Final Exam on Anthropology and the Anthropocene
This final course evaluation is an open book review exercise of key anthropological concepts that you have learned in this course to date. You may use course materials (e.g., your textbook, readings, class notes, films, etc.) to help you formulate your responses. Students are asked to respond to a set of short answer questions that will cover course material from Week 8 (Race and Racism to Week 11 (Social Movements).
Week 12, Anthropology and the Anthropocene, is now optional—you may use this module in your answers, but it is not required to complete this exercise.
The exercise is worth 25 marks and comprises 25% of your final grade. It is divided into three sections:
Part One: Short Answer (choice of 1 out of 2 options), 10 marks
Part Two: Short Answer (choice of 1 out of 2 options), 10 marks
Part Three: Short Answer (1 question, no options), 5 marks
Completed exercises are due on Tuesday, December 8th, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EST; students may have until Saturday, December 12th, 2020 to complete the exercise if needed.
Please submit your responses in a Word Document, Pages Document, or Adobe PDF on Canvas; be sure to include your name and indicate which questions you have answered.
PART ONE – Structural Inequalities:
Answer ONE of the two following short answer questions. Responses should be approximately two to three paragraphs in length (5-8 sentences per paragraph). This question is worth 10 marks.
A) What is meant by the phrase, “race is an illusion, but racism is not”? What does the history of scientific racism tell us about the social construction of race and its consequences? Relate your discussion to both readings from this module (“Why Genes Don’t Count [For Racial Differences in Health]” by A. H. Goodman and “Introduction: The Invention of Race” by Dorothy Roberts) and the film, “Race: Power of an Illusion, Episode 3.”
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B) In his article “From ‘Slum Clearance’ to ‘Revitalization,’” Ryan James provides analysis of “moral regulation” in Toronto’s Regent Park. What does “moral regulation” mean and how does it relate to social class, morality, and gentrification? Your response must include at least one way that gentrification reveals class-based tensions using either the film, “City Rising,” or the film short, “Farewell Oak Street.”
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PART TWO – Anthropology and the Global World:
Answer ONE of the two following short answer questions. Responses should be approximately two to three paragraphs in length (5-8 sentences per paragraph). This question is worth 10 marks.
A) According to film, “Life and Debt,” our current global economy has intensified uneven divisions of labour between countries of the “Global North” and “South.” Drawing on two specific examples from the course, compare and contrast some positive and negative aspects of this North-South division. Your answer should clearly address some of the historical factors underlying these existing socio-economic disparities.
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B) The rise of socio-economic inequalities, both locally and internationally, has sparked intense debates regarding the ways that people think about and respond to politics in their daily lives. Why do people turn to social movements in order to enact social change? What role does social activism play in response to inequalities? Discuss with reference to the documentary, “Freedom is not Free: Decolonial Education,” and at least one other example from the course. Your response should address some of the strengths and limitations of social movements.
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PART THREE – Anthropology “In the World”:
Answer the following short answer question. Responses should be approximately two to three paragraphs in length (5-8 sentences per paragraph). This question is worth 5 marks.
A) Referring to one module from the second half of the course, describe how an anthropological lens has shifted, challenged, or deepened your views on that module’s topic. Your answer should speak to one module that you have not addressed in Part One or Part Two of this exercise—e.g., i. Race and Racism, ii. Class and Inequality, iii. Globalization, iv. Social movements or the Anthropocene. Knowing what you now know, how would you explain that topic and its key concepts to someone who has not taken this course?
Anthropological concepts
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Anthropological concepts
PART ONE – Structural Inequalities:
* The race is not an illusion.
It has become important to consider race as an illusion. However, this doesn't mean that the effects associated with race without considering its origin have not actually been real. This makes it important to distinguish between racism and race, which makes racism not be an illusion. The social consequences of racism have been real and thus leading to the issue of if the race is an illusion, then this would make racism to be unreal, and thus people would not have to fight for it.
Understanding the difference between race and illusion makes it clear that the illusion is real. The development of social policies for redressing racism makes you try to define something that you may consider being unreal. Confusion of racism and race has made the enhancement in the way policies are formulated based on racism (Roberts, 2011). Therefore the policies should be formulated to address the psychological and economic consequences attributed to racism as compared to its origin. Additionally, it is important to keep track of the categories of race in order to measure policy effects.
This has made it very hard for people to be convinced that human beings cannot be conscious of the physical differences that exist between people and the creation of categories in thin heads with regards to the physical differences. This has made it hard to erase the consciousness of what we know as a race.
PART TWO – Anthropology and the Global World
* Social movements
These are considered to be movements that begin from the ground with people sharing the same technology, industry, or even geographical regions and race. The social movements can grow into large networks, which can even influence various social changes and inequalities in society. However, there are those that never grow but end upon their achievements (Beck & Maida, 2015). Most of the social movements exist between various extremes, mainly trying to sustain and build...