I have been a teaching assistant for the
Anthropology 45 course
(Introduction to Cultural Anthropology) three times, and have been the
summer instructor for it three times as well.
This portfolio showcases the use of technology the most recent time I
taught the course. It is divided into two sections: the use of technologyin the classroom,
and the use of technology by students
outside of class.
Powerpoints can make lectures more
interesting and visually appealing to students. To accomplish this,
text must be kept at a minimum, and accompanying visuals must be
relevant to the topic at hand. The following samples exemplify
the presentations I use in class.
Below is one of the multiple
powerpoint presentations I used as an aid to lectures. This one is
lecture #2, on the topic of culture.
Throughout my lectures, I embedded
internet files in my presentations. These files help break the
monotony of the lecture and often serve as an interactive portion of
the class. They also provide students with accessible internet links
they can revisit and explore, and they teach about
anthropology-related sites on the web.
(click on the image to visit the webpage)
The image on the left is
the American Anthropological Association logo.
During my first lecture, where I teach students what anthropology
is, I show them the webpage that lists "sections and interest groups" that
the association has. This illustrates the diversity of research
and theoretical interests that anthropologists hold. It also
introduces them to the AAA website which is replete with resources
about the field. Click on the image to visit the webpage.
Similarly, when teaching
about language and communication I showed students a website about
endangered languages. I have embedded it on the right, feel free
to scroll down and see a list of near extinct languages around the
world.
I played the video on
the right during the lecture on race
and ethnicity. It portrays the recreation of a 1940's experiment
by a high school senior, asking African-American children about
their views on different dolls. Press "play" to watch the video
(it is 7 minutes long).
3. Embedded files to relate topics
with sources familiar to students
I also relied on internet sites students
are familiar with to illustrate topics covered in class. A main goal
of this is to challenge students to view information they access
daily through an anthropological lens.
This is a Barbie doll
commercial available on YouTube. During the lecture on sex and
gender, I had students analyze a series of American children's'
commercials to detect how they socialize kids into their gender
roles. Students noted, among other things, that commercials for
girls featured pastel colors, girls voices, indoor playing, and cooperation activities, while commercials
aimed at boys featured dark colors, deep male voices, outdoor
playing, and competition activities. Press play to view the
commercial.
This other screenshot
was taken from the hugely popular social networking site Facebook.
It includes among its applications fun "quizzes". I used this quiz
on "Which American accent do you have" during the lecture on
language and communication. It helped illustrate not just the
diversity of accents in the U.S., but also the stereotypes we have
about them, and how mainstream our ideas about language can be.
Click on the image to take the quiz (Facebook version unavailable
to non-members).
(Click on image to take quiz)
4. Use technology to link students'
culture to others learned about in class
One of my main goals in teaching
anthropology is to demonstrate to students how other cultural
practices are related to their own. This is central in making foreign
cultural practices and beliefs more familiar, and in stepping out of
their own culture and looking at it critically. When teaching about
political organization, I explained about informal social control.
These are mechanisms that every culture has that ensure people are
kept in their place, so to speak, and to solve conflicts. I gave
students the example of the Inuit (Eskimo) song duel, a singing
competition where the perpetrator of a bad behavior faces off with the
victim and attempts to mock them. The community watching selects the
winner. After showing them a video of a song duel and allowing
students to comment on this practice, I ask them if anything similar
happens in their culture. Many guessed it: African-American rap
battles. Unfortunately, the VHS video cannot be included here. But if
you press "play" on the player on the left you can listen to an Inuit
song duel. Then, play the video on the right for the African-American
version!
5. Replace a lecture with a movie
Sometimes, a film can give students information on
a topic in a more entertaining manner than a lecture can. I played
the movie at the right when teaching about the modern world
economic system. Students then asked what they can do to help
change the negative consequences of global trade, and I was
prepared with plenty of internet resources!
Press play on the Quicktime
player or click on the link to view the video in its original
website.
Students were encouraged to make use of technology for their
responsibilities outside of the classroom.
1. Angel course management website
Students were required to make use of the
Angel course management website. This was used to access course
material, to communicate with me, view their grades, and to provide feedback for the
course.
