ANT 412 APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

Fall Semester 2009

 

Instructor: Tim Wallace  Telephone: 919-515-9025 (o); 919-815-6388 (c)
Office: 220 1911 Building Office Hours: MW 1:30-3:30
Box 8107, Raleigh, NC 27695-8107 Fax No. 919-513-0866
Email: tmwallace@mindspring.com Web Page: http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/wallace
Secretary: Bruce Cheek Secretary Telephone: 919-515-2491

 

SYLLABUS

Applied anthropology has had a long, and sometimes controversial history within the discipline, but is today the most rapidly growing field within anthropology. Applied anthropologists are employed to solve practical problems. There are far more anthropologists employed outside of academic institutions than inside of them. In this course, among other things, you will learn the answer to the questions, "What can you do with a degree in Anthropology?" and "How can anthropology be applied to practical problems for real people and organizations?" The goal of this course is, then, to introduce you to the history, methods and aims of applied anthropology, and the nature of the roles in which applied anthropologists work for individuals, groups and organizations. This course also introduces students to the content areas of applied anthropology and the roles applied anthropologists have at their workplace. A course on applied anthropology also would not be complete without a good discussion of appropriate research paradigms, methodologies, ethics, analytic techniques and report writing.

A simple definition of applied anthropology is "anthropology put to use." (See the American Anthropological Association website) (Click here to read a brief description of the field and its subfields). Applied anthropology often provides a specific benefit to a client or a subject. As such it stands in some relief to basic anthropology, whose goal is the more general: developing scientific theories explaining human behavior. The work of applied anthropologists is diverse and there are many different roles that they may take, depending on the nature of the applied activity.  Please go to the following website from Northern Kentucky University Department of Anthropology for more information about careers in anthropology. Click here. Or go to the BYU Anthropology Department for more ideas (Click here).  Finally, there is a UNC-W website prepared by their career planning and placement office on jobs for anthropology majors, along with internship ideas. Click here.)

The majority of students who are now getting degrees in anthropology work outside academic settings, so it is important to be introduced to roles anthropologists play outside the academy, how they employ anthropology in their jobs, how they find jobs, what skills they need, and how they confront the ethical issues that arise in their work. This is what this course is about.  For additional weblinks on my website to other anthropology and applied anthropology related sites please click here.  Two of the main sites for applied anthropology are the Society for Applied Anthropology (SFAA) and the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA).

Outcomes

By the end of this course, the student should have learned the following:

1. knowledge of the domains in which applied anthropology is carried out.

2. the roles of applied anthropologists in their workplace.

3. the history of applied anthropology in the USA.

4. knowledge and familiarity with the way applied anthropologists employ anthropological research methods.

5. additional ethnographic skills and the key Internet resources for applied anthropologists.

6. understanding how applied anthropologists employ anthropological concepts and perspectives, such as the holistic perspective, the cross-cultural perspective and cultural relativism.

7. the ethical issues involved in applied anthropology and familiarity with the ethics guidelines followed by the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA).

8. skills in professional networking, report writing, rapid ethnographic research techniques, and job searches.

9. the relationship between applied and theoretical research.

PRINCIPAL REQUIRED TEXTS

Margaret A. Gwynne. 2003. Applied Anthropology: A Career-Oriented Approach. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. ($47 - used)

Stanley E. Hyland, ed. 2005. Community Building in the Twenty-First Century. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. ($22.50 - used)

Luke Eric Lassiter. 2005. The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ($10.50 - used)

Carla Guerrón-Montero. 2008. Careers in Applied Anthropology in the 21st Century: Perspectives from Academics and Practitioners. Washington, DC: National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. Series: NAPA Bulletin, No. 29. ($34.95 - new)

Sherlyn H. Briller & Amy Goldmacher. 2008. Designing an Anthropology Career: Professional Development Exercises. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. ($18.75 - used)

Additional readings are available through Electronic Reserves at the NCSU Libraries or through links on this website.

