The Anthropology of the Yucatan Summer 2002
Course Syllabus
5 Credits 8:00-10:00 am in the Facultad de Educación, Salón 19
Location of classes: Facultad de Educación (Calle 41 X 14, Col. Industrial) Find the Facultad before you attempt to come to classes on Monday! It is on the “Circuito Colonias” and the Circuito buses will take you there if you take it in the correct direction from your house.
Instructors:
Allan F. Burns, Ph.D.,
University of Florida
Alicia Peón, Graduate Assistant: Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán
Carlos Viera Castro, Excursion Coordinator, Facultad de Educación, UADY
And Guest lecturers from the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán.
Text: Burns, A. Yucatan 2002, (University Book and Supply and Custom Copies, Inc (352 377 4221; Email address: Kenny@atlantic.net)
This course is designed to acquaint you with the place of the Yucatán peninsula and the people within it in the context of México. Each week the lectures and readings help you look at Yucatán through a different lens: archaeology, linguistics, history, ethnography, and urban studies. Students are expected to read and discuss the articles in the course packet, do well on a midterm and final examination, complete a weekly journal and work in teams to create a cyber-ethnography. Grades will be assigned as follows:
Midterm Exam Essay Friday, July 19 25
Final Exam Essay Monday, August 5 25
Four Weekly Journals (5pts ea.) July 8, July 15, July 22, July 29 20
Class Project Cyber Wednesday, August 7 30
EthnographyTotal 100 points
Grades will be assigned as follows: 90-100% = A; 88-89% = B+, 80-87% = B; 78-79% = C+; 70-77% = C; 68-69% = D+; 60-67% = D; below 60% = E.
It is tempting to travel extensively during our summer in Merida. Distances between Yucatán and other areas of México are quite far; however, and trips beyond the peninsula will be difficult to do without careful planning. It is far more effective to plan your travel to areas close by. This anthropology class as well as the Spanish language classes are designed to complement what you learn in your everyday experiences in Mexico. Weekly and weekend fieldtrips are planned so that you do get out into the countryside and learn about the Yucatán first hand. Be careful not to plan trips that extend beyond the weekends into the class times. Classes may only be missed in case of illness or other unforeseen circumstances. Your final grade will be reduced one grade if you have missed four classes without cause. If you miss eight classes, you will automatically be given a failing grade. Of course if you do not feel well or have a good reason for not making it to class, be sure to contact Allan Burns or Alicia Peón.
Schedule of Courses, Readings, and Field Trips
for the Yucatán Summer "B" Program, 2001
I. Anthropology Course. The Anthropology course presents the ethnography, linguistics, history, archaeology, and sociology of the Yucatán. The instructors for the course are Professor Allan Burns of the University of Florida Department of Anthropology and Professor Peón of Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY). Professor Burns has done research on Maya linguistics, applied anthropology, and conflict in central America. The graduate assistant for the course, Alicia Peón, is beginning her Ph.D. work at the University of Florida this fall. She has worked in Chiapas with women’s organizations, and has taught for the University of Michigan and other universities who have programs at the University of the Yucatan. In addition, we will have weekly guest lecturers from UADY.
II. Spanish Courses. You will be placed in an appropriate Spanish Course at the Coordinación del Idiomas ("FACULTAD DE EDUCACION") during the first meeting of the classes. Please be sure to be on time to class. All course materials will be provided for you in the class.
III. Daily Class Schedule:
8:00 am - Anthropology Course. Location: Coordinación de Idiomas, Facultad de Educación
10:00 am - break
10:15 am – 12:15 pm - UADY Spanish Classes.Friday-Saturday-Sunday, June 28-29,30: Arrival in Merida. Students will be met by families and taken to homes.
Sunday, July 1. We will meet at 10:00 am in front of the main University Building (Calle 57X60) and have an orientation to Merida. The orientation will take about one hour. Afterwards you may want to walk around downtown during “Merida en Domingo,” a time when all the downtown streets are blocked off and music, flea markets, art, and other activities occur. Please make arrangements for your family to pick you up at 1pm or have a family member come with you to the orientation. They are welcome to do so, although they are not necessarily expected to come to it.
