Collapse—ANT 292 001

Dr. Nora Reber TR 12:30-1:45

SBS 205 Fall 2007

X-7734 SBS 202

Office Hours: TR 2-3 PM, W 10-12 AM And by appointment

http://www.uncwil.edu/people/rebere rebere@uncwil.edu

Course Description: The course is a sampler of political and systemic collapses over the course of world history. We will attempt over the course of the semester to compare various theories of collapse, the case studies of Easter Island, Mesopotamia, the Mayan region, and Rome. This comparison will allow us to evaluate various theories explaining all these collapses, and to trace how explanations of collapse tend to follow the political trends and imperatives of the people studying the collapses.

Evaluation: Grading in this class will depend on in-class and take-home assignments (25%), three unit exams (40%), term paper (25%), and class participation (10%).

Attendance: In general, you should give Dr. Reber a valid or creative excuse before an absence. I do not take attendance, but more than 3 absences will be noted and will start chipping away at your class participation grade. Also, any assignments turned in late without prior notification or an extraordinarily good excuse will be counted as unexcused late assignments, and 50% of the grade will be docked. Papers turned in late without prior notification will lose 10% of their grade per day until you tell me your excellent reasons for the problem—the clock may stop then, under special circumstances.

Makeup Work: Assignments not turned in on time due to an excused absence may be turned in for full credit for up to two weeks after the original absence. After that, 10% of the points are deducted per week. Assignments not turned in one time due to an unexcused absence may be turned in for half credit up to two weeks after the original absence, and after that 10% of the points are deducted per week. An excused late assignment turned in four weeks late is worth 80% of the original point total. An unexcused late assignment turned in four weeks late is worth 30% of the original point total. This sounds complicated, but it basically means that you should MAKE UP ALL WORK WITHIN 2 WEEKS! Excused long absences due to illness, family problems or other disasters should be negotiated with Dr. Reber—she should be notified by e-mail as soon as you know you have a serious problem.

Papers turned in late will lose 10% of their grade for every two weekdays, and 10% per weekend until they are turned in. A paper turned in one day late, even if it is a perfect score, will only get 90%.

Written Assignments: A term paper has been assigned on a collapse-based topic of your choice. It should be 15-20 pages, should have at least 8 sources, of which at least 50% should be from books or peer-reviewed journals, and at least one from the last 10 years. Topics should be chosen in consultation with me by October 4, and the paper is due on November 13, though early papers are deeply appreciated.

Citatation style in all papers, long and short, should be MLA, American Antiquity, or Current Anthropology format (these last formats are typical of anthropologists). Both types of paper should be typed, double-spaced, in 10-12 point font and with 1-inch margins.

Even if you have an excellent reason for an extension, a paper will be considered late until you negotiate it with me. For example, a week before the paper is due, you suffer an attack of acute appendicitis. Although you are conscious and rational before the due date, you do not e-mail or phone my office at the numbers given on this syllabus in order to tell me about the problem until 2 weeks after your initial illness. When you finally do so, a week after the due date, the extension will be approved, but the paper will lose 60% for the 7 late days prior to my notification of the problem. In cases of extreme emergency, have a friend, family member or the Dean notify me of the problem, and that will take care of it. If you’re in that bad a situation, you should notify the Dean of Students anyway, as it’s part of their job to help take care of this sort of thing.

One-page written assignments will be given as in-class exercises or as homework throughout the semester.

Exams: Three unit exams are given in this class, which together make up 40% of the grade. The first exam will be September 25, the second will be November 1, and the third will be on December 4. There will be review sheets for each exam, and a brief review session in the class period prior to each exam. Exams will be in essay or short-answer format, and questions will be asked involving information from prior exam units. Also, do not attempt to take the final at any time other than that assigned unless you have a very good reason.

Reading Assignments: The textbook for this class is Collapse by Jared Diamond. Readings from this book, as well as others, will be given throughout the semester. There are actually relatively few modern books on collapse, and there are a lot of electronic readings in this course—it might be easier if you set up a printing/paper budget at the beginning of the semester. On the bright side, quite a few of the readings have been chosen based on readability and durability, meaning they’re classics that are free on the web and available at every public library.

Web Page: The class web page is linked to Dr. Reber’s personal web page, http://www.uncw.edu/people/rebere. The syllabus, course assignments, related links, and text of assignments will be posted on this site, as well as a brief schedule of readings and class topics coming up. All readings will be linked to the web page. Occasional web bonus points will be posted on the web page that will not be mentioned in class. The web page is always the most up-to-date and accurate reference for the class, and is definitely more accurate than Dr. Reber on things like dates and class schedules. Everything is posted here so that she doesn’t have to remember it.

Odds, Ends, and Pet Peeves: Please turn off your cell phones!

Point totals will be handed back to students twice during the semester—when the first and second exams are passed back. Anyone wanting point totals at any other times should ask Dr. Reber. Grades and point totals may be sent via e-mail if you give permission. Please keep in mind that basic mathematics applies to the grades—even if you turn in late assignments for 50%, you will need a B in other categories to get a C in the class. Since 10 bonus points are offered per semester, point grubbing is, well, pointless and will be ignored.

Plagiarism is defined as using someone else’s work without citing it, and can be divided into direct copying, mosaic copying, and insufficient attribution. It hurts three groups of people: the person plagiarized, as their work has been stolen; classmates, since it unfairly sets the curve and unrealistically raises the performance bar; and the plagiarist, since you can’t get a decent education stealing other people’s work. It is grounds for a minimum penalty of a complete rewrite of the paper for 50% of the grade and a long discussion with Dr. Reber about exactly why it is a bad idea. The potential maximum penalties are decided by the Judicial Board or Dean of Students. Don’t do it!! This is the sort of thing that Tacitus and Gibbon believed led to cultures collapsing!