 

Summary of Course Requirements
Tests/Exams/Logs Percent of Grade Due Date Assignments Percent of Grade Due Date
Mid-term exam 20% 10/19 Interviews with Applied Anthros 20% 11/4
Volunteer Logs/Report 15% 11/30 Needs Assessment 10% 11/18
Final exam 25% 12/11, 1PM Participation 10% weekly

COURSE OUTLINE:
August 19 - First Day of Classes August 27- SW Volunteer Fair for volunteer internships - Ballroom, Talley Student Center, 3:30-5PM
September 7 - Martin Luther King Day - No Class Midterm Exam, October 19
October 8-9 Fall Break AAA Meetings  in Philadelphia - Dec 2-6
Thanksgiving - Nov 25-27 Final Exam - December 11

 

  See also another applied anthropology bibliography.

 

Week 1. (August 19)  

Introduction to the course, the requirements and a brief review of the discipline: Course Outline, Goals and Assignments.

Readings:

(1) Margaret A. Gwynne (textbook), ch. 1 (Introduction-Uses of Cultural Anthropology)  (Also review Appendices 1 & 2 if you are new to anthropology or need a refresher)

(2) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Satish Kedia, "Recent Changes and Trends in the Practice of Anthropology," pp. 14-28.

(3) Briller and Goldmacher (textbook), Designing an Anthropology Career, pp. 1-34.

Week 2. (August 24-26)

Overview of fields of anthropology and the place of applied within it.

A. Brief discussion of the applied aspects of the four fields of anthropology: Physical Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistic Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology and the  "Fifth Sub-field" 

B. What kind of skills do applied anthropologists need?  See skill set from Nolan and from LeCompte and Schensul toolkit table.

C. What can I do with a degree in Anthropology? Types of jobs for students with anthropology undergraduate and advanced degrees.  See brief pages from NKU anthropology website on careers. Also, see job summary from NKU career center. Do you need a graduate degree to do anthropology?

Readings:

(1) Gwynne, ch. 2 (Method and Theory in Applied Cultural Anthropology

(2) Chesapeake Quarterly on Michael Paolisso http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/cq/V02N3/main/ (If you can't find the website, I can email you the paper.)

(3) Jane Gibson, Where Do You Hang Your Hat?"

(4)  Michael Reed, Nine Contemporary Anthropological Work Roles, NAPA Bulletin, 1997, Vol. 17, No. 1: 11-28

(5) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Barbara Pillsbury, "Applied Anthropology and Executive Leadership," pp. 131-151

(6) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Luke Eric Lassiter, "Moving Past Public Anthropology and Doing Collaborative Research," pp. 70-86

(7) Victoria Sanford, On the Frontlines: Forensic Anthropology

Week 3. (August 31 - September 8)

History of Applied Anthropology in America, the UK and Canada (See course notes here)

A.  The Early History: Anthropology at the service of colonial governments, the New Republic and major urban museums (esp., the Field Museum and the Harvard Peabody Museum), Boas and Salvage anthropology, Organization and community studies (Elton Mayo and W. Lloyd Warner) , The "Indian Problem" and the "Race Problem", the BIA and anthropologist involvement in the race discussion

B.  Anthropologists in wartime

C.  The Post-WWII era

D.  The decline of the academic job market and the rise of non-academic employment in the 1980's and beyond

E.  Applied Anthropology in England, Russia and China

Readings:

(1) Gwynne: ch. 3, History of Applied Anthropology

(2) Ward Goodenough, Cooperation in Change, ch. 1 "The Beginning of a New Profession"

(3) George Foster, Part 1 "The Development of Applied Anthropology" (Electronic Reserve Part 1  and Part 2 under ANT512);

(4)  Shirley Fiske and Erve Chambers, "The Inventions of Practice;" (in Human Organization, 55(1), Spring 1996: 1-12)

(5) Barbara Rylko-Bauer, Merrill Singer, and John van Willigen,  Reclaiming Applied Anthropology, Its Past, Present and Future

(6) Marietta Baba & Carole Hill, What's in the Name 'Applied Anthropology'?: An Encounter with Global Practice, NAPA Bulletin, No. 25, 2006

(7) Sarah Pink, The Practice of Anthropology in Great Britain, NAPA Bulletin, No. 25, 2006

(8) Jianmin Wang and John A Young, Applied Anthropology in China, NAPA Bulletin, No. 25, 2006

(9) Anatoly Yamskov, Practicing Ethnology in Contemporary Russia, NAPA Bulletin, No. 25, 2006

Week 4.  (September 14-16)  Different types of applied anthropologies

A.  Discussion of the difference among the following terms:

  • applied anthropology

  • practicing anthropology

  • engaged anthropology

  • public anthropology

Read and write a one-page comment after you have done the following.  Go to the SfAA website and read in its entirety the SfAA's mission/vision/values/goals statement and then compare it with "public anthropology".  How do they differ? Read this statement on public anthropology first, taken from Robert Borofsky, one of the leaders in Public Anthropology. Then read the paper by Luke Lassiter on collaborative and public anthropology (If you can't connect to it, let me know.)

