ANT
310H5 F
-
COMPLEX SOCIETIES
Anthropology,
University of Toronto at Mississauga
Fall 2005
Lecture
& Tutorial: Thursday, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm, Room 201 North
Building
Course
Web Page: http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/~w3hmlmil/310F2005.htm
Course
CCNet page:
http://ccnet.utoronto.ca/20059/ant310h5f/
|
Staff |
Office |
Phone |
Email |
Office
Hours |
|
Heather M-L
Miller
Professor |
Room
208 North
Bldg. |
905-828-3741 |
hmiller "at" utm.utoronto.ca |
Tues
& Thurs 1:30
- 2:30 |
|
Matthew Mosher
Teaching Assistant |
Room
221 North
Bldg. |
none |
matthew.mosher "at" utoronto.ca
|
By appointment
only |
Course
Description
This survey of
ancient
state-level societies will be focused on understanding the processes
involved
in the functioning of states.
While we will
briefly cover
the history and details of many ancient states, the majority of the
class will
be devoted to the comparative analysis of state characteristics. In particular, we will examine theories
that have been used to explain state organization, and how various
political,
social, economic, and religious orientations affected state formation,
cohesion,
maintenance and dissolution.
The goal of the
course is
to achieve an understanding of the wide range of ways that ancient
states
operated, which offers insights into existing and possible
organizational
methods for states today.
As we will be
covering a
great deal of information, students must attend all lectures and
complete all
of the readings. Lectures, films,
tutorials and readings will provide overlapping material, but students
are
responsible for all material covered in any of these formats.
Required
Course
Materials
Available at UTM
Bookstore AND
second-hand (see bulletin board next to Room 208 North):
(1) Scarre,
Christopher and
Brian M. Fagan
2003. Ancient Civilizations.
Second Edition.
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey. ISBN: 0-13-048484-9, paperback.
(2) Feinman,
Gary M. and
Joyce Marcus (editors)
1998. Archaic States.
Advanced Seminar Series. School of
American Research, Santa Fe,
New Mexico. ISBN:
0-933452-99-3, paperback.
Evaluation
The marked work
for this
course will consist of weekly quizzes on the readings, two tests, and
an essay
or short paper (5-6 typed pages). The essay will be composed of
three
stages of marked work.
QUIZZES
The quizzes on
the readings
will be worth a total of 10% of the course grade.
These quizzes
will be
composed of 4-5 true/false questions designed to reward those who do
the
readings assigned for each class period.
Therefore, they will test major points covered in the assigned
reading
(such as the information in the introductions, headings and
conclusion), not
minor details. They will be given
at the beginning of every class.
If you are late to class, you may not take the quiz. There
will be no
make-ups
for these quizzes, under any circumstances. I will drop the two lowest quiz marks for
every student, so
missing a class due to illness, etc., will not affect your overall mark
on the
quizzes.
MULTIPLE
CHOICE and
SHORT ESSAY TESTS
The two tests
will be worth
24% each, for a total of 48%.
The tests are
not
cumulative -- the second test covers only the material after the
previous test.
The multiple
choice section
will focus on information about specific states/civilizations presented
in the
readings, especially (but not exclusively) information from Scarre
& Fagan.
In the essay
section of
each test, students must answer two short essays (from a choice of 3). The essays will focus on concepts and
theories rather than the prehistory of specific states (similar to the
questions
asked on the final exam in previous years). Your
answers should include material from all of the
assigned readings as well as all information presented in class
sessions,
especially (but not exclusively) information from the readings in
Feinman &
Marcus.
***MISSED
TESTS***
Avoid missing
the tests.
A valid doctor's excuse or similar university-approved excuse
will be
required to take the make-up. ONE
makeup will be given for each test, the week after the regular test.
All
makeup tests will be essay format only, with no multiple choice section.
The three
assignments
related to your essay will be worth a total of 42%.
All assignments
are due at
the beginning of class on the dates specified (see below for more).
You are
strongly
encouraged to have your choice of outside article approved by Dr.
Miller BEFORE
the Thesis & Outline is due.
The three
assignments are:
(1) a
Thesis & Outline, detailing your topic and showing the structure of
your
essay in outline format - 5%
(2) a
Critique Exercise to be conducted in tutorial on the final draft of
another
student’Äôs essay (you will not be allowed to participate if you do not
submit
your own final draft) - 12%
(3) a
final 5-6 page Essay, well researched and well written - 25%
****More information
on the
assignments is available on the Essay Instructions handout.****
Regulations
for Essay
Assignments
(1) Late
assignments
will lose 2 marks per calendar day, including weekends. 1 mark
will be
deducted for
assignments turned in after the first hour of class on the date due, even if the
assignment is
turned in on the due date. It is your
responsibility to turn in late
assignments to me in my office, at my convenience. On
Mondays and
most Fridays, I am only available at St. George.
(2) When you
hand in
your essay assignments, you must sign the submission form. This form will
be
available on the due date during class, or by special arrangement in
advance
with the instructor. DO NOT submit your assignment to the secretary nor
to
anyone else in the Department of Anthropology. DO NOT slide your
assignment
under the instructor's office door.
