ANTHROPOLOGY 448 – GENDER and ARCHAEOLOGY

REQUIRED TEXT is available at the University of Oregon Bookstore:
Nelson, Sarah M. 2007 Women in Antiquity: Theoretical Approaches to Gender and Archaeology. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

ANTH 448 Readings available on Blackboard course website.

COURSE DESCRIPTION	FORMAT and PHILOSOPHY	COURSE READINGS ON BLACKBOARD
GRADING	Guidelines for reading and preparing for class discussion	TOPICS and CLASS SCHEDULE
Guidelines for Writing Papers	Textbook Essay	GROUP WORK

Undergraduate Advising

• to improve your writing: Sharon Schuman's essay on editing
• Research in Gender and Archaeology - M. L. Moss
• Association for Feminist Anthropology

COURSE DESCRIPTION - This course starts with an analysis of how archaeologists have traditionally represented women and men in prehistory. Although study of the archaeological record is one of the few ways to learn about gender relations in the remote past, conventional assumptions about gender have permeated interpretations of the past. We will start by learning how to identify androcentric thinking in archaeology and assess how feminist scholarship is pertinent to the study of the ancient past. We then examine case studies from various parts of the world and examine those physical remains which can inform us about gender in societies. These new approaches demonstrate how we can study, write, and represent gender in the past in more complex and less stereotypical ways. We will pursue how gender articulates with other variables of difference, such as age, ethnicity, sexuality, and class. Ultimately this could lead to a better understanding of identity construction in the past. By the end of the class, we will have identified some of the major theoretical, methodological, and social challenges of investigating gender and these other social variables with archaeological data.

FORMAT and PHILOSOPHY - This is not a lecture class in which I will present authoritative claims to expert knowledge. The challenge of "engendering the past" is a relatively new direction in archaeology, and everyone will need to actively participate to fulfill the potential of this discussion class. I will provide theoretical, methodological, and regional background as appropriate, but it is imperative that you keep up with the reading and come prepared to discuss. I expect you to be able to summarize the readings and be prepared with comments and questions for every class. Bring the readings to class, ready to engage in discussion. To fully absorb the material, you will need to read it, think about it, talk about it, and write about it. The class format is designed to accomplish each of these tasks, allowing you to intellectually interact with the material on an on-going basis. Class participation is vitally important. I hope the perspective and information presented in this class will provide you with a new view of the past, a valuable, long-term perspective on cultural diversity and change, and an increased awareness of the way archaeologists construct knowledge of the past.

In addition, I want to alter the "authority format" of the typical classroom, by inviting you to share in the leadership of the class. My role is to mediate between the literature, my own experience and knowledge on the one hand and an active participating class on the other. Just like the people of the past, you are not "faceless blobs" (borrowing a phrase from Ruth Tringham). You each have your own body of knowledge and experience you bring to class. During most classes we will break down into small groups to facilitate discussion. The membership of your group will be stable for the duration of the term. The groups will be responsible to each other for taking attendance, running discussions, and preparing a group presentation to the rest of the class. Members of each group will conduct evaluations of each other's performance at two times, at the time of the midterm and the final (see below).

GRADING - Grades are based on a percentage of 200 possible earned points.

Evaluation of class participation and peer evaluations will be based on attendance and quality of contributions to class discussion. Evidence of high quality contributions include: making relevant comments, drawing others into discussion, asking clarifying questions, moving discussion forward, using evidence to support a position, presenting factual information, making analogies, and recognizing and identifying contradictions. Negative behavior includes making irrelevant comments, not paying attention, distracting others, interrupting, monopolizing a conversation, or making a personal attack. If any student feels s/he would like to contribute to class dialog and did not have sufficient opportunity in class, s/he is welcome to send me a short email or talk to me in person.

Guidelines for reading and preparing for class discussion
A good reader's process varies with the type of text. Some of the texts we will read this term are difficult because they belong to scholarly conversations that you may not have encountered before. Some articles address aspects of archaeological and social theory and use some jargon. The sentence structure of many articles embeds references to primary sources which you may not have read, making it difficult to follow all the details of an argument. To assist you, during class discussions, I will do my best to help contextualize the writings we read with background on the history of archaeology and anthropology as appropriate. However, I will rely on you to identify problems you are experiencing by speaking up in class.

We will generally refer to the readings by author(s), publication date, and topic. So at a minimum, you will need to know this information about each reading. I recommend that for each article, you first read the introduction, skim the content by looking at subheads and illustrations, then read the conclusion. Then, go back and read the article in full, preferably in one sitting. Take notes on the main topic and theoretical orientation of the article, and on the type of data or case studies used to support the author's arguments. What are the author's conclusions? Do you agree with these, or can you offer other explanations or interpretations? Interrogate the text by deciding what to accept and what to doubt. As you read along, interact with what you are reading; I recommend writing in the margins of your text to assist you in summarizing key points, expressing your agreement or disagreement, and making comparisons to other readings as well as class discussions. ALWAYS bring the readings assigned for the day to class, so you can continue to annotate your texts, add to your notes, and deepen your understanding.

