ANTHROPOLOGY 385: WI/“PREHISTORY” OF

HAWAI`I AND THE PACIFIC

 

FALL SEMESTER 2007

 

T/TH 8:00-9:15AM; Room 109 EKH; 3 semester hours

                                                           

INSTRUCTOR: Peter Mills, 264 EKH; Email: millspAThawaii.edu

            Phone 974-7465; Office Hours: T/TH 12:30-1:30, W-9-12, or by appointment.

            http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~anthro/mills.htm

           

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course will review pre-Western cultural developments in the Pacific, with a special emphasis on archaeological approaches to understanding the past.  Classes will be a mixture of lecture and formal group discussions.  Good grades will require timely completion of outside readings, attendance and participation.  Because few people in the class will be familiar with this research, it will in some ways feel like learning a new language, with a lot of unfamiliar names and places to remember.  While learning the names of important places and people is important, the ultimate goal is to allow you to understand the theoretical concepts and cultural histories that have been developed through the practice of archaeology in the Pacific, so that you can make informed judgments on the usefulness (or lack thereof) of archaeology in our modern world for various purposes (cultural survival, revitalization, and general understandings of human history).  

 

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:

Cordy, Ross

            2000 Exalted Sits the Chief. Honolulu: Mayfield Publishing.

Kirch, Patrick V.

            2000 On the Road of the Winds.  Berkeley: University of California Press.

 

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Grading will be determined based upon the following:

            Participation and Attendance                                    10%

Just showing up gets you 5% of your grade.  Missing more than 3 classes will reduce the best possible grade for you in the class to an A-.  Missing 6 or more classes will result in you losing all of your attendance/participation points.  Besides the frequent quizzes discussed below, there is no way that you will be able to miss class sessions and do well in this course.  Everyone should read the assignments on time, and come to class prepared to talk about them.  I encourage you to ask questions and participate in group discussions.  If asking questions in a large group makes you too uncomfortable, please use my office hours to discuss readings with me.  I recognize that there are different cultural traditions pertaining to learning and student-teacher relationships, but in my classes, I encourage and promote learning through an interactive process.  As an anthropologist, I will always be a student of other cultures, and I believe that we can all learn the most by listening to the wealth of knowledge and opinions that we collectively possess.  I would like to participate in group discussions rather than dominate them.  I expect the same of each and every one of you. Non-participation is bad; participation in good; domination is bad.

 

            Quizzes                                                          35%

Quizzes will be given at the beginning of every other Thursday class beginning during the second week of class, and ending one week before the end of classes.  If you miss the quiz for any reason, no matter how noble, THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UPS.  Your best 6 scores out of 7 will be used to calculate this portion of your grade.  If you 1) lack the motivation to consistently read textbook chapters and articles before class or 2) know that you have other responsibilities that will not allow you to attend classes regularly, then get out now while you have the chance to save yourself from certain doom!  This class is usually overfilled with others waiting to get in, and I expect that those who stay enrolled should understand that everyone should be present and prepared to take quizzes and discuss readings, or suffer the consequences.

 

            Annotated Bibliography                                 20%

There will be one major project for this writing intensive course, which is completing an annotated bibliography on a topic of your choice relating to Pacific prehistory.  I will provide workshops during class on preparation of the bibliographies.  You should read articles or books on a defined Pacific Island culture topic of interest to you, and provide a summaries and critiques of each reading, much like movie critics do for movies.  Each annotation should be about 1 double-spaced page long.  What was the article about? What did you like about it or not like about it? Are the authors’ conclusions based upon good research, or do you find problems with the scholarship? A draft of the first 10 annotations is due Thursday, November 15.  The final draft, due at the end of regular classes (Dec. 6), should include annotations derived from 15 scholarly articles, books, and reports.

 

            Final                                                                35%

The final is cumulative, and will be a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and one essay.  You will be responsible for ALL reading assignments in the syllabus and discussed in class.

 

 

STUDENTS WITH DOCUMENTED DISABILITIES:

Any student with a documented disability who would like to request accommodations should contact the University Disability Services Office - Hale Kauanoe A Wing Lounge, 933-0816 (V), 933-3334 (TTY), shirachi@hawaii.edu - as early in the semester as possible.