"In public anthropology, we take anthropology out of the academy and into the community. It is a publicly engaged anthropology at the intersection of theory and practice, of intellectual and ethical concerns, of the global and the local. As with other forms of public scholarship, it requires us to become involved in issues of public interest both across the world and down the street. These issues include not only such urgent public concerns as immigrants’ lives, eating disorders, women in the workplace, AIDS, human rights, transitions from mass violence, and the legacies of slavery, but also such locally specific concerns as place and public memory. By incorporating public anthropology into our teaching, moreover, our students learn to practice ethnography and anthropological analysis in hands-on projects in which they collaborate with members of local communities.

Anthropologists engaged in different institutional settings-the academy, the policy world, and the private research sector-have few opportunities to discuss public anthropology with each other. In this roundtable, six anthropologists from these settings, either based in or affiliated to Brandeis University, Tufts University, Wellesley College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will discuss their research, teaching, and practice of public anthropology. Both in the roundtable presentations and in the ensuing discussion, we will reflect upon our place within anthropology, and examine how public anthropology might reshape our discipline. Questions we will address include our location within the flows of anthropological theory and method, our interpretive authority in contexts of advocacy, contradictions arising from our collaboration with community organizations, and how public anthropology is regarded in the institutions in which we are located (2004)."

B. Why does applied anthropology have a low status among big-name graduate anthropology departments? Contrasting general and applied anthropology. 

C. The importance of advocacy, collaborative and sustainable applied anthropological work

D. The key elements underlying all applied work are summed in these four adjectives: participatory, collaborative, sustainable and ethical

Readings:  

(1)  Cynthia Woodsong, The Politics of Field Research, In Handbook of Team-Based Qualitative Research, edited by Greg Guest and Kathleen M. MacQueen, Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2008.

(2)  Eric Lassiter (textbook), Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography, pp. 1-75

(3) Alayne Unterberger, The Blur: Balancing Applied Anthropology, Activism and the Self vis-a-vis Immigrant Communities, NAPA Bulletin, 30, vol.1: 1-12, 2009.

(4) Williams, Cades Cove Descendants

(5) Carol McDavid, From Traditional Archaeology to Public Archaeology to Community Action, found in the ANT412/512 Course Reserves

(6) Michael T. Lucas, Applied Archaeology and the Construction of Place at Mt. Calvert, Prince George's County, Maryland

(7) The AAA race Exhibit View the whole site and listen/read.

Week  5.  (September 21-23) 

Ethics in Practicing Anthropology

A.  The rights and obligations of anthropologists toward their subjects and clients

B. Project Camelot, Thailand, Chagnon and the Yanomamo and other ethical problems

C.  The development of the AAA, NAPA, and the SfAA ethics statements

D.  Privacy and reputations

E.  Informed consent and Institutional Review Boards (IRB’s)

F. The Human Terrain Systems Controversy

g.  When they read what the anthropologist writes...

Readings:

(1) Gwynne, ch. 4 (Ethics of Applied Anthropology)

(2) Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, "Informed Consent In Anthropological: We Are Not Exempt," Human Organization 53(1): 1-10.

(3) William O. Beeman: "Proprietary Research and Anthropological Ethics;"

(4) Carolyn Fluehr-Loban, Ethics and Anthropology 1890-2000; Statement on ethics from the SfAA, (http://www.sfaa.net) and AAA (http://www.aaanet.org)

(5) Patrick Tierney, "Darkness in El Dorado"

(6) Kathleen McQueen, "Ethics and Team-based Qualitative Research," In Handbook of Team-Based Qualitative Research, edited by Greg Guest and Kathleen M. MacQueen, Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2008.