Please keep up with the reading, otherwise, you will not be able to take advantage of or contribute to class discussions, your peer evaluations will suffer, and you will handicap yourself with respect to your performance in writing papers.

Guidelines for Writing Papers
Papers should be the product of original research and thinking, and they should be well-organized, clearly written, and appropriated referenced. Although I am predominantly concerned with content, inattention to the fundamentals of writing always detracts from your ability to communicate ideas. Format and style will always affect an instructor's evaluation of your written work.

1. Content - I expect and require that your work is the product of original thinking, research, and synthesis. Papers should follow an orderly, logical progression and include an introduction, a main body, and conclusion (at a minimum). "Being well organized" means that each paragraph should build upon the previous one(s) and that within paragraphs, sentences follow an orderly progression of ideas. Because most people write on word processors or computers, we can take advantage of this technology to produce several drafts of each paper. Your initial drafts can take the form of brain-storming and note-taking, but beyond this stage, you must take care to thoughtfully construct your arguments, systematically support them with evidence, present them in a logical order in clear prose. You will want to situate your essays within the larger body of literature we are reading this term along with topics discussed in class. You will also need to compare sources and synthesize ideas. I highly value original syntheses and innovative ideas, so please try to achieve some depth in your analysis.

2. Format and Style - At the top of the first page, include an interesting, informative, and creative title (not just "Textbook Essay"), along with your name, my name (Professor Moss), and the date. Papers should always be double-spaced, typewritten, and generally with one-inch margins. Please do not submit papers in plastic or other types of folders, please do not paper-clip your paper. I prefer that you simply staple your paper securely. Number all pages. Follow the anthropological conventions for citations. You must cite the source for a specific idea, paraphrases, and verbatim quotes, using page numbers (for example, Gero 1996:252). If you quote a passage longer than four lines, single-space and indent five spaces on each side. Since you are writing short papers for this class, you should avoid frequent and lengthy quotes, unless absolutely necessary. Learn to paraphrase, but be careful to preserve the author's intended meaning. If you refer to the general topic discussed in a paper, you can refer to it without the page number reference (for example, Gero 1996). When you want to refer to the author by name, for example as the subject of a sentence, you can say, "Gero (1996) takes issue with the generally accepted idea that archaeological field recording is free from gender bias." Please adhere to the citation style used in the texts. Always include a "References Cited" section. This is not a list of books and articles you've read, but those you have cited in your text. Everything you cite should be on this list, and nothing should be on this list that you do not cite. Please pay attention to punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. For those of you who may have trouble with writing fundamentals, get a copy of E.B. White's short book, The Elements of Style, which addresses common errors of grammar and syntax.

Make a copy of everything you hand in to me, in order to protect yourself from inadvertent loss. Always proofread your work after you have printed it for the final time. Do not assume that everything is fine once you've sent your latest draft to the printer. If you find one or two minor mistakes please correct them on the hard copy if you cannot print again and hand-in a "pristine copy."

Another way to improve your writing is to consult the writing lab staff at the Center for Academic Learning Services in 68 PLC. Be sure to allow sufficient time to make additions, editions, and other adjustments. Submit your work on time.

Textbook Essay
Identifying Gender Bias in Introductory Archaeology Textbooks, to be discussed in class on April 23.

Read a chapter from a relatively recent (post 1998) archaeology textbook with the following questions in mind. Select one or several of these questions and write a 5 page type-written essay discussing your analysis. You can use an archaeology textbook you've already read for another class.

• Does the author give equal attention to the roles, activities, and experiences of women and men in discussing past lifeways and developments?
• In what contexts is the author explicitly gender-specific? How many times does the author refer to males and females or women and men with respect to particular subjects or activities?
• When the author describes human characteristics, skills, capabilities, activities, etc., are the generalizations valid or appropriate for both men and women or are they implicitly gender-specific? Give specific examples.
• What gender-specific characteristics, traits, attitudes, or aptitudes does the author explicitly or implicitly assume to be universal, that is, true for all human groups at all time periods? Of these, which do you think are more likely to be culturally specific? How could you test these ideas?
• If you have identified gender bias in the text, what alternative scenarios can you propose to replace androcentric portrayals? How would you revise androcentric or ethnocentric sections of the text?

