159: AMS/EnvS/HUM Nature and World Cultures
SJSU SPRING 2009
TakeHome FINAL EXAM due online no later than 10:00 pm on Thursday, May 21, 2009
The five essay questions are worth 40 points each, for a total of 200 points You must reference course readings and/or films in all of your answers; you may also incorporate internet references or findings in your responses.
1. You are a member of an Academic Search Committee at a major university that is recruiting an ethnobiologist or an ethnoecologist. Your job is to write the job description to advertise the position. You are personally interested in having the candidate work in the part of the world that most interests you. Write a 200250 word position description which includes the following aspects: a. b. c. d. e. f. The type of academic training you expect the candidate to have; The type of research you want the candidate to focus on; The intercultural skills you expect from the candidate; The type of field expertise you expect the candidate to possess at this juncture in their career; The type of courses you expect the candidate to have taught; Other key points relevant to the job description.
2. You are competing for a competitive writing fellowship offered by the Society for Conservation Biology. The theme of the
fellowship is "Endangered Species, Endangered Cultures". Your entry to the competition is a 300400 word abstract on this topic. Within your abstract, you consider the following questions: how can both species and cultures be endangered? What are the connections between endangered species and endangered cultures? How would it be possible to conserve both biological species and ethnic cultures? Throughout your abstract, you need to clearly link your assertions (hypotheses) with reallife examples, drawn from the class films, class readings, or from your own class term paper.
3. In the readings by Lamberton (2000), Kimmerer (2003), Askins (2003), and Hill (2000), the authors describe intimate,
profound understandings they gained through carefully observing swallows, moss, wolves, and a redwood tree ecosystem. Choose a key phrase from each reading that relates to a common theme you believe connects all four readings. Cite verbatim a key phrase from each reading (with the page number), and then write a 100200 word summary of how the four phrases are interconnected.
4. In the Pfeiffer & Ortiz (2007) article on California native plants and traditional basketry, the authors trace the connections between cultural diversity traditions), (basketry biological diversity (native plants) and invasive species (starthistle, knapweed, etc.). In the review article by Pfeiffer & Voeks (2008), the authors cover another 70 cases across the globe where biocultural diversity is affected by invasive species, both positively and negatively.
(Question 4, continued) As a reviewer of both articles, you will be adding to the by researching your own UNIQUE case study [via Google or Google Scholar] of an invasive species (plant, animal, fish, insect, fungus, or microorganism [bacteria, virus, etc.]) that is: a. Ecologically impacting a culturally important native species (such as a cultural keystone species), and in turn, affecting cultural practices and cultural diversity; OR b. Leading to the creation/adoption of new cultural traditions, and in turn, affecting cultural diversity. Write a 50 150 word summary of the invasive species and the cultural traditions/practices it has, or is, impacting. Include the URL address(es) of the website(s) you used in your answer. NOTE: be sure that the biological species that you research is INVASIVE, not simply an "introduced" species. Check the introduction in Pfeiffer and Voeks if you are still unclear about the difference. Websites listing invasive species include: http://www.invasivespecies.net/database/welcome/ (see their "100 Worst" list) http://invasivespecies.nbii.gov/documents/databases/globaldbs.htm http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/resources/lists.shtml http://pcb2441.ifas.ufl.edu/list%20of%20species.htm
5. Discuss four ways in which Native cultures are experiencing significant impacts from climate change. Reference Dr. Pfeiffer's webinar on this topic AND provide at least one online citation that supports the examples you choose to detail. Your answer should be somewhere between 100 200 words. Include the URL address(es) of the website(s) you used in your answer.
Tips on how to get a perfect score;
a. Follow the instructions carefully, and to the letter. b. Write complete, grammatically correct and spellchecked sentences (you might even ask a friend or family member to check your answers before you submit them). Support your assertions with examples. c. Text or email the instructor if anything is unclear and do so well in advance (at least 48 hours before 5/21/09). d. Allow yourself at least two full hours to complete the exam.
Note: most students in the class ace the exam, you can too! Your instructor loves to grant perfect scores, if they are merited.