 

 

            PLANNED COURSE SCHEDULE

 

            INTRODUCTION

T. August 21- Introduction to the Course– Geography Quiz Handout, and discussion of Annotated Bibliography Assignment

TH. August 23-  Pacific Geography

                                    THE INITIAL SETTLEMENT OF OCEANIA

WEEK 2 READINGS: Kirch’s Introduction & Chapter 1; and Cordy’s Chapter 3

T. August 28- Oral History, Ethnohistory, and Archaeology–considering biases, ethics, and politics –Images of Oceania

TH. August 30- Quiz on Geography and Kirch Chapter 1-

Discussion of the development of Archaeology in Oceania

 

WEEK 3 READINGS: Kirch Chapter 2

T. Sept. 4- Lecture Topic: Human impacts on island worlds

TH. Sept. 6- Discussion Debate Topic “Le homme naturel” and Malama ka `aina

 

WEEK 4 READINGS: Kirch Chapter 3

T. Sept. 11- Reading Quiz; Lecture Topic: Pleistocene settlement of Near Oceania

TH. Sept. 13- Quiz on Chapters 2 and 3 in Kirch;

1st Bibliography Workshop

 

WEEK 5 READINGS: Kirch Chapter 4

T. Sept. 18- Lecture Topic: Lapita Cultural Expansion

TH. Sept. 20- Problems with finding the early Lapita Sites (annotated bibliography topics due via email: millspAThawaii.edu)

 

WEEK 6 READINGS: Kirch Chapter 5

T. Sept. 25- Lecture Topic: Issues in “New” Melanesia

TH. Sept. 27-  Quiz on Chapters 4 and 5 in Kirch:

Discussion Topic: Race, Language, Culture and “Ethnogenesis”

 

WEEK 7 READINGS: Kirch Chapter 6

T. Oct. 2- Lecture Topic: Micronesian Archaeology

TH. Oct. 4- Lecture Topic:  Cultural Ecology and Social Complexity

 

 

POLYNESIAN ARCHAEOLOGY FROM A BIG ISLAND PERSPECTIVE

WEEK 8 READINGS: Kirch Chapter 7 and Cordy Chapter 4

T. Oct. 9- Lecture Topic: The underlying issues of Discovery, Colonization, and Settlement in Polynesian Islands

TH. Oct. 11- Quiz on Chapters 6 and 7 in Kirch, and Cordy Chapter 4

Lecture: Radiocarbon “Hygiene”

 

 

WEEK 9 READINGS: Kirch Chapter 8; Cordy Prologue and Chapter 1

T. Oct. 16-- The development of Polynesian Chiefdoms

TH. Oct. 18–2nd Bibliography Workshop

 

WEEK 10 READINGS: Cordy Chapter 2

T. Oct. 23– Lecture topic: EDXRF and ahupua`a self-sufficiency in Hawaii

TH. Oct. 25—Quiz on Kirch Chapter 8, Cordy Chapters 1 and 2

                        -- Lecture topic: Kamehameha Days in Historical Perspective

 

WEEK 11 READINGS: Cordy Chapters 5 and 6

T. Oct. 30--  Leeward Expansion and Epic Expansion

TH. Nov. 1–Discussion of Pa`ao and Pili Traditions

 

WEEK 12 READINGS: Cordy Chapter 7

T. Nov. 6-- Lecture/Discussion: Waip`o Folks

TH. Nov. 8– Quiz on Chapters 5, 6 and 7 in Cordy

Lecture: Laupahoehoe Nui

 

WEEK 13 READINGS: Cordy Chapter 8

T. Nov. 13-- Lecture: Kona as seen through the Old Government Beach Road

TH. Nov. 15– Lecture: Manini`owali, Kona

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DRAFTS DUE (10 annotations out of 15)

 

WEEK 14 READINGS: Cordy Chapter 9

T. Nov. 20-- Lecture: From Keawe to Kalaniopu`u

TH. Nov. 22-- THANKSGIVING

 

WEEK 15 READINGS: Cordy Chapter 10

T. Nov. 27—Lecture: Warfare in the late 1700s

TH Nov. 29--- Quiz on Chapters 8 and 9 in Cordy

Discussion: causes and consequences of segmenting ahupua`a

 

WEEK 16 (No new readings)

T. Dec. 4-- Big Themes in Oceanic Prehistory and the role of archaeology in modern Hawaiian culture (discussion–read Cordy Chapter 11, and Kirch Chapter 9 before the Thursday class) Course Evaluations

TH. Dec. 6– Final review day. FINAL ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES DUE

 

 

FINAL EXAM Thursday Dec. 13, 7:30AM-9:30AM

NOTE: This is the LAST DAY of Finals.  I will not reschedule individual exams so that someone can leave for winter break a day earlier.  It is a busy time of year for everyone, and accept the responsibility that if you choose to take this class, that you can be here for the scheduled Final exam.