GROUP WORK

By the second week of class, you will be divided into eight groups of 4-5 students each. Group membership will remain stable throughout the term. The main functions of the group are to:

• facilitate productive, in-depth discussion of readings in a small, comfortable setting
• facilitate productive, in-depth discussions within the larger class
• plan a group-led presentation for class
• take attendance of group members at each class
• each group member provides peer evaluations of each other member at two points during the term (midterm and final).

Each group has its own folder and takes attendance of its members. The main purpose of the groups is to facilitate productive discussion of class readings. Most of our class discussions will take part in two stages: first within the context of the small group, and subsequently, with small groups contributing to the larger group. This structure is designed to allow each student's voice to be heard and acknowledged. Over the term, you will come to know your fellow group members very well! In the past, students have enjoyed the small group experience.

Each group will sign up for one date to make a class presentation/lead discussion in class. The available dates are the seven class meeting dates in May and June 2. Each group member must take on a specific task that contributes to the larger project. Each group will meet with me beforehand and present me with a one-page outline of your division of labor. During this meeting you will also do an abbreviated "dry run" of your presentation. This will allow me to coach you into improving your presentation. For the presentation, the following activities can be considered:

• gather images from the web that illustrate the archaeological sites or materials discussed in the readings. These images can be presented as powerpoint slides presented to class to focus or stimulate discussion.
• pursue one or two readings cited in the chapter because they are central to the argument or particularly interesting. Individual group members can each choose a different article. Particularly valuable articles can be assigned as class readings and uploaded onto Blackboard ahead of time, or the key findings in the articles can be summarized and presented in class and used to stimulate discussion. Another alternative is to assign valuable articles and present a reasoned critique of their arguments. Please submit pdfs of articles for me to upload to Blackboard at least 7 days prior to your presentation.
• create a website on the day's topic using visual and textual resources available electronically and otherwise. The website can be explored and discussed during class time. I can provide a link to the group's website ahead of time, if the group wants students to visit it before class.
• groups can also "think outside the box" and consider some of the suggestions outlined in Conkey and Tringham's (1996) article that we read during the second week of class.

I am happy to recommend additional outside reading to group members. Remember that the presentations should focus on the content of class readings and not stray too far afield. Groups will have to meet outside of class to develop their presentations.

In addition, group members are in an excellent position to evaluate each other's participation in and contributions to the class. For the midterm and final, group members will complete peer evaluations of each other. Each group member will rate the preparedness, helpfulness, and the quality of each other person's contribution to the collective welfare of the group. Peer evaluations are based on attendance and quality of contributions to group process and class discussion. Evidence of high quality contributions include: being prepared for discussion having completed the reading assignments, making relevant comments, drawing others into discussion, asking clarifying questions, moving discussion forward, using evidence to support a position, presenting factual information, making analogies, and recognizing and identifying contradictions. Negative behavior includes being unprepared for class, being late for class, making irrelevant comments, not paying attention, distracting others, interrupting, monopolizing a conversation, or making a personal attack.

We will discuss other aspects of group process throughout the term, as appropriate.

COURSE READINGS ON BLACKBOARD These are listed on Blackboard under "Course Documents" in weekly folders. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

Alberti, Benjamin (2007) Archaeology, Men and Masculinities. In: Identity and Subsistence: Gender Strategies for Archaeology, edited by S. M. Nelson, pp. 401-434. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Ambrose, Stanley H., J. E. Buikstra, and H. W. Krueger (2003) Status and gender differences in diet at Mound 72, Cahokia, revealed by isotopic analysis of bone. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 22(3):217-226.

Baxter, Jane Eva (2002) Popular Images and Popular Sterotypes: Images of Archaeologists in Popular and Documentary Film. The SAA Archaeological Record 2(4)16-17, 40.

Claassen, Cheryl (2000) Homophobia and Women Archaeologists World Archaeology 32(2):173-179.

Clarke, Anne (1993) Cultural Resource Management (CRM) as Archaeological Housework: Confining Women to the Ghetto of Management. In Women in Archaeology: a Feminist Critique, edited by Hilary du Cros and Laurajane Smith, pp. 191-194. Occasional Papers in Prehistory No. 23, Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. 

Conkey, M. W. and J. Spector (1984) Archaeology and the Study of Gender. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, edited by M. Schiffer, 7:1-38.

Conkey, M.W. and R. E. Tringham (1996) Cultivating Thinking, Challenging Authority: Some Experiments in Feminist Pedagogy in Archaeology. In: Gender and Archaeology, edited by Rita P. Wright, pp. 224-250. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

Conkey, M. W. and S. H. Williams (1991) Original Narratives: the Political Economy of Gender in Archaeology. In Gender at the Crossroads of Knowledge, edited by Micaela de Leonardo pp. 102-139. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Geller, Pamela L. (2005) Skeletal analysis and theoretical complications. World Archaeology 37(4):597-609.

