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APG 412 Primatology APG 412 Syllabus - 1 February 24, 2020 - Books and Kingston schedule will not change. Anything else may change, but if so, Dr. Dunsworth will notify students. APG 412 Primatology 6 credits: [5 credits (54 hrs instruction) + 1 credit lab (32 hrs of observations)] 5 week summer course (Summer I, May 18 – June 19, 2020) Dr. Holly Dunsworth | 814-933-9382 | [email protected] Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Rhode Island Office Hours: As this is a summer course, and because we will be spending so much time together, I will still hold office hours but will do so (in person or virtually) by appointment Class Days/Times: These are mostly MWF 12:30-4:30, with one big exception of five consecutive full days at the zoo, June 8-12. See detailed schedule below. URI Catalog Description: Investigation of the behavior of wild and captive prosimians, monkeys, and apes, and application of primate data for conservation and reconstructing human origins. Detailed course description: This is a Kingston-based course that includes fieldwork at the Child Development Center (at URI-Kingston) and Southwick’s Zoo (in nearby Mendon, Massachusetts). While this course is comparative across primates, our investigation will be slightly biased towards chimpanzees because of their close relation to us. We explore the significance of primates, and specifically chimpanzees, in a broad scholarly context, as sources of insight into human evolution, and as intensive recipients of conservation efforts. Our primatology begins in the classroom and our first field experience takes place on our campus where we build observation and research skills with the young primates at the URI Child Development Center. Then we move off campus to a zoo- setting. We have a relationship with Southwick’s Zoo in Massachusetts where we will undertake observations of a wide variety of primates, including chimpanzees, strengthening our research skills as we design, perform, and carry out original, quantitative primatological research. By the end of the course we will better understand motivation for, and approaches to, primate conservation and appreciate the efforts of primatology and anthropology towards those ends. Pre-requisites and permissions: APG 201 or permission of instructor. All majors welcome. Course cap = 10 students. This course is a rigorous, 6-credit intensive study! We will be meeting frequently for long bouts, between which you will be reading many pages to prepare for the next class and/or working on your projects. In addition to covering the entire Order Primates in the classroom, we will be observing children and nonhuman primates, and analyzing and evaluating the implications of our results. Physical requirements: This course is welcome to all students. We will be observing primates for hours at a time across five days. Depending on the species of study and the study design, students may need to be mobile, on their feet, for much of that observation time. So there is a degree of physical ability and endurance that contributes to participation in this course. On the other hand, it APG 412 Syllabus - 2 will be easy to co-create research projects with students who, for example, do not wish to stand for long periods of time, or at all. While performing their zoo studies, students will build short breaks into their sampling strategy as appropriate and will be permitted to eat and drink while they observe the primates. The zoo is very comfortable, with many restroom facilities located throughout that students will use at their discretion. Costs that go above and beyond tuition Lab fee, paid at registration: This course has a lab fee of $75 which covers each student’s entrance for five days to the zoo ($50 dollars per student). Remaining funds from lab fees will go towards equipment (like binoculars) to share among students and to be used by future students (if it is not used to rent a van for zoo transport, instead). Textbooks (Dr. Dunsworth will order these through URI’s Bookstore) 1. Primates in Perspective, 2nd edition (2010) by CJ Campbell et al. (editors) Oxford University Press 2. Primate Ethnographies (2013) by Karen Strier (editor) Routledge Five days of nutrition while working at zoo: Students will need to pack snacks and meals or bring their own funds to purchase food to fuel their research at the zoo from 8 am to 5 pm for five days. Gear for data collection: Notebook (required), sun protection, waterproof jacket, water protection for time telling device, rite-in-the-rain (or other waterproof) data collection notebook and pencil (recommended if umbrella or other rain deterrent is too cumbersome), water bottle. Other non- required equipment includes cameras and binoculars, but they are encouraged. More information will be provided in class as we approach our days at the zoo. Assessment Grade Scale