(7) Human Terrain Systems, New Yorker; Montgomery McFate bio

Week 6 (September 28-30) Basic Research Methods in Applied Anthropology

A. The relationship between theory and practice

B. Working in teams, collaborative and participatory research

C. Rapid appraisal techniques and other rapid methods such as focused group interviewing

D. Designing a research project

F. Quantitative approaches, controlled comparisons

Readings:

(1) LeCompte and Schensul, ch.4, Part 1: An Overview of Research Design and Part 2 

(2) Hyland, ch. 8, Jean J. Schensul, "Strengthening Communities through Research Partnerships for Social Change: Perspectives from the Institute for Community Research"

(3)  Schensul, Choosing and Designing an Ethnographic Research Project

(4) Eric Lassiter (textbook), Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography, pp. 79-154

(5) James Beebe, "Basic Concepts and Techniques of Rapid Appraisal"

(6) Ken Erickson and Don Stull, Doing Team Ethnography: Warnings and Advice, ch. 3-4, Getting There -- Together

(7) Russell Bernard, Handbook, Research Methods in Anthropology, Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2006: ch. 14, Field Notes: How to Take Them, Code Them and Manage them

(8) Russell Bernard, Handbook, Research Methods in Anthropology, Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2006: ch. 15, Direct and indirect Observation

(9) Tazim Jamal and Amanda Stronza, Collaboration theory and tourism practice in protected areas: stakeholders, structuring and sustainability, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 17 (2), March 2009.

Week 7.  (October 5-7)

Relationship between methods, theories, policy and practice 

A. Praxis: joining research with theory, policy and practice

B. Research paradigms: Positivism, Interpretative approaches, critical anthropology, ecological anthropology, network approaches

C. The relationships among policy, Information and Implementation

D. Challenges to policy and practice

Readings:

(1)  Carole E. Hill, "Strategic Issues for Rebuilding a Theory and Practice"

(2) LeCompte and Schensul, ch. 3, Paradigms for Thinking about Ethnographic Research;

(3) Marietta Baba, "Theories of Practice in Anthropology: A Critical Appraisal"

(4) Roberto J. Gonzalez, From Indigenismo to Zapatismo: Theory and Practice in Mexican Anthropology

(5) Elayne Zorn and Linda C. Farthing, "Communitarian Tourism: Hosts and Mediators in Peru," Annals of Tourism Research, 34:3, 207: 673-689.

(6) Walter Goldschmidt, "Notes Towards a Theory of Applied Anthropology"

7) Quetzil Castaneda, The Past as Transcultural Space: Using Ethnographic Installation in the Study of Archaeology

Week 8. (October 12-14 )

Community Development, Action Anthropology and Needs Assessment

A.  Action Anthropology and Sol Tax

B.  Cornell-Peru Vicos Project and Allan Holmberg

C. Participant intervention vs. Action Anthropology approaches

Readings:

(1) Sol Tax, The Fox Project (Action Anthropology)

(2) Hyland (textbook), ch. 2 (van Willigen), Community Assets and the Community Building Process

(3) John van Willigen, "Action Anthropology"

(4) Paul L. Doughty, "Ending Serfdom in Peru, (The Peru-Cornell Vicos Project)" 

(5) Brent Berlin and Elois Ann Berlin, Community Autonomy and the Maya ICBG Project in Chiapas, Mexico: How a Bioprospecting Project that Should Have Succeeded Failed, Human Organization, 63(4): 472-486.

(6) Hyland, ch. 4, Kemper and Adkins, World as It Should Be: Faith-based Community Development in America

(7) ABCD Institute Basic Principles of Asset Based Community Development (Take a look at the principles and basic summary of training)

Week 9.  (October 21-26)

Working for the Federal Government

A.  Anthropologists at the Smithsonian museums

B.  Anthropology and the New Deal

C. Anthropologists in WW II and against the Vietnam War

D. Human Terrain Systems and the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

E. Making a career in government service

Readings:

(1) Thomas C. Patterson, A Social History of Anthropology in the US, pp. 80-101

(2) Matthew Stannerd, Montgomery McFate's Mission

(3) George Packer, Knowing the Enemy

(4) SfAA Newsletter, Vol, 18, No. 4, November 2007, pp. 1-7

(5) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Shirley Fiske, "Working for the Federal Government: Anthropology Careers," pp. 110-130

(6) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Jennifer Gilden, "Small Fish in s Big Pond: An Applied Anthropologist in Natural Resource Management," pp. 41-55.