Gero, Joan (1985) Socio-Politics and the Woman-at-Home Ideology. American Antiquity 50(2):342-350.

Gero, Joan and Dolores Root (1990) Public Presentation and Private Concerns: Archaeology in the Pages of National Geographic. In The Politics of the Past, edited by P. Gathercole and D. Lowenthal, pp. 19-37. Routledge, New York.

Gifford-Gonzalez, Diane (1993) You Can Hide, But You Can’t Run: Representation of Women’s Work in Illustrations of Paleolithic Life. Visual Anthropology Review 9(1):23-41.

Hollimon, Sandra E. (2007) The Archaeology of Nonbinary Genders in Native North American Societies. In: Identity and Subsistence: Gender Strategies for Archaeology, edited by S. M. Nelson, pp. 435-450. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

LeMoine, Genevieve (2003) Woman of the House: Gender, Architecture, and Ideology in Dorset Prehistory. Arctic Anthropology 40(1)121-138.

Pearson, Marlys and Paul Mullins (1999) Domesticating Barbie: an archaeology of Barbie material culture and domestic ideology. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3(4):225 -259.

Reyman, Jonathan E. (1994) Gender and Class in Archeology: Then and Now. In Equity Issues for Women in Archeology, edited by Margaret C. Nelson, Sarah Nelson, and Alison Wylie, pp.83-90. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association No. 5

Voorhies, Barbara and Douglas J. Kennett (2008) A Gender Based Model for Changes in Subsistence and Mobility during the Terminal Late Archaic Period on the Coast of Chiapas, Mexico. Paper presented at UCLA, February, 2008.

Voss, Barbara L. Sexuality in Archaeology. In: Identity and Subsistence: Gender Strategies for Archaeology, edited by S. M. Nelson, pp. 365-400. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Wylie, Alison (1993) Workplace issues for women in archaeology: the Chilly Climate. In Women in Archaeology: a Feminist Critique, edited by Hilary du Cros and Laurajane Smith, pp. 245-258. Occasional Papers in Prehistory No. 23, Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra.

If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodation in this course, please contact me soon. Please also request that the Counselor for Students with Disabilities send a letter verifying your disability. 

TOPICS and CLASS SCHEDULE - Blackboard Readings are highlighted in red.

Date	Topic	Readings
3/31	Introduction
4/2	Why is gender relevant? Why is there androcentric bias in archaeology?	Conkey & Spector 1984; Baxter 2002
4/7	How can feminist pedagogy affect the teaching of archaeology?	Conkey & Tringham 1996; Moss in Senegal; Angela Montague in charge.
4/9	Gender Stereotyping	Gifford-Gonzalez 1993; Gero & Root 1990; Moss in Senegal; Angela Montague in charge.
4/14	Who has traditionally practiced archaeology and how has this affected the the discipline?	Gero 1985; Reyman 1994; Claassen 2000
4/16	Origin Narratives & Archaeological Storytelling	Conkey & Williams 1991
4/21	Archaeology, Men, and Masculinities	Alberti 2007
4/23	Textbook Essay Due in Class	discussion of textbook essays
4/28	Methods in Feminist & Gender Archaeology Midterm Peer Evaluations Due in Class	Ch. 1 in Nelson [Brumfiel]; Voorhies & Kennett 2008
4/30	Group Presentation Brainstorming	Groups discuss their individual chapters & other readings chosen for presentations
5/5	Historical Archaeology	Ch. 2 in Nelson [Spencer-Wood]; Pearson & Mullins 1999
5/7	Gender and Mortuary Analyses	Ch. 4 in Nelson [Arnold]; Hollimon 2007
5/12	Gender and Bioarchaeology	Geller 2005; Ambrose et al. 2003
5/14	Gender and Ethnoarchaeology	Ch. 8 in Nelson [Weedman]
5/19	Engendered Households	Ch. 5 in Nelson [Hendon]; Lemoine 2003
5/21	Gender and Landscapes	Ch. 6 in Nelson [Ashmore]
5/26	Memorial Day	No Class
5/28	Gender, Heterarchy & Hierarchy	Ch. 7 in Nelson [Levy]
6/2	Equity Issues	Wylie 1993; Clarke 1993
6/4	New Directions; Course Wrap-Up	Voss 2007
6/10	Final Papers & Peer Evaluations due at 5:00 PM

  Undergraduate Advising: If you are interested in: major and minor advising in anthropology, preparing a multi-year course plan, satisfying general university requirements/ explaining degree audits, graduation checks, brainstorming minors or double majors, internship options, applying to graduate school, career options for anthropology majors--- you may want to meet with: Diane Baxter, Undergraduate Coordinator, 373 Condon Hall dbaxter@uoregon.edu