To the left are
some of the folders contained in my Angel Anth45 website. They include copies of all my powerpoint lecture presentations (in pdf format, so students can't
alter the content!), readings required for lecture and debate
sections (where controversial topics in anthropology are
discussed), a dropbox for worksheets they must complete during
field activities, and a folder with additional information (often
internet links) students interested in specific topics might want
to access. Click on the syllabus to view
it. The other folders are inactivated.
During lectures, I alert
students to the topics about which additional information is
posted on Angel. During the lecture on kinship and descent I used
the Pacific Northwest totem poles to illustrate the concept of
clans. Similarly, to illustrate the concept of a lineage, I showed
an image of the Hashemite family tree that shows how King Abdullah
II of Jordan descended directly from the prophet Mohammed.
Or scroll down to view
the Hashemite Family tree, and
click here to visit King
Abdullah II's website.
The additional information on Angel
included a link to an NPR special on totem poles (including
history, image galleries and audio), and a link to the Jordanian
Royal Family website. Click on the image of the totem pole to
visit the NPR website.
2. Use of podcasts as learning
tools
Podcasts are fantastic tools for
obtaining information, particularly when they contain interviews with
or lectures by key members of society, academics, or other scholars.
Occasionally, I
substitute one assigned reading with a podcast. The one presented
here is one of the lectures given in 2007 by economist Jeffrey Sachs for
the BBC's Reith Lectures series. The information offered by him
was analyzed in class using an anthropological lens.
Press play on the RealPlayer
to launch the podcast.
(you may need to update your player)
Students benefit from
learning how to use technology in their own college and professional
careers.
My
students attended a session with the anthropology collection
librarian at Penn State, Nonny Schlotzhauer. They learned how to search for
information using the library online catalog and the Human
Relations Area Files. I assigned a
worksheet for them to complete, related to the topic of kinship.
Scroll down the box on the right to view their assignment.
ANTH45
Summer 2008
Section 101
Name:
_________________________________
Activity #2: Library Session and
Kinship Literature
In the
library activity, you will learn about different resources to find
anthropological literature and data. This worksheet is meant to help you
practice using these resources. Please note: for these questions, you do not
have to read the entire material, only follow the directions specified below.
Part I:
Listed below are several journal article references. Find each article and
answer the question below it.
1.
Napoleon A. Chagnon “Life Histories, Blood Revenge, and Warfare in a Tribal
Population” Science 239, No. 4843 (Feb. 26, 1988), pp. 985-992
- On the
first page of the article, there is a summary of the article (called an
abstract). According to the last sentence in the abstract, among the Yanomamo
people of the Amazon forest, which men have more wives and offspring?
2. Clare
Janaki Holden and Ruth Mace “Spread of cattle led to the loss of matrilineal
descent in Africa: a
coevolutionary analysis” Proceedings:
Biological Sciences, Vol. 270, No. 1532 (Dec. 7, 2003), pp.
2425-2433
- According
to the first sentence in that article, matrilineal descent groups are rare in
what kinds of societies?
3.
Justine McCabe “FBD Marriage: Further Support for the Westermarck Hypothesis of
the Incest Taboo” American
Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 85, No. 1 (Mar., 1983), pp. 50-69
- In class
we learned some theories about the origin of the incest taboo (the rule
prohibiting mating between nuclear family members). I said there were more.
According to the abstract in this article, what does the Westermarck Hypothesis
say about the incest taboo?
- Also, in
the title, what does FBD mean?
Part II:
Two concepts in kinship that we did not learn about in class are moieties
and phratries. Moieties occur when an entire society is divided into only
two descent groups. Usually people from one moiety marry those from the other
one. Phratries are descent groups that contain two or more clans. Find two
journal articles about moieties and phratries (for a total of four). List the
complete reference below. List only anthropological journals.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Part
III: In class we
learned about several customs in marriage around the world. Using the HRAF, list
one culture that practices each of these customs. Caution: sometimes the word
appears linked to a culture, but to say that they do not practice it.
Please list only cultures that do. Also, specify the continent where that
cultural group originates. Use a different group/continent for each one.
Polyandry: a form of
polygamy where a woman is married to two or more husbands.
Group:
Continent:
Polygyny:
a form of polygamy where a man is married to two or more wives.
Group:
Continent:
Levirate:
a type of marriage where a woman marries her deceased husband’s brother.
Group:
Continent:
Sororate:
a type of marriage where a man marries his deceased wife’s sister.
