Ecoregion Conservation and
Indigenous/Local Communities
Spring 2005
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Instructor Office Hours
Monday 11:30-12:30pm or by appointment
(303) 556-2621
James.igoe@cudenver.edu
Students are strongly encouraged to come to office hours whenever they have questions or difficulties.
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Required Readings
Igoe Conservation and Globalization
Spence Dispossessing the Wilderness
Note: These books have been ordered through Big Dog Text Books, which is located at 1331 15th street (15th and Market). Their phone number is (303) 893-2443.
Reserves: Go to http://docuserv.auraria.edu. Enter my name as the instructor. You will then be asked for a password. The password is “banjo.”
Additional Readings are available at:
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp/Publications/Publications.htm
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Spring 2005 Registration and Academic Deadlines
· CLAS students must always have an accurate mailing and e-mail address: http:/www.cudenver.edu/registrar
· Students are responsible for completing financial arrangements with financial aid, family, scholarships, etc.
· 12 January (5:00 pm) Payment plan deadline for students registering by 17 December 2004. Students not on financial aid are administratively disenrolled for non-payment.
· 20 January Last day to be added to the wait-list for a closed course.
· 24 January – 1 February Students are responsible for verifying an accurate Spring 2005 registration via SMART.
· 27 January (midnight) Last day to add courses via the web SMART system.
· 2 February (5:00 pm) Last day to add 16-week structured courses. Treated as an absolute deadline. The 2 Feb deadline does not apply to independent study, internships, and late-starting modular courses.
· 2 February (5:00 pm) Last day to drop a Spring 2005 course for tuition refund and no transcript notation.
· 2 February Last day for undergraduates and graduates to apply for May, 2005 graduation.
· 4 April Last day to drop a Spring 2005 course without college approval.
· 15 April Last day to drop a Spring 2005 course for CLAS students. Treated as an absolute deadline.
Consult the Academic Calendar for details on registration/payment deadlines: http://www.cudenver.edu/registrar
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Course Overview and Expectations
This is an advanced course for students who are especially interested in issues of conservation, development, globalization, and human rights. I expect, and will teach as though, the students in this course already have at least some background in these issues, and at least a rudimentary understanding of anthropological theory. This doesn’t mean that I expect you to know all the theories that we will use in the course, but you should have at least had some exposure to theory and the terms by which it is constructed. I also expect that you have enrolled in the course because of a strong commitment to the types of issues that it covers. This means that the reading load is heavy, but I will not be pedantically monitoring your performance the way I would if this were a required course for all anthropology majors. I expect you to do the readings and contribute to the class, but I will not be looking over your shoulder to make sure that you’re doing it. If you find yourself struggling with any of the material, therefore, you should come see me as early as you possibly can.
As a “contemporary issues” course, it will change from semester to semester. This semester I have chosen the topic of ecoregion conservation and indigenous/local communities. Over the past fifteen years organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources have jumped on the indigenous peoples’ bandwagon. These international conservation organization have now made indigenous communities part of what they do. The WWF, for instance, claims that indigenous people are stewards of the environment. Their environmental knowledge is based on generations of natural resource management in particular ecosystems. The goal of the WWF, therefore, has been to incorporate this knowledge into their programs in order to better save the Earth and protect habitats of endangered species of wildlife. While this recognition that people are part of the environment (something that conservation organization have only recently come to recognize), appears as an important step in the right direction, the question remains as to what this discourse actually means in practice. Collaborative conservation with indigenous communities is not happening in a socio-political vacuum. It is a product of long historical processes of colonization, dispossession, containment, and assimilation. It is also unfolding in the context of a global system of institutions, ideas, and money. Of particular significance to this class is the global indigenous peoples movement and its implications for how indigenous people think about themselves and express their causes both to themselves and non-indigenous outsiders.
The class will be run as a seminar. While I may spend some time providing a framework for our discussions, I will expect every student to participate by asking questions and contributing to our weekly discussions. I cannot emphasize enough, therefore, that you must come to class prepared.
Evaluating Students
Students in this course will be evaluated according to three criteria:
1) Questions and Discussion Points 30% of total grade
Since students are expected to contribute significantly to class discussions, you will be required to prepare a list of three questions and a list of three discussion points from the readings for each time. These should either get at some aspect of the material that you are struggling with, or contribute to a discussion of the significance of these issues. Questions and discussion points for the Monday sessions should be e-mailed to everyone in the class (including myself) by 5pm on Sunday (the day before). I literally will not look at papers that arrive in my inbox after this deadline, since I will be using them to prepare my discussion notes. Questions and discussion points for the Wednesday sessions should be turned in at the end of class on that day.
2) Issue Papers 40% of total grade
At four different points in the term we will stop to sum up a particular issue that we have been discussing for several sessions. Students are required to prepare a discussion paper (4-6 pages in length) to bring to these sessions in order to contribute to the discussions. The point of these papers is to synthesize the material in question and to say something concise and coherent about the issues it raises, the problems it identifies, and what some potential solutions to these problems might be. I will give you the necessary information for each discussion paper two weeks before it is due.
