ANTH 390: Topics in Anthropology
Anthropology of Tourism
Fall 2012
Tuesday 6:30 - 9:00PM, KH 215
Instructor: Dr. Bruce Roberts

Office: King Hall 213

Office hours: T, H 9-11AM, 2-4PM; W 10AM-12:00PM; also by appointment; also by appointment.
Phone: 477-2043

E mail: robertsb@mnstate.edu
Class web site: http://web.mnstate.edu/robertsb/390

 Required books

Chambers, Erve
2010.  Native Tours: The Anthropology of Travel and Tourism. Second edition. Waveland Press.

 Gmelch, Susan Bohn
2010  Tourists and Tourism: A Reader. Second edition. Waveland Press.

Roland, L. Kaifa
2011  Cuban Color in Tourism and La Lucha: An Ethnography of Racial Meanings. Oxford University Press.

Zorn, Elayne
2004  Weaving a Future: Tourism, Cloth and Culture on an Andean Island. University of Iowa Press.

Additional readings hyperlinked to online version of the syllabus, http://web.mnstate.edu/robertsb/390/syllabus

Details 

Official course description: “Study of various topics in anthropology. This course may be repeated as topics vary.”

My course description: Tourism is arguably the world’s largest industry and it has become an integral part of economic strategies in developing countries. Tourism has numerous facets and in this course we will examine many of them. To anticipate here are a few to consider: Who are tourists? Who are hosts? What motivates some people to travel and what inspires others to host them? What are the impacts of tourism on local communities? How does tourism factor into identity construction – on the part of both hosts and guests? What different types of tourism can be identified (e.g., ecotourism, sex tourism, pilgrimage tourism, etc.) and what are the contemporary trends in global tourist behavior?  We will look intensively at ethnographic cases from Cuba and Peru, as well as others, to address these questions.

Course Requirements
(Including instructional strategies & evaluation standards)

Attendance/discussion: As adults, attendance is at your discretion. Just remember that missing night classes is like missing at least an entire week of material.

Exams: There will be a midterm exam and a final exam. The midterm will be worth 100 points. The cumulative final will be worth 150 points. Both will be comprised of a combination of objective questions (e.g., multiple choice, true-false) and essay(s).  

Critical Book Reviews: In addition to the articles/chapters in the texts by Chambers and Gmelch you'll also be reading and critically reviewing two ethnographies: one on tourism in Cuba by Kaifa Roland and the other by Elayne Zorn on tourism’s impact upon the people of Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca in Peru. Each review will be worth 25 points. The review of Roland’s book on Cuba is due October 9th (the night of the midterm) and the review of Zorn’s book on Taquile Island is due on the last night of class, December 11th. Together these reviews will constitute 12.5% of your final grade. While that may not sound like a lot now failure to submit them will surely lower your final grade. I see it every semester – people who could have gotten an A get a B, etc. Late submissions will be penalized 5 points per day late. I‘ll provide you with guidelines soon but meanwhile for an overview of how critical book reviews are done visit the University of Wisconsin Writing Center web page http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/CriNonfiction.html

Quizzes: I’ll give 6 pop quizzes throughout the semester at my discretion. Hopefully that will provide incentive to stay current on the readings. Each quiz will be worth 20 points. Because only 5 count in the grading scheme the 6th one is either a bonus or a drop, depending upon your perspective.

Together the quizzes equal the point values of the midterm – 25% of your final grade. That’s a lot! I also view the quizzes as a proxy for taking attendance. If you miss the quizzes or don’t keep up on the reading the effect on your grade will be negative. Quiz format will either be short-answer or objective (multiple-choice, true-false, and matching) or perhaps a combination of both types of questions.  No make-up quizzes will be given.

 Extra credit: I do not believe in it and do not offer it.

Students with disabilities who believe they may need an accommodation in this class are encouraged to contact Greg Toutges, Director of Disability Services at 477-4318 (Voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY), Flora Frick 154 as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.

Summary of evaluation criteria

Grades and point ranges

Schedule