A = 93.5 – 100%; A- = 89.5 – 93.4%; B+ = 87.5 – 89.4%; B = 83.5 – 87.4%; B- = 79.5 – 83.4%; C+ = 77.5 – 79.4%; C = 73.5 – 77.4%; C- = 69.5 – 73.4%; D+ = 67.5 – 69.4%; D = 59.5 – 67.4%; F = below 59.5% Course grade 50% Reading quizzes (top 5 of 7) 5% Pre-zoo prep work and lightning talk 5% Primate Ethnographies Discussion leader 5% Post-zoo draft work 25% Zoo research project and presentation 10% Participation (including class project on chimpanzees) 100% Reading Quizzes - These are seven in-class quizzes where students will demonstrate that they completed the reading assignment prior to class. They will be largely short answer and short essay. They will serve to help spark discussion of the material. Lowest two scores will be dropped. APG 412 Syllabus - 3 Pre-zoo prep work – Students will perform scholarly research on a primate species housed at the zoo (unique to each individual student; chimpanzees are exempt because they will be the focus of our class project). Students will propose a study of a species at the zoo to test hypotheses, and will present their proposal as a 5-minute lightning talk to the class while standing at the zoo exhibit where they will be performing the research. More information, including how to perform excellent scholarly research, will be provided in class. Practice forming research questions and utilizing different observational methods will occur in the course prior to this task. Students will receive prompt feedback on this prep work to incorporate into their research, immediately, and that intense feedback will continue across the days they spend collecting data while immersed at the zoo. Primate Ethnographies Discussion leader. While working intensely at the zoo, we’ll break midday to recharge our minds by discussing personal reflections on fieldwork by professional primatologists. Each student will be discussion leader for two chapters. Post-zoo draft work – Students will present a preliminary assessment of the work they did at the zoo and propose plans for completing their project to the class. More information, including instruction on, and practice in, data analysis will be provided in class. Students will be guided through data analysis and visualization in either Excel or SPSS, but they are welcome to use other means if they are more comfortable. Zoo research project, presentation, and participation in discussions of others’ – Students will submit a written research paper that explains the significance of the work they did, the data they collected, its analysis, and how it addresses or tests an hypothesis. The paper must include discussion of conservation even if it is not part of the project. (For example, if the project is about locomotion it still needs to include intellectual links to and/or consideration of conservation issues.) The paper must also make an explicit link to anthropological goals of reconstructing human origins, even if the study was not created with this goal in mind. Students will present their papers to the class with powerpoint slides (or another approved form of visualization) to illustrate their work within a 20 minute time frame, each. More information, including guidelines for writing scholarly research papers and presenting science professionally, will be provided in class. Participation, class/group chimpanzee zoo project – Students will discuss readings and material in class. Students will practice primatological methods while observing human children’s gestural communication, collect data, analyze it, and evaluate whether it supported or refuted the class hypotheses. Students will provide professional feedback in discussing one another’s work in this setting and in the zoo projects to follow. As a class we will design and implement a study of the chimpanzees at the zoo. Days at the zoo will be spent studying individual primate species, according to individual research project, and also studying the chimpanzees to contribute to the class’s group research project. More information will be provided in class. There is no final exam. Schedule DAY 1 – 3 hrs, 45 mins instruction + 15 mins break Monday May 18, 12:30-4:30 pm, Kingston – Parts 1 and 2: Background and an Overview of the Order Primates; QUIZ 1 Readings • Textbook Chapters 1-10 – pages 1-185 APG 412 Syllabus - 4 o Note: Get started on this reading assignment ahead of the start of class. Also, because it is a big reading assignment, be selective about what you focus on and skim what you do not focus on. Reflect on why you focused on what you did and be prepared to share that information about your choices, decision, and experience in class. DAY 2 – 3 hrs, 45 mins instruction + 15 mins break Wednesday May 20, 12:30-4:30 pm, Kingston –cont’d; QUIZ 2 Readings • Textbook Chapters 11-19 – pages 186-344 o Note: Get started on this reading assignment ahead of the start of class.
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