FALL 2006, Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:30 10:50

BIOLOGY 104

Important Note:

This is a new course at Wofford College, and it is still in the design stage! Fowler and Abercrombie will make changes as the semester matures. Such changes will be posted on this electronic syllabus, so please check this site often to see what’s new.

MILLIKEN 207 FALL 2006, Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:30 – 10:50 Lab Wednesday Afternoons, 2:00-5:00

Goals:

Ab Abercrombie’s goals for this course are:

1. That students be capable of designing a sustainable agricultural system for any tropical biome on any continent within the tropics. Students will approach this goal by learning about: a. Weather and climate (to include prevailing winds, seasonality & geographical distribution of rainfall, and types of precipitation). b. Soils. c. Commonly grown crops. d. Basic human nutritional requirements.

2. That students be capable of constructing models of biological systems —and that students recognize the limits of the modeling approach. Students will approach this goal through practice with: a. A bio-monitoring model. b. A mark-recapture model. c. A phylogenetic classification model. d. A medical-statistical experimental model.

3. That students be capable of communicating effectively their understanding of 1. and 2. above. Students will approach this goal by writing and revising short, take-home assignments. CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. Fowler Office Hours Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:00-3:00 Office Location Daniel 212 Contact [email protected]

Dr. Abercrombie Office Hours Wednesdays 7:00AM – 11:00AM or by appointment Office Location 106 Milliken (ground floor; look for critter pictures) Contact [email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION For our mutual enterprise this semester, your instructors have two overall objectives. The first is general to all Wofford’s Science 104 classes: We wish to explore with you certain flawed but beautiful approaches by which 21st Century Western scientists apprehend the natural world. The second objective is more specific to the course that Ms. Fowler and Mr. Abercrombie have designed. We will present to you several broad, biological insights into why people live the way they do.

The course is divided into 3 major segments: 1) Weather, Climate, and Biomes, 2) Land Use, and 3) Biology and Society. In the Weather, Climate, and Biomes segment you will examine theoretically and empirically the environmental context for human life. Specifically, you will learn about winds, precipitation, seasonality, and world ecological landscapes. In the Land Use segment you will study theories of agricultural development, learn about the causes and consequences of land-use change, and examine a sample of the world’s most important food crops. The Biology and Society segment will provide your opportunity to learn about the biocultural model and to investigate the theories and ethnographic facts that support it.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS 1. TESTS AND FINAL EXAMINATION. Your teachers will jointly construct both of your tests and your final examination. Each of these evaluation-instruments will have a substantial number of multiple choice questions. Each will also include at least one short essay. Additionally, wise students will be prepared to work problems, address short-answer questions, and discuss material from the two texts. As required by College policy, the final examination will be cumulative (and, we trust, comprehensive). 2. LAB REPORTS. You will receive instructions about lab reports during the relevant laboratory sessions. Note that not every lab session will require a formal, written report. A link to our tentative lab syllabus is provided here. A special note on missing labs. The laboratory exercises your teachers have designed are somewhat non-traditional and are not easily replicated, so making up a missed lab will be next to impossible. Therefore, if for any reason you fail to attend a lab, you will receive a grade of F for that period. In order to pass the course, you must get rid of that F, and here is how you do it: (1) First, check with your usual lab compadres and find out as much as possible about the material you missed. (2) Next, make an appointment to meet with both of your Biology 104 teachers (at the same time). We may be able to design a satisfactory make-up experience for you. However, you will be taking a substantial risk because we may simply say that we are very sorry—but you are out of luck and should withdraw from the course. Anyone who misses more than one lab before 10 November will be given the option of withdrawing from the course with a WP or failing. After 10 November, by College policy, the WP option will not be available.

Although our first “lab” will be somewhat informal, and although we plan for it to be lots of fun, it is not to be missed. (This statement should clearly indicate that we will not be able to accept additional students into Biology 104 after noon on 6 September.)

3. BIOFUEL DEBATE. The class will be divided into 2 groups. Members of 1 group will present arguments supporting biofuel and 1 group will present arguments against biofuel. You will not be told which side your group will argue until the day of the debate. 4. RACE DISCUSSION. You will required to present in class a 30 second statement about race. (The time constraint is a strict one. Please rehearse and do not expect your teachers to be happy with 25 seconds or with 35 seconds. If you like, you can pretend you are addressing the President or the Pope….) Use the relevant reading assignments, lecture, film, and lab to prepare your statement. You can also use outside sources for supplemental support.

REQUIRED TEXTS Clay, Jason. 2004. World Agriculture and the Environment: A Commodity-By- Commodity Guide to Impacts and Practices. Washington: Island Press.

Goodman, Alan H. and Thomas L. Leatherman. 1998. Building a New Biocultural Synthesis: Political-Economic Perspectives on Human Biology (Linking Levels of Analysis). University of Michigan Press.

GRADING

In all their academic endeavors, students are expected to conduct themselves according to the letter and spirit of Wofford’s honor code. A link to this document is provided here.

Students will be expected to attend all classes and labs. (You will be held responsible for knowing even that material presented in classes that you may be forced to miss. On lab attendance, please see the special boxed note above.) Up until the date specified by the College (10 November), any student will be free to drop the course with a WP, no questions asked.

