Anthropology 1095: Understanding Global Cultures



Anthropology 3635: Peoples and Cultures of Europe

End of Semester Exam

Fall 2006

19 December 2006

This exam is available in electronic form

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Upload all six of your questions in one file.

Do not upload them separately in six files.

You must finish and turn in or upload this exam by 5:55 p.m.

This is an open-book exam. You may bring and use your texts, dictionary, thesaurus, a writing handbook, class handouts, notes, outlines, drafts, memos, and a Ouija board. You may also use references and materials from your other classes and the web, with the caveat, of course, that you properly cite any sources you use. Friends, however, are not permitted.

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Answer six (only 6) of the following questions. Keep in mind that there is more than one approach you can take in answering these questions.

Follow these guidelines:

* Organize your answer before you begin.

* Be sure to state:

1. What or who something is

2. Where it occurred or is located (if appropriate)

3. How it is important

4. When it occurred

5. Why it is important

* State YOUR position or approach clearly.

* Cite specific examples or references to support your statements.

* Mention problem areas or other relevant materials which you would like to consider further in a more thorough statement. That is, when you're finished with your answer, what major questions are still left unanswered?

* Summarize your argument or discussion.

* Wherever appropriate use materials from more than one region of the world.

* Remember that each of your responses should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

* Note: Do not discuss any topic at length in more than one question.

* For the take-home question and the other questions so indicated, do not write on any country for which you were one of the presenters.

01. Current Affairs:

On Wednesday, 13 December 2006, the Belgian public television station RTBF announced that “the Dutch-speaking half of the nation had declared independence.” Thursday’s BBCNews headline read, “Belgians reacted with widespread alarm to news that their country had been split in two....”

[pic]

Monarchists rallied outside the Royal Palace after the report

Morris Levy says, “[This article] produced quite a stir in the country, but if the point was to start a debate, it certainly succeeded.”

[pic]

Viewers fooled by 'Belgium split'

Belgians reacted with widespread alarm to news that their country had been split in two - before finding out they had been spoofed.

The Belgian public television station RTBF ran a bogus report saying the Dutch-speaking half of the nation had declared independence.

Later it said Wednesday night's programme was meant to stir up debate.

It appears to have succeeded. Thousands of people made panicked calls to the station and politicians complained.

"It's very bad Orson Welles, in very poor taste," said a spokesman for Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, referring to the famous director's 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds. That spoof fooled many Americans into believing Martians had invaded.

|We obviously scared many people - maybe more than we expected |

| |

|Yves Thiran |

|RTBF head of news |

"In the current context, it's irresponsible for a public television channel to announce the end of Belgium as a reality presented by genuine journalists," he added.

The French-language TV channel interrupted regular programming with an apparent news report, announcing that Dutch-speaking Flanders had unilaterally declared independence and that Belgium as a nation had ceased to exist.

It showed "live" pictures of cheering crowds holding the Flemish flag, huge traffic jams leading to Brussels airport, and trams stuck at the new "border".

The broadcast came amid an apparent growth of separatist sentiment in Flanders.

Recent regional elections have shown strong support for the far-right, nationalist Vlaams Belang party, which advocates Flemish independence.

The station's website crashed briefly as alarmed viewers sought more information, and 2,600 calls were made to a telephone number given out during the spoof.

"Our intention was to show Belgian viewers the intensity of the issue of the future of Belgium and the real possibility of Belgium no longer being a country in a few months," Yves Thiran, head of news at RTBF, told the BBC.

He said it introduced people to the debate who would otherwise have ignored it, but he admitted some may have taken it the wrong way.

"We obviously scared many people - maybe more than we expected," he said.

Diplomatic reaction

Some politicians were in on the joke, contributing interviews to the programme with their reactions to the "news". But others were not amused.

The minister for audiovisual affairs for the French-speaking community, Fadila Laanan, said the words "this is fiction" appeared on screen half an hour into the broadcast - at her insistence.

"I find it questionable to use such a tactic, which frightened people unbelievably," she said, adding that a number of people had called her in panic when the "news" broke.

The AFP news agency reported that even some foreign ambassadors in Brussels were taken in, and sent urgent messages back to their respective capitals.

Story from BBC NEWS:



Published: 2006/12/14 10:10:47 GMT

© BBC MMVI

QUESTION:

How would you explain this event to your old high school friends back home, based on what you learned this semester in Peoples and Cultures of Europe?

02. From the last class:

In our course review of Fall 2006 the Number One “THING I LIKED LEAST about this class was . . .” Vasilika.

Given the significant academic importance of Ernestine Friedl’s work on Vasilika to the history and theory of the Anthropology of Europe, and because of its important role as a key “master text” in the field, it is intellectually not honest and otherwise not possible to just drop it from the curriculum. Other works--such as Nan or Cod or A Crisis of Births--could be replaced, but not Vasilika.

QUESTION: What would it take to get Vasilika off of the “Least Liked List?” Please be specific with your answers.

(Also be realistic; for example, “take us all to Greece to meet the people” would not be a realistic response.)

03. From the GCforum:

Using units of analysis as well as the four types of scaling, describe at least one culture or group of people studied in this class.

Do not choose a country or culture of which you were a presenter.