(7) Yonathan Mizrachi, Applying Anthropology in Information Technology and Deployment Efforts: Business Processes Re-Design the Israeli Defense Forces, Practicing Anthropology, 30(1) 2008: 42-44.

(8) Orit Tamir, We Find Ourselves in the Middle: Navajo Relocation and ReLocatee-Host Conflicts, Practicing Anthropology, 31(2):2009: 35-39.

Week 10.  (October 28-November 2) Development Anthropology

A.  (Early) international development and community development

B.  The Anthropology Development Critique of Development Anthropology

C.   The Theory of Diffusion of Innovation

D.  Participatory Research Procedures

E.  Rapid Assessment Procedures

Readings:  

(1) Gwynne, ch. 5 (Development Anthropology)

(2) Ward Goodenough, Cooperation in Change, ch. 1 "The Beginning of a New Profession"

(3) Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovation, ch. 9, "The Change Agent" PART1; PART II (See My Course Reserves)

(4) Katy Gardner and David Lewis, "Anthropology, Development and the Crisis of Modernity" (See My Course Reserves)

(5) Gerald Murray  "The Domestication of Wood in Haiti" (See My Course Reserves)

(6) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Phil Young, "Practicing Anthropology from Within the Academy," pp. 56-70

(7) Arturo Escobar, "Anthropology and the Development Encounter: The Making & Marketing Development Anthropology", American Ethnologist 18(4):16-40, 1991.

(8) David D. Gow, "Anthropology and Development: Evil Twin or Moral Imperative" Human Organization, 61(1):299-313, 2002.

Week 11.  (November 4-9)   Cultural Resource Management and Heritage Conservation

A. Public and Applied Archaeology

B. Heritage Conservation, UNESCO and other Institutional Conservation Entities

C. Archaeological Ethnographies and Collaborative Approaches

D. Museum Studies and Museologists

E. Decolonizing  Archaeology and Museology

        Readings:

      (1) Merriman, Presenting Anthropology to the Public

      (2) Sully, Decolonizing Conservation

      (3) Peter Nas, Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Culture, Current Anthropology, 4 (1):139-148, 2002

      (4) Ahmad, The Scope and Definitions of Heritage: From Tangible to Intangible, International Journal of Heritage Studies 12(3): 292-300, 2006.

      (5) Melissa Stevens, Power Disparities and Community-based Tourism in Vietnam. In Tourists and Tourism: A Reader edited by Sharon Gmelch, Prospect Heights, Il: Waveland Press, 2009.

      (6) Steven M. McCool, Constructing Partnerships for Protected Area Tourism Planning in an Era of Change and Messiness, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 17(2): 133-148, 2009

      (7) Lisa C. Breglia,  Keeping World Heritage in the Family: A Genealogy of Maya Labor at Chichen Itza, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 11(5): 385-398, 2005.

      (8) Denise Fay Brown, Mayas and Tourists in the Maya World, Human Organization, Fall 1999

Week 12.  (November 11-16) Medical and Nutritional Anthropology  

A. Core concepts in Medical Anthropology

B. Biomedical and ethnomedical perspectives

C. Clinical medical anthropology, health policy planning and education

D. Fundamental concepts in international health

E. Roles for medical anthropologists in international health

Readings:

(1) Kedia, ch. 5, Whiteford and Bennett on Health and Medicine

(2) Kedia, ch. 6, Himmelgreen and Crooks on Nutritional Anthropology

(3) Gwynne, ch. 11 (Applied Medical Anthropology) and 12 (International Health)

(4) Hyland, ch. 7, Noel Chrisman, "Community Building for Health"

(5) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Gisele Maynard-Tucker, "Becoming an International Consultant," pp. 181-194

Week 13.  (November 16-18)  Business Anthropology and Social Marketing

A. Intercultural Training

B. Business Strategy and anthropology and methods

C. International Business

D. Marketing and Social Marketing

Readings:

(1) Kedia, ch. 8: Marietta L. Baba, Anthropological Practice in Business and Industry

