pieces of real estate. Who do you think should own the islands and why? What role do you think the Internet increasingly will play in maintaining--and changing--the world order?

11. Read "The Obscure History of East Timor." Why is Timor's history obscure? Obscure to whom? What are the roots of Indonesian resistance to Timor's independence? How was the genocide in Timor like and unlike other genocides in recent history, such as occurred in Kosovo, Rwanda, and Cambodia?

12. Sample the photo gallery and Real Audio voices at a site featuring testimonials from Kosovo refugees. Then read words from a Bosnian survivor of the fall of Srebrenica and an eyewitness report on the Tuzla Massacre. How are these experiences conducive to post-traumatic stress disorder? Survey the sites of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Sample abstracts of research papers in the PTSD database. What is the range of sources of traumatic stress? What are some mental health consequences of exposure to traumatic events? According to professionals, what are some healing effects of bearing witness and testifying?

13. Read this study of the Mothers of the Disappeared in Argentina, also known as the "madwomen memory mothers of the Plaza de Mayo." According to M. Susana Kaiser, what communication techniques have provided strong solidarity to this group? Then read about the Struggle of Mothers against Darkness in Turkey. How have the Turkish mothers of the disappeared modeled themselves after their Argentinean counterparts?

14. Trace the controversial case of Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a Mayan woman who was awarded the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for breaking silence about the oppression of Maya Indians in Guatemala. Read excerpts from her autobiography. Then read about anthropologist David Stoll's allegations of inaccuracies in her book and her response to those allegations. Do you think her leadership and cause were diminished by this controversy? Why or why not?

15. Read Phulan (Phoolan) Devi's biography and about her fight for women's rights in rural India. Then follow links at this site for a chronology of news relating to her life from 1994 to the present, including interviews. Why do you think she decided to join mainstream politics? Phoolan Devi is lionized in Asian art. Find a photo of Devi in an article on how she tried to get this movie banned. Why do you think she wanted it banned? What do you think of the portrait of Devi painted on a ricksha (bicycle taxi) by a Bangladeshi artist? What is the role of individuals in conflict and order?