People, Plants and Place

Course Schedule

Part I: Putting Down Roots

[week 1] Putting Down Roots: Why anthropology and plants?
  • Day 1 [names, introductions, review of syllabus and course requirements]
  • Day 2
[week 2] Putting Down Roots: Early Anthropology of Plants, People, Places
  • Day 3 
    • “Whiting, Alfred F. The Origin of Corn: An Evaluation of Fact and Theory.” in American Anthropologist New Series, Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 500-515 [pdf available under files] 
    • open access resource: Cushing, Frank H. 1972 [1920]. “Part I: Creation, and the Origin of Corn,” and “The Origin of the Dragonfly, and of The Corn Priests, or Guardians of the Seed.” In Zuni Breadstuff. New York: Museum of the American Indian.
    • Ford, Richard I. “Anthropological Perspective of Ethnobotany in the Greater Southwest.” Economic Botany 39, no. 4 (1985): 400–415. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4254791.
    • [discussion questions: Why were anthropologists interested in plants like corn and yams? What was their original interest in agriculture and gardening? What role do plants play in the stories anthropologists are trying to tell about the past?
  • Day 4
    • open access resource: Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1965 [1935]. “Gardens and Their Magic on a Coral Atoll.” In Coral Gardens and Their Magic Volume I: A Study of the Methods of Tilling the Soil and of Agricultural Rites in the Trobriand Islands. New York: Routledge. [Selections]
    • optional: “The Coral Gardens are Losing Their Magic.” [pdf available under files]
[week 3] Putting Down Roots: Anthropology and Ethnobotany 
  • Day 5: 
    • Balick, M. & P.Cox. 1996. Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany. Scientific American, New York. Chapter 1:1-23
    • Open access resource: 73rdStProductions. 2012. Introduction: The Culture of Ethnobotany. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mymkyvBXnzk.
  • Day 6: 
    • Kandell, Jonathan. 2001. “Richard E. Schultes, 86, Dies; Trailblazing Authority on Hallucinogenic Plants.” The New York Times, April 13, 2001, sec. U.S. [in files]
[week 4] Beyond Nature and Culture: Naturecultures
  • Day 7:
    • Rupp, Stephanie. 2011.  Forests of Belonging: Identities, Ethnicities, and Stereotypes in the Congo River Basin. Seattle: University of Washington Press. [chapter 4: Beyond Nature and Culture]
    • Bonus: Haraway, Donna. 2003. Companion Species Manifesto [under files]
  • Day 8: 
    • Subramaniam, Banu. 2014. “INTRODUCTION.: Interdisciplinary Hauntings: The Ghostly World of Naturecultures.” In Ghost Stories for Darwin, 1–24. The Science of Variation and the Politics of Diversity. University of Illinois Press. [in files]
      • Spend at least 20 minutes browsing the site. How do the creators define naturecultures? How does this term work or not work for your life and experiences of nature?
    • Bonus: Tunks, Andrea. “Tangata Whenua Ethics and Climate Change.” New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law, 1, 1997, p. 67-124. HeinOnline. [in files]

Part II: Plants, People and Power

[Week 5] Plants and Imperialism 
  • Day 9: 
    • Mintz, Sidney. 1985. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. New York: Elizabeth Sifton Books/Viking.  [Introduction and Selections]
  • Day 10: 
    • Open access resource: Yale University. 2021. On Botany, Empire, and Environmental Humanities in the Philippines and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAGFP97_OZg.
    • Gutierrez, Kathleen Cruz. 2018. “What’s in a Latin Name? Cycas wadei and the Politics of Nomenclature.” Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology 12, no. 2: 24-35. [pdf will begin to download]
[Week 6] Plants, recipes, (in)justice: 
  • Day 11: 
  • Day 12:
    • Galvez, Alyshia. 2018. Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [“Introduction” and “Chapter 1: People of the Corn” in files]
    • Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne 2014. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. Boston: Beacon Press. [chapter 1: “Follow the Corn” in files ]
[week 7] Plants, Bodies, Race and Gender 
  • Day 13:
    • Schiebinger, Londa. 2007. Plants and Empire: Colonial Bioprospecting in the Atlantic World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. [excerpts]
  • Day 14:
    • open access resource: Gan, Elaine(2019). Sorting seeds into racialized futures and pasts.Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, 5(2), page 1-3. [starts loading immediately]
[week 8]  Plants and Indigeneity; Indigenous Plants  
  • Day 15: 
    • Christine Sy, Waaseyaa’sin. 2018. “Relationship with Land in Anishinaabeg Womxn’s Historical Research.” In Reshaping Women’s History. University of Illinois Press. [in files]
  • Day 16: 
    • Subramaniam, Banu. 2014. “Thigmatropic Tales: On the Politics and Social Lives of Morning Glories.” In Ghost Stories for Darwin, 27–44. The Science of Variation and the Politics of Diversity. University of Illinois Press. [in files]
[week 9] Urban Plantscapes 
  • Day 17:
    • Dreifus, Claudia. 1999. “A Conversation with: Michael J. Balick; New York’s a Jungle, and One Scientist Doesn’t Mind.” The New York Times, April 6, 1999, sec. Science. [in files]
  • Day 18: 
    • Hite, Emily Benton et al. “Intersecting race, space, and place through community gardens.” in Annals of Anthropological Practice Vol 41 (2): 55-66 [in files]

Part III: Growing Trends: Current Debates and Research Agendas

[week 10] : Research Agendas
  •  Day 19: 
    • workshop from librarian on primary and secondary sources (depending on librarian availability)
  • Day 20: 
    • Preliminary project ideas due: come to class prepared to discuss four sources on your plants that count as background reading and at least one person you would like to interview. It could be a family member, friend, or whoever you know that likes to make food, enjoys gardening. 
[week 11]   Research Agendas II
  • Day 21:
    • Tour of New York Botanic Gardens LuEsther T. Mertz Library (depending on librarian availability)
  • Day 22:
    • preliminary bibliographies due: look at Chicago Manual [opens new web page] 
    • Come to class prepared to discuss your updated bibliographies
[week 12] Oral Histories: two part oral history workshop with Miriam Laytner 
  • Day 23:  
    • the oral history interview background, how, when and where to record and why (homework: listen to at least one NYBG oral history interview and write down some questions you might like to ask your interviewee) 
  • Day 24:
    • workshopping the oral history interview guide and getting consent. 

Part IV: Stories about Plants, People, Place

[week 13] Oral Histories Week
  • Please use this week to conduct your oral history interviews. Readings are recommended but we will not meet to discuss them. The first is a set of recommendations on self-care during this period. The second is an inspiring set of oral histories revolving around plants. Listen for some inspiration!
  • Day 25: 
  • Day 26:
[week 14]: Oral Histories Week II
  • Day 27:
    • Transcription Workshop (Braiding Sweetgrass Part 1)
  • Day 28:
    • open access resource: Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Parts 1+ 2 [archive.org]
[Week 15] Final Projects
  • Day 29:
    • Braiding Sweetgrass Part 3+Final Project Ideas due 
  • Day 30:
    • Braiding Sweetgrass Part 4  + Posts about final projects
[week 16] Final Presentations
  • Day 31:
    • Final presentations
  • Day 32:
    • Final presentations