(2) Philip Kotler and Alan Andreason, ch. 14 Part I., "Social Marketing": Part II, "Social Marketing"

(3) Gwynne, ch. 9 (Business Anthropology) and 10 (Social Marketing)

(4) Hyland, ch. 6, Marietta Baba, "Virtual Community: An Oxymoron at Work?: Creating Community in a Globally Distributed Work Group"

(5) Guerrón-Montero (textbook), Carla >ittlefield & Emilia Gonzalez-Clements, "Creating Your Own Consulting Business," pp. 152-166

Weeks 14-15. (November 23 - December 4) Social Work, Law Enforcement and the Environment

A. Social work and Anthropology

B. Legal Anthropology

C. Immigrants, labor laws, health and crime

D. Gender and education among Hispanic immigrants

E. Environmental Justice

F. Refugees and Resettlement

Readings:

(1) Gwynne, ch. 7 (Social Work), and ch. 8 (Legal Anthropology and Law Enforcement)

(2) Gwynne, ch. 8 (Legal Anthropology and Law Enforcement)

(3) Hyland, ch. 3, Anthony Oliver-Smith, "Communities after Catastrophe: Reconstructing the Material, Reconstituting the Social"

(4) Hyland, ch. 5, Stanley Hyland and Michelle Owens, "Revitalizing Communities through a New Approach to Computer Mapping"

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED:

1. Mid-Term Exam (20%)

2. Final Exam (25%) . It is a non-cumulative essay test. 

3. Classroom Participation and Leading discussion (10%): It is a given that you will volunteer your participation in classroom discussions and contribute ideas about readings and classroom presentations. As part of being prepared for class, you are also asked to volunteer to lead the discussion in at least one class. You must write up and turn in questions to ask and for the class to answer as a way to get discussion started.  

4. Attendance at every class is expected and you should be on time to class. Participation includes attendance. You can't participate if you aren't there. If you come in after the roll has been called, you will be considered absent. Likewise, if you leave early (without permission) you will marked as absent for the whole class. Classroom discussion means that you must come to class and answer questions when called upon and participate in group discussions and do your assignments. If you miss two classes (unexcused), your participation/critique grade will drop one letter grade and each subsequent absence drops it another letter grade. Two absences = B, three = C, four = D, and after 5 absences, your attendance/participation grade will be 0. So, please keep me informed if you must miss a class! You can also use my e-mail address (tmwallace@mindspring.com) (919-781-8655 - home phone; 919-515-9025 - office; 919-815-6388) to contact me about emergencies.

5.  Interview three applied or practicing anthropologists (20%) about their work and their training experiences and write a report summarizing and analyzing their remarks from the interviews and what you learned from them regarding your future career choices. The interviews may be done in person or by phone, but  Internet interviews do not count. Suggestions for practicing anthropologists will be made available to students by the instructor. Click on the title to get a complete list of suggestions how to complete this assignment. Please let me know asap by the middle of September which persons you have chosen to try and interview. Click here for guidelines on how to do the interviews. Note that it does take time to contact and set up interviews with anthropologists, so begin this project as early as you can.  Begin by deciding with whom you want to have an interview.

6. Volunteer assignment and Needs Assessment . (25% [15%/10%]). Anthropologists typically spend a good deal of time working with governmental, non-governmental, civic and volunteer organizations. Each student is expected to spend 20-25 hours volunteering for an organization (of your choice) during the semester.  The nature of the organization should be relevant to topics covered in the course. As part of this work you will need to keep a log and journal of your volunteer activities and work throughout the semester. Along with the journal/fieldnotes, please turn in a report on your activities and what you learned. There will be volunteer fair (mainly for Social Workers) at the NCSU Ballroom on August 27, but you are not limited to public, welfare-type agencies, but may be businesses, governmental organizations, museums, civic organizations etc.  But the organization and volunteer activity you decide on must be cleared by the instructor. Each student will need to make their contacts on their own.   You must write and tell me what organization you are going to work for by the end of August.  In addition to discussing what you did, what happened while you were there and what you learned about working for this organization, the final report must also include a "needs assessment" for that organization. The "needs assessment" will be carried out by yourself, but you may also interview people in the organization and you'll also have to develop a bibliography relevant to the topic.

