Change in the Pacific

Anth 357

Fall 1996

OBJECTIVES:
1. To become familiar with contemporary lifestyles and
aspirations in the Pacific Island states and territories.
2. To understand some of the cultural & social changes and
related economic and political issues.
3 To recognize the geopolitical context of great power interests,
and the role of regionalism and political movements in countering
that power.
4. to know current information sources.
5. to gain some sense of the creative and adaptive responses to
perceived problems and of the sophistication of islanders as
politicians and observers of their own conditions and status.

COMMENT: This course does not require a specific background in
anthropology because it focuses on contemporary issues and
problems from a multidisciplinary area perspective. It does
require that you understand the island states and cultures in
their current geopolitical context and that you consider two
perspectives: That of the outsiders and that of the insiders, the
islanders themselves.

PAPERS AND EXAMS: Paper topics are flexible but must go beyond
Hawaii and are negotiated in the conference(s). I will edit
drafts and help you with sources. Exams include maps,
definitions, & short essays and are weighted 60% lecture and
40% reading so attendance is important to grasp concepts and
details.

Think exercise or Resource question -- 10% of total grade DO ONE OR THE OTHER!

You may do both, using one for extra credit if you wish butBE SURE TO STATE CLEARLY WHICH IS FOR THE 10% AND WHICH ONE
YOU WANT USED TO ADD A FEW POINTS TO YOUR PERSONAL EVALUATION!

Think Question -- to get you to think and write creatively
about a contemporary issue while noting insider and outsider
perspectives.

Imagine yourself as a trained and concerned citizen who wants
to help find a solution to a contemporary Pacific Islands issue.
Choose a contemporary social, political, economic, cultural,
environmental or health issue that is faced and talked about by
Pacific islanders today. Possible examples include or would be
similar to: Nuclear testing, suicide, diseases of modernization,
crime, domestic violence, urban poverty and malnutrition, out
migration, dependent grants economies, deforestation, alcohol
abuse, govt. corruption, rascal gangs etc. Section III in
Lockwood may give you some ideas but you should find and cite at
least one other source from the periodical literature of the
Pacific.

Summarize the issue for some place in the Pacific and note
whether it's urban, rural or both. Is there a regional
organization to deal with it? Note why people may be concerned
about the issue and suggest ways you could learn about how the
people feel about the issue by talking to them. If appropriate or
possible, and it may well not be, suggest a general type of
solution to the issue. Identify your ethnicity and clarify
whether you are a Pacific Islander or not. Note how your cultural
values may influence your views on this issue and the types of
solutions you might propose and work to implement. Do you think
your views of the issue and its seriousness are likely to be
influenced by whether you are an outsider or insider? Why? Why
not? How? How not?