TEST 1 October 3 75 points TEST 2 November 2 75 points FINAL EXAM December 13 200 points LAB REPORTS Due as specified 50 points DEBATE on BIOFUEL September 27 50 points DISCUSSION on RACE December 5 50 points TOTAL POINTS AVAILABLE = 500 points

GRADE SCALE A 100-90 (500-450 points) B 89.8-80 (449-400 points) C 79.8-70 (399-350 points) D 69.8-60 (349-300 points) F 59.8-0 (299-0 points) (Within the specified ranges, marginal scores—high and low—may receive plusses and minuses as appropriate. In making such decisions, your teachers may consider class attendance and participation.)

COURSE OUTLINE

Every good biologist knows that all schedules are tentative, subject to the exigencies of life, death, weather, insanity, nuclear war, and lottery winnings. Because your instructors have not taught precisely this course before, the following schedule is particularly tentative, and we are posting it on our Web sites for exactly that reason. We reserve the right to make modest changes throughout the semester. So, as the Web Masters say, please check back frequently for updates.

I. INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGY 104 September 5 INTRODUCTION this Semester’s BIO 104 (Fowler).

II. WEATHER, CLIMATE, AND BIOMES September 7 Insolation, prevailing winds, Hadley cells, Theory of Weather and Climate Part 1 (Abercrombie).

September 12 Climate and Society Part 1: Introduction (Fowler). September 14 Winds over water, Patterns of Precipitation, Moderating Effects of Oceans, Winds Over Mountains, Theory of Weather and Climate Part 2 (Abercrombie).

September 19 Climate and Society Part 2: Local Responses to El Niño (Fowler). September 21 Seasonal Movement of Hadley Cells, the Intertropical Convergence Zone: When Rainy Seasons Come, Where, and Why (Abercrombie).

September 26 Climate and Society Part 3: Seasonality and Culture in the Tropics (Fowler).

September 28 Biomes Spread Across a Hypothetical Continent (Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “Introduction.” Pages 1-10 in World Agriculture.

October 3 TEST 1

III. LAND USE October 5 A Basic Theory of Agriculture (Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “Agricultural Trends and Realities.” Pages 11-43 in World Agriculture.

October 10 How Agricultural Systems DO and DO NOT Structure the Societies that Sit Atop Them: Examples from Classical Cambodia and Vietnam (Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “Illness, Social Relations, and Household Production and Reproduction in the Andes of Southern Peru” by Thomas Leatherman. Pages 245- 267 in Biocultural Synthesis.

October 12 Health and Habitat Part 2: Land Use Changes and Mosquito-Born Diseases (Fowler and Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “Poverty and Nutrition in Eastern Kentucky: The Political Economy of Childhood Growth” by Deborah L. Crooks. Pages 339-355 in Biocultural Synthesis.

October 17 Organisms in Service to People: the Grasses (Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “Wheat,” “Rice,” “Corn,” and “Sorghum.” Pages 367-446 in World Agriculture.

October 19 Organisms in Service to People: Starchy Staples (Abercrombie) Reading Assignment: “Cassava” and “Bananas.” Pages 447-459 in World Agriculture.

October 24 Organisms in Service to People: Misc. Other Food Plants (Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “Cocoa,” “Soybeans,” “Cashews,” and “Palm Oil.” Pages 113-136, 171-202, 263-282 in World Agriculture. October 26 Execute October 25’s Stats Modeling and Experimental Design Lab.

October 31 Organisms in Service to People: Domesticated Animals (Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “Beef”. Pages 461-490 in World Agriculture.

November 2 TEST 2

IV. BIOLOGY AND SOCIETY November 7 Biology and Society Part 1: Introduction to the Biocultural Approach (Fowler). Reading Assignment: “Nature, Political Ecology, and Social Practice: Toward an Academic and Political Agenda” by Soren Hvalkof and Arturo Escobar. Pages 425-450 in Biocultural Synthesis.

November 9 Biology and Society Part 2: Adaptation (Fowler and Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: “The Evolution of Human Adaptability Paradigms: Toward a Biology of Poverty” by R. Brooke Thomas. Pages 43-73 in Biocultural Synthesis.

November 14 Biology and Society Part 3: Case Studies (Fowler). Reading Assignment: “Latin American Social Medicine and the Politics of Theory” by Lynn Morgan. Pages 407-424 in Biocultural Synthesis.

November 16 Biology and Society Part 4: Case Studies (Fowler). Reading Assignment: “On the (Un)Natural History of the Tupi-Monde Indians: Bioanthropology and Change in the Brazilian Amazon” by Ricardo Santos and Carlos Coimbra. Pages 269-294 in Biocultural Synthesis.

November 21 Biology and Society Part 5: Case Studies (Fowler and Abercrombie). Reading Assignment: The Political Ecology of Population Increase and Malnutrition in Southern Honduras” by Billie R. DeWalt. Pages 295-316 in Biocultural Synthesis.

November 23 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

November 28 Biology and Society Part 6 (Fowler). Reading Assignment: “What Could Be: Biocultural Anthropology for the Next Generation” by Gavin Smith and R. Brooke Thomas. Pages 451- 473 in Biocultural Synthesis.

November 30 Biology and Society Part 7: FILM – “Race: The Power of an Illusion” Episode 1 “The Difference Between Us.” Reading Assignment: “Race, Racism, and Anthropology” by George Armelagos and Alan Goodman. Pages 359-377 in Biocultural Synthesis.

December 5 Biology and Society Part 8: Class Discussion on Race and Racism

V. CONCLUSION TO THE COURSE December 7 FINAL EXAM REVIEW (Fowler and Abercrombie)

December 13 FINAL EXAM 9:00am-12:00pm