04. From the GCforum:

What kinds of problems face the EU in the future? How can anthropology contribute to solving these problems?

05. From the GCforum:

Using examples from Europe in the Anthropological Imagination text, what do you see as the future of European Anthropology and the impact it has had on the definition of Anthropology in general?

Do not choose this question if you also choose Question #10.

06. From the GCforum:

Discuss the reasons for the low birthrate of Italians. What are some of the reasons that Krause gave us in her book for the low birthrate? What is different about Italian society with its birthrate of 1.23 and the "robust American birthrate" of 2.1? Why are they so different?

07. From the GCforum:

In the book Crisis of Births, what exactly do you think the author was referring to when she repeatedly mentions the "quiet revolution"?

08. Applied Question--Focus, Spain:

Do not choose this question if you were a presenter on Spain or bullfighting.

Assume that you just signed up for a year-long study abroad program in Granada, Spain, and find that you are living in the region of Andalucía with a family that loves bullfighting. They argue that bullfighting is really an art form and not a (blood sport,( and that bullfighting is a ritual re-enactment of the eternal (man against nature( theme played out in one way or another by most civilizations. And, they point out, that “the most important and earliest prehistoric cave paintings of bulls in the world” are right down the road at Altamira.

They also point out that the bulls that fight well will become famous throughout Spain, and, in fact, they note that the good bulls will be historically better known than most Americans will ever be. They also counter your argument about bullfighting being cruel to animals by pointing out that fewer Spanish bulls have been killed this year than women and children killed in Iraq by American soldiers. They also think that American football and American hockey are much more brutal than the Spanish bullfight. And that Portuguese “bullfighting” isn’t bull fighting at all, it’s just toying around with the bulls. Things are getting tense between you and the Andalucian Spanish family you are living with, but you have no option except to stay with them and at the University of Granada until the end of May.

Based on what you learned in Peoples and Cultures of Europe, what do you do?

09. Text:

Chapter 12 of Europe in the Anthropological Imagination discusses “The Place of Europe in George P. Murdock's Anthropological Theory.” What is the place of Europe in George P. Murdock's anthropological theory?

10. Methods/Theory:

Chapter 13 of Europe in the Anthropological Imagination discusses “The Meaning of ‘Europe’ in the American Anthropologist (Part I).” What is Susan Parman likely to say when she writes “Part II”?

Do not choose this question if you also choose Question #05.

11. Comparison-Contrast Analysis, The Holy See / Other Countries of Europe:

In some respects The Holy See (aka “the Vatican”) affects all of the countries that we have discussed and read about this semester in class. In a sense, it is another important social layer to consider in analyzing cultures, and an extensive one at that -- although, according to the CIA Factbook, in geographical size it is only “about 0.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC.” The Holy See rules “over one billion people, about half of the estimated 2.1 billion Christians worldwide.” One of the earliest goals of President Reagan was to recognize the Vatican as a state, that is, as a country, so we know from that fact alone that politically The Holy See is an international important entity.

And just yesterday (Monday, 18 December 2006) BBCNews reported: “Top cardinal dreams of Vatican FC: A senior Roman Catholic cardinal says he hopes the Vatican may one day field a football team good enough to compete with Italy's top sides.” “Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone envisaged a team that might challenge famous Serie A clubs like Roma, Inter Milan and Sampdoria,” BBCNews reported. “. . . [The] Church's seminaries and Catholic youth clubs around Italy [are] full of talented footballers [who] would gladly pull on the Vatican's yellow-and-white colours.” One of the “. . . two questions that need to be answered about this future Vatican team [is] whether it should really be competing in the domestic league -- it is, after all, the world's smallest state.”

From what you have learned this semester, how does The Holy See fit into an analysis of the countries that we have considered this semester in Peoples and Cultures of Europe? Include as part of your analysis materials from the CEforum.

12. Central and Eastern Europe:

Discuss the importance of anthropology in Central and Eastern Europe as reflected in Mihály Sárkány’s article “Cultural and Social Anthropology in Central and Eastern Europe.”

13. Optional Take-Home Question:

NOTE: Essentially you may make up ONE question total. You may either do that as a take-home and bring it to class with you, or you may do that in class the day of the exam. If you elect to do the optional take-home exam and bring it with you to class, then you must choose five (5) additional of the remaining questions presented on the actual exam, as they are presented on the exam.

A note on questions relating to Turkey: You may use Turkey and significant cultural aspects of Turkey (for e.g., the Kurds), but if you do, you must establish how that item/event/feature relates to Turkey as a part of Europe.

For example, if you want to do a question on the Kurds and Turkey and the Kirkuck oil fields, you must relate that to European energy or the equivalent, not just discuss the Kurds, Kirkuck oil and Turkey.

If you do not like these questions, make up and answer a question of your own choice relating to a topic having to do with the Peoples and Cultures of Europe which you have not considered in your other answers. Do not select a topic that was part of any of your or your groups' in-class presentations. (If you think these questions are fantastic but simply prefer to make up one of your own, go ahead.)

Answers should contain specific information supporting your position. Both your question and your answer will be evaluated.

If you elect to make up and answer a question, you may prepare your question and answer in advance and bring it with you to the exam. If you prepare your question in advance you only need to answer five (5) other questions in class.

Do not write on any country for which you were one of the presenters.

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