3) Presentations 30% of total grade
Trip to Pine Ridge and Badlands National Park
At the end of the term, or right after the term, I will be traveling to Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux Reservation in South Dakota to learn the latest on relationships between the tribe and the Badlands national park. For insurance reasons this trip will not be officially connected to this class. However, students in this class are invited to join me on this trip. We will talk about this at the beginning of class.
Class Schedule
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wednesday January 19th 2005
Introduction to the Course
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Monday January 24th 2005
The Future of Conservation According to Prominent Conservationists
Required Readings
Reading Packet I -- distributed on the first day of class
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Wednesday January 26th 2005
The Current Crisis in Conservation
Required Readings
Reading Packet II – distributed on the first day of class
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Monday January 31st 2005
Parks as Conservation Models I
Required Readings
Bruner et al The Effectiveness of Parks in Protecting Tropical Biodiversity (R)
Technical Comments The Effectiveness of Parks (R)
Western and Gichohi Segregation Effects and the Impoverishment of Savanna Parks (R)
Igoe National Parks and Human Ecosystems (R)
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Wednesday February 2nd 2005
Parks as Conservation Models II
Required Readings
Brockington and Igoe Anthropology, Protected Areas, and Identity Politics
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Class Schedule
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Monday February 7th 2005
Ecoregion Conservation I
Required Readings
WWF Indigenous People and Conservation (R)
WWF Indigenous and Traditional People and World Ecoregion Conservation (R)
WWF From the Vision to the Ground (R)
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Wednesday February 9th 2005
Ecoregion Conservation II
Required Readings
Jepson and Whitaker Ecoregions in Context (R)
Wikramanyake et al Ecoregions in Ascendance (R)
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Monday February 14th 2005
What is Biodiversity?
Required Readings
Redford and Richter Conservation of Biodiversity in a World of Use (R)
Guyer and Richards The Invention of Biodiversity (R)
Graber Resolute Biocentrism (R)
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Wednesday February 16th 2005
The Wilderness Ideal I
Required Readings
Cronon The Trouble with Wilderness (R)
Spence Dispossessing the Wilderness (Chapters 1,2, and 3)
DISCUSSION PAPER #1 Due in Class
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Class Schedule
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Monday February 21st 2005
The Wilderness Ideal II
Required Readings
Spence Dispossessing the Wilderness (chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and conclusion)
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Wednesday February 23rd 2005
Conservation and Globalization I
Required Readings
Igoe Conservation and Globalization (Chapters 1 & 2)
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Monday February 28th 2005
Conservation and Globalization II
Required Readings
Igoe Conservation and Globalization (Chapters 3 & 4)
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Wednesday March 2nd 2005
Conservation and Globalization III
Required Readings
Igoe Ecosystem Dynamics and Institutional Inertia (R)
Goldman Partitioned Nature, Privileged Knowledge (R)
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Monday March 7th 2005
The Rise of Global Indigenism I
Required Readings
Colchester Indigenous Rights and Collective Conscience (R)
Kuper Return of the Native + Commentary (R)
Igoe Becoming Indigenous in Africa (R)
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Class Schedule
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Wednesday March 9th 2005
The Rise of Global Indigenism II
Required Readings
Niezen The Origins of Indigenism (chapters 1,2,3, & 4)
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Monday March 14th 2005
The Rise of Global Indigenism III
Required Readings
Niezen The Origins of Indigenism (Chapters 5,6, & 7)
McIntosh Plan A and Plan B for Partnerships in Cultural Survival (R)
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Wednesday March 16th 2005
Taking Stock of Where we Are – Identifying Issues for the Second Half of the Term
No Readings
DISCUSSION PAPER #2 Due in Class
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Monday March 21st and Wednesday March 23rd
SPRING BREAK/NO CLASS
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Monday March 28th 2005
Finding Effective Ways of Doing Collaborative Conservation
Required Readings
Igoe History, Culture, and Conservation (R)
Brechin et al Complex Organization and Governance Regimes (R)
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Class Schedule
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Wednesday March 30th 2005
World Parks Guidelines I
Required Readings
WCPA Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas
(Chapters 1,2, & 3)
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Monday April 4th 2005 TBA
World Parks Guidelines II
Required Readings
WCPA Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas
(Chapters 4,5, & 6)
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Wednesday April 6th 2005
NO CLASS
MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY FOR APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY
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Monday April 11th 2005
TBA
DISCUSSION PAPER #3 Due In Class
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Wednesday April 13th 2005
TBA
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Monday April 18th 2005
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Class Schedule
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Wednesday April 20th 2005
TBA
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Monday April 25th 2005
TBA
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Wednesday April 27th 2005
TBA
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Wednesday May 4th 2005
Mandatory Field Trip
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TRIP TO PINE RIDGE
TO BE DECIDED
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