In the needs assessment you should basically outline the mandate, the target population, goals, services, and structure of the agency/company/organization. Describe its programs ad clients. What are the needs of the clients generally, which ones are met, which ones remain unmet? What types of clients are not being reached? What programs would the agency like to develop? What are the needs of the organization and its staff and board members? What is the relationship of the organization with other NGOs, with government organizations, and with the private sector (if applicable)? Describe the public policy context of the organization and its mandate―such as funding, laws, and programs coming through interconnections with the municipal, county, state and federal governments. Formulate research questions that might be applicable to the organization. Formulate, however, tentative, a few policy recommendations. Prepare a bibliography relevant to the topic. The use of relevant statistics, graphs, and tables might be useful in your report.

Detailed logs of when you worked and what you did are required (journal/fieldnotes) and should be turned in at the same time as your final report on what you did. The report must be a minimum of 5 pages on what you did, learned, etc. and 5-10 pages on your needs assessment report (double-spaced, Times Roman or Arial, 12 pt font, 1" margins).

Grading Scale: A+ = 97+; A=96-93; A-=92-90; B+= 89-87; B=86-83; B-=82-80; C+=79-77; C=76-73; C-=72-70 ; D+=69-67; D=66-63; D-=62-60; F= <60

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Missed tests: If you miss a test due to an excused absence, you will be given the opportunity to take a make-up test at a mutually convenient time. There will be no make-ups for unexcused absences. Grading Scale: A+ = 97.0 -100; A=95.9-93.0; A-=92.9-90.0; B+= 89.9-87.0; B=86.9-83.0; B-82.9-80.0; C+=79.9-77.0; C=76.9-73.0; C-=72.9-70.0; D+=69.9-67.0; D=66.9-63.0; D-=62.9-60.0; F= <60.0

Incompletes: Incompletes will only be given if the student meets the university requirements outlined in the following document: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/pols_regs/REG205.00.13.php

Attendance. Attendance to every class is expected.  Roll will be taken each class and you are expected to be in class by the time roll is done. Leaving early without permission will result in a note that class was missed for that day. A perfect attendance record will be rewarded with 2 extra points added to the overall course average.  Excessive absences will be noted and could create a negative perception of your efforts during the course.

Academic Integrity Statement: Cheating will not be tolerated. Any form of cheating results in an automatic "F" for the test/assignment/homework with which it is connected. Violations of academic integrity may result in an F for the course. For a clear statement of NCSU’s Academic Integrity policy, please visit this website: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/student_services/student_discipline/POL11.35.1.php. Violations of the Student Honor Code will be reported to the appropriate person in your department/College (advisor, Dean, etc.). Everything turned in should be individual work. NCSU has a policy on academic integrity found in the Code of Student Conduct and you should consult it. Note that this policy includes an Honor Pledge. This means that on tests and other individual student assignments that the teacher expects that the student understands that she or he neither gave nor received unauthorized aid.

Students with Disabilities: Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with Disabilities Services Office of Students located at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 919-515-7653 (http://www.ncsu.edu/dso/). Students desiring special assistance because of any permanent or temporary disability may be eligible for these services. See: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.1.php or http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.7.php.  Contact Disability Services Office at 513-7653, and consult the website: http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/dss/.

 Anti-Discrimination Statement. The role of all employees and students is to create and maintain a supportive and harassment-free working environment for all members of the campus community. All faculty, staff and students are responsible for understanding and complying with harassment policies: these policies can be viewed at: http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op.  Also, all faculty, staff and students are responsible for knowing where to obtain assistance for resolving concerns. Members of the campus community are encouraged and should feel free to seek assistance, information, and guidance from their department head, supervisor, the Office for Equal Opportunity (513-3148), Human Resources (515-4300) or the Office for Student Conduct (515-2963). All harassment of any person (either in the form of quid pro quo or creation of a hostile environment) based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or sexual orientation also is a violation of state, federal law and/or NC State University policy and will not be tolerated. Retaliation against any person who complains about discrimination is also prohibited. NC State‘s policies and regulations covering discrimination, harassment, and retaliation may be accessed at http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/campus_environ or http://ncsu.edu/equal_op. Any person who feels that he or she has been the subject of prohibited discrimination, harassment, or retaliation should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 919-515-3148.