The assignment has not been officially submitted until you sign
the
submission form. You are also advised to make a copy of your
assignments
before submitting them.
(3) You may
work with
other students in preparing for assignments, but what you submit must
be your
own work.
You are encouraged to discuss questions
together, or share source materials, or recommend readings and web
sites. However, I will expect everyone in
the
class to have a different topic for their essay -- if two of you have
exactly
the same topic, I will assign a different topic to both of you, after
consultation.
(4)
Please be especially careful to
avoid plagiarism, which is a serious academic offence. Carefully
read the
section under "Citations" in the Essay Instructions. Be sure to
cite ideas as well as direct quotations, even if these ideas are
paraphrased. All quotes should be
either in quotation marks or indented if longer than two sentences.
Essays in which
plagiarism
is detected will be severely penalized.
For more details, see Section 7.11 "Academic Honesty" and
Section 11.2 "The Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters" in the UTM
Calendar for 2005-2006. It is your
responsibility to be familiar with this code, and adhere to it. Be sure to read the link to the
information on plagiarism on the web site, http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html.
Course
Schedule
|
Date |
Topics |
Readings (for class on
date listed) |
|
Thurs Sept 15 |
Course
Introduction Background
to the Study of Ancient States/"Civilizations" Tutorial: Introduction |
|
|
Thurs Sept 22 |
quiz
(on Readings
plus Essay
Instruction sheet) Theories
of States (overview of course topics) Tutorial: Ideas for Essay topics; film |
Scarre &
Fagan pp. 3-11, 23-58 Preface &
Intro, Feinman & Marcus
(F& M) pp. xiii-13 |
|
Thurs Sept 29 |
Quiz Mesopotamian
States & Civilization Political
Organization & Bureaucracy ’Äì State Operations The
Political Economy of States: Food Production, Trade,
Craft Production (mostly Mesopotamian examples) Tutorial: Library Presentation on Research & Writing |
Scarre &
Fagan pp. 64-103 Wright, F &
M pp. 173-198 |
|
Thurs Oct
6 |
quiz
Reading
on Egyptian States & Civilization Movie
Day: Pyramid, by David McCauley (Egypt)
and Maya Lords of
the Jungle Tutorial:
Academic Skills Centre Presentation - Essay |
Scarre &
Fagan pp. 104-145 |
|
Thurs Oct 13 |
quiz Lecture
on Egyptian States & Civilizations Cultural
Systems ("Civilization") vs. Political Systems
("States") Sources
of Power: Wealth, Legitimacy, Order Tutorial:
Questions forTest 1 |
Baines &
Yoffee, F & M pp. 199-260 |
|
Thurs Oct 20 |
Test
1 No
Tutorial |
REVIEW for TEST |
|
Thurs Oct 27 |
quiz; Essay
Thesis & Outline due Try to have
your choice of outside article approved by
Dr. Miller BEFORE the Thesis & Outline is due! Mayan States
& Civilization (Lowland Mesoamerica) The
History of States -- Dynamic Cycling Tutorial:
Mayan States in more detail: corrections
to text |
Scarre &
Fagan pp. 406-442 (note
lots of errors in text!!) Marcus, F &
M pp. 59-68 & 91-94
(only read Marcus’Äô case studies
on other states, pp. 68-91, if
appropriate for your essay topic) |
|
Thurs Nov 3 |
quiz Warfare,
Status, and Force in States Highland
Mesoamerica Andean
States (South America) Tutorial:
|
Morris, F &
M pp. 293-310 Scarre &
Fagan pp. 444-468, 490-
514 Webster, F &
M pp. 311-318, 346-
351; just briefly skim pp. 319-345
(unless doing essay on warfare) |
|
Thurs Nov 10 |
quiz Chinese
States & Civilization The
Role of Ritual and Religion in States Tutorial:
How to Critique an Essay
(contact Dr. Miller ASAP if you miss this tutorial!) |
Scarre &
Fagan pp. 170-196, 380-
403 |
|
Thurs Nov 17 |
quiz;
Submit Draft of essay at BEGINNING of class The
Indus Civilization Non-state
States? Re-visiting the Definition of a
State Tutorial:
Essay Critique Exercise |
Possehl, F &
M pp. 261-292
(You do not need to read Scarre
& Fagan on the Indus - much of
it overlaps Possehl, & much is
not quite correct!) |
|
Thurs Nov 24 |
quiz Summary
of Sources of Power in States Tutorial:
Questions for Test 2; Help with Essays |
Scarre &
Fagan pp. 515-523 Blanton, F &
M pp. 134-172 |
|
Thurs Dec 1 |
Test
2 No
Tutorial |
REVIEW for TEST |
|
Thurs Dec 8 |
quiz; Essays due Archaeological
(on-the-ground) Indicators of States The
Scale of States (Size and Organization) |
Flannery, F
& M pp. 15-16 & 54-57;
briefly skim headings on pp 16-53 Feinman, F &
M pp. 95-114 ONLY
(not entire article) |