Suggestions: Buy a better map of Mérida at "Dante" bookstore. Learn the bus system
Monday, July 1. Anthropology Course – Introduction to the university. Yucatán, The Context of Anthropology. Get photograph for University of the Yucatan student ID (part of anthropology class)
Professors Peón and Burns
Readings: Wright: PrologueTuesday, July 2: Anthropology Course – archaeology
Readings: Time chart for prehistory of Mexico & McClullogh, “Heat Adaptation”
Wednesday, July 3: Anthropology Course - archaeology
Guest Lecture from the University of the YucatanThursday-Friday-Saturday, July 4-5-6: EXCURSION I. Meet at FACULTAD DE EDUCACION at 8:00 am for first field trip to ruins of Ek Balam, Coba, and the Caribbean coast. (The bus leaves promptly. If you do not make it in time, you will not go on the fieldtrip!) Readings: Daltabuit, "Bio-social impact of tourism..."
Description: The ruins of Ek Balam. Swimming in underground cenote (change clothes at Chichen Itza) of Dzipnup; city of Valladolid for lunch. Overnight in Coba. Friday excursion to ruins of Coba and Tulum. Overnight in the Tulum area. Return to Merida Saturday evening, approximately 6pm.
Readings: Wright, “Tulum” (pp. 335-397)
Be sure to bring your “field trip” supplies: sun-block, a good hat, comfortable walking shoes, bathing suit, etc. We will provide meals, entrances to ruins, and lodging at the hotels.
Sunday, July 7: Free time.
Suggestions: Make up a family tree or kinship chart on the family you live with, ask them where their ancestors lived, how they came to Merida, and so on.
Monday, July 8: Modern Spoken Mayan and cultural identity through language
Burns “Modern Yucatec Maya Oral Literature”Tuesday, July 9: Language and linguistics, continued.
Readings: “Language Map of Yucatan” & Piñeda, “Situacion Actual de la Lengua..”Wednesday, July 10, Sociolinguistics. Guest Lecture on the contemporary Maya language and its influence on the Spanish of Mexico.
Readings : "Occupational Sectors," ThomsonThursday-Friday-Saturday, July 11-12-13: EXCURSION II. 9am at Facultad de Educacion. Three-day field trip to the Puuc route. Description: Travel to Maxcanu to see traditional home garden agriculture, and then on the a henequen hacienda. After this we will visit a cave where local people weave palm hats. Then on to Ticul, an artesanry city in the “Puuc” region of hills and ruins. Evening in Ticul. Friday: visit to craft home-industries for ethnographic fieldwork. Mayan lunch at the home where Dr. Burns lived many years ago. Optional visit to light and sound show at Uxmal in the evening or if there is a Fiesta in Ticul, participation in the Fiesta. Saturday: Visit to the caves of Loltun in the town of Oxcutzcab. Then on to the ruins of Mayapan. Mid-day lunch in Mani, the town where Diego de Landa's burned many Mayan books as part of his inquisition.
Readings: Tedlock: “Torture in the Archives”
Sun, July 14: Free time.Monday, July 15: Anthropology Course - History of the Yucatán in a Mexican context
Readings: Landa, “Yucatán before and after the conquest” Dr. Burns leaves to return to Florida for a week. Ms. Jeanna Mastrodicasa arrives for two weeks to work with the Lombardi Scholars on their projects.Tuesday, July 16: History of the Yucatan, Continued. (Professor Peón) The colonial period.
Readings: Moseley, “From Conquest to Independence”Wednesday, July 17: Guest Lecture by Professor Genny Negroe. Readings: review time chart for history of Mexico.
Thursday, July 18. Excursion III. 9:00 am, Meet at FACULTAD DE EDUCACION. Description: Visit to Izaamal, site of archaeological site and colonial church of the Virgin of Izaamal. Afternoon: Lunch at beach at Telchac Puerto and then time for a swim.
Friday, July 19: Midterm Examination
Sat - Sun, July 20-21: Free time.
Suggestions: Visit small villages such as Oxkutzcab, Tekax. Do a photographic essay of a day in the life of someone in your family. Learn several phrases in Mayan.
Monday, July 22: Ethnography of the Yucatan (Dr. Burns returns)
Anderson, “Managing the Rainforest,” in Ecologies of the Heart;Tuesday, July 23: Ethnography, continued.
Readings: Re Cruz, “Disruptions of People’s Health..”Wednesday, July 24: Ethnography, continued.
Readings: David Bray: The Mayans of Central Quintana RooThursday- July 25: No anthropology class. Work on final projects, prepare for field trip tomorrow.
Friday, July 26- Saturday, July 27, Sunday, July 28: Field Trip to Chiapas, 8:00 am - Meet at Facultad de Educacion.
Description: Travel to the port city of Campeche; lunch on the beach. Arrive in Palenque in evening. Saturday: Palenque ruins, Aguas Azules water falls. Sunday: Palenque city, return to Merida.
Readings: Schueler, Donald, “Temple of the Jaguar
Wright: “Palenque” (pp. 293-325)Monday, July 29: Anthropology course - Urbanization
Readings: Vargas Cetina: “Of Mirrors …”Tuesday, July 30: Urban Anthropology, continued
Readings: Good Maust, “The Midwife or the knife..”Wednesday, July 31: Urban Anthropology, continued. Guest lecture.
Readings: Burns, Allan, “Pan-Maya Ideology”Thursday, August 1: Field trip. 9:00 am - Meet at FACULTAD DE EDUCACION.
Description: Flamingo reserve of Celestún. Boat trip through reserve. Lunch at Celestún. Return to Merida.
Readings: Cohen, R., “The Flamingos of Celestun”
Friday, August 2nd , Prepare for final exam and final projects, no anthropology classSat - Sun, August 3-4: Last free weekend.
Suggestions: enjoy visiting who or what you have not had a chance to visit so far.Monday, August 5: Final Examination, Anthropology Course.
BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE RECONFIRMED YOUR FLIGHT BACK TO THE STATES!!! THIS IS A GOOD DAY TO DO SO. PLEASE BE SURE YOU ARE RECONFIRMED! IF YOU BOOKED THROUGH CONTINENTAL CAPERS, THEN WE WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS FOR YOU. IF YOU BOOKED YOUR OWN FLIGHT, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CALLING THE AIRLINE WITH YOUR RECONFIRMATION.
Tuesday, August 6: Final Examination, Spanish
Wednesday, August 7: Presentation of Power Point Cyberethnography Projects. 11AM Closing Ceremony in the classroom.
Thursday, August 8: Free day for shopping, packing, etc.
Friday, August 10. Leave Mérida for U.S. and points North: Be at the airport one and a half hours before your flight!
Journals and Class Project
FINAL PROJECT:
YUCATAN CYBERETHNOGRAPHYThe project for this class is a power-point cyberethnography. A cyberethnography is a description and analysis of life in the Yucatan that includes text, photos, perhaps even music, and links to other sites, all written in a lively and engaging style. You should work on your cyberethnography throughout the course, using each week’s excursions to round out your final presentation.
This year we will concentrate on “Cultura Popular” or “Popular Culture in the Yucatan.” Popular culture are the things that go on in a community that are not “traditional” or “ethnic” in their derivation, nor are they “high culture” and official as taught in schools, but are part of “the scene.” In that sense they are not “popular” as in liked by a lot of people, but rather belong to the informal world. In the U.S. this means things like Hip Hop culture, children’s games, or “popular” religious events like street corner preachers. So the goal this summer will be to document popular culture in Merida and the Yucatan. This will include things like popular religion (festivals, new-age events, miracle stories, etc.), popular economy (street vendors, informal sector work such as domestic workers), popular social structure (young people’s lives and activities), popular language (street slang, the mix of Maya and Spanish), popular music (local groups), popular theory (ideas about the nature of people, personalities, etc.), popular style (clothing, etc.), just to name a few. We will concentrate on legal activities: there can be no studies of criminal behavior (drugs, prostitution, etc.) for this course.
The projects will be carried out in teams. We will decide on the topics for each team during the first day of class from the following list.
· Popular Religion
· Popular Music
· Popular Style
· Popular Economy
· Popular Theory
· Popular Geography
· Popular Social Structure
· Popular Medicine
· Popular Language
· Popular EducationEach week you should blend your interest in one of these topics with the experiences we have on the field trips. In addition, you can add other information that you find interesting and appropriate to your weekly journal even if you do not plan to use it for your final report.
Lombardi Scholars: Lombardi scholars on the program will do a two-week independent study with Jeanna Mastrodicasa from the honors office during the middle of the course. During those two weeks they have the option of not coming to the anthropology course. They can work on their projects. Projects will be discussed with the group as the course evolves. Among the topic for the projects is a model of health education/intervention on infectious diseases that Dr. Burns and others at the University of Florida are exploring. Other topics will be developed from the list above.
Weekly Journals: The weekly journal will be produced as part of your evolving final project. The weekly journal will be done individually and the final project will combine the efforts of three to four of the class into a topic.
The purpose of the journal is to give you an opportunity to discuss your understandings of the differences between Yucatán and the U.S.. Keep in mind that parts of this journal may be shared, with your consent. You should turn in your journal on a computer disk. It should include your narrative as well as photographs that you take with the digital cameras we have for the course. You can work on your journal on one of the project computers or you may also use the computers at the University or at a cybercafe. Please be sure to scan your disks for viruses before putting anything on the program computers.
Write your journal in any style that makes the assignment both an enjoyable and a creative activity. The following questions are provided as a starting points for your observations during the field trips. You may decide to write on other topics that relate to your major or interests. For example, students in the past have looked at the economy of market exchange, gender roles in different ethnic and social classes, how garbage is handled at the household level, the legal system of Mexico, and the processes of electoral reform at local and national levels. Be careful, though, not to ask questions that are seen as too private (for example, attitudes about sexuality, corruption, etc.) or those that appear to be condescending. Be prepared for people to ask you to explain how whatever it is you are exploring works in the U.S.
Excursion Schedule and topics for your journal photos and entries.
WEEK 1: Valladolid, Caribbean coast.
1. Culture Shock, First impressions of Merida, Yucatan and Mexico. Describe the most interesting thing that struck you as different yet positive in your first week in Yucatan. Compare it with something else that struck you as different and negative. Anthropologists say that culture shock is part of a learning experience, and even things that are distasteful or stressful help you learn. What did this first week tell you about what you will need to learn in order to make the most out of this summer?
2. Ek Balam is a new site that is just now being excavated. Some archaeologists say it represents a fusion of different architectural and cultural styles of the Maya area, including the influences of sites in Honduras and Central Mexico. What kind of a social structure would produce such a varied architecture? How do you think this site relates to others in the area?
3. Water has always been a scarce and important resource in the Yucatán. Describe the Cenote of Chichen Itza and its relationship to the hydrology of the peninsula. What ecological issues confront modern Yucatán as well as Yucatán in the times of settlement of Ek Balam?
4. Ecological zones of northern Yucatán. Describe the different uses of land that you encounter between Merida and Valladolid on the field trip. Note differences in crops, types of communities, and other vegetation. Keep track of what towns we pass and prepare a map after the trip of the different zones and their uses. Find out the rainfall periodicity and distribution in this part of the Yucatán.
WEEK 2: Ticul, Uxmal
1. Families in the Yucatán. Anthropologists have always studied the way that families are organized to meet needs of society. These needs include economic activities of production and consumption, social needs for defining identity, reproductive needs including socialization of children, marriage, and so forth, as well as ideological needs. One way that anthropologists study the importance of the family is to do a “kinship chart” which lists the people in the nuclear and extended family and also in the household. This kinship chart is then used to study things like the division of social and economic roles how change takes place, language use, and many other things of interest to anthropology. Begin making up a kinship chart of the family you are living with which shows the relationships between people, the terms they use to refer to these people (for example, “tia” or “cuñado”), as well as their names. You might also want to include “fictive kin,” or those people who are in a “compadrazgo” relationship based on god-parent ceremonies.
2. The Maya language. Observe and discuss the use of the Maya language alongside of Spanish on the fieldtrip. Ask people to tell you the Maya words for different plants, animals, activities. You may want to buy a Maya dictionary to help you as most people will not know how to spell the Maya words they tell you. What stores do you see in Merida with Maya names on them? What bus routes have Maya names?
WEEK 3. Izaamal, Telchac beach
1. Miracles: The Virgin of Izaamal is famous throughout Yucatan and much of Central America. Record several stories about the arrival of the Virgin. Some of the stories are miraculous. Ask people about the miracles that the Virgin has granted. Remember that religion is a subject that is very serious and any questioning you do about it should be done with respect and sincerity.
2. Copy down and describe several styles of Huipil bordering. How are the different borders done? How are designs chosen? How do local people know if a border is beautiful and well made? What are the prices of different Huipiles? What are the different kinds of Huipiles?
3. Describe tourism at Izaamal and the effects that you see that it has on the city. Who benefits, who doesn’t, how do tourists “see” the city. What type of tourism is there (heritage, religious, environmental or eco, shopping, etc.).
4. Coast. What is life like on the coast of Yucatan. How do coastal people differ in terms of economy, structure of the villages and communities, and lifestyle than people in interior villages? How does tourism on the coast differ from that of Izaamal?
Week Four: : Chiapas, Palenque
1. Ruins of Palenque. Palenque has been described as one of the most beautiful and important cities of the classic Maya. Compare the kinds of buildings and their function that you see at Palenque with those you have seen at Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Coba. How do the form and layout suggest different functions of buildings compared to those at other sites? Palenque is also dedicated to “Pacal,” and the sarcophagus at the bottom of the main temple contained his remains before archaeologists moved them to a museum. What other evidence of Pacal can you find at Palenque?
2. Chiapas. Chiapas is the site of the 1994 uprising known as the “Zapatista” rebellion, carried out by the “EZLN” (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional). While the majority of people in Chiapas are Maya, many people say that the historic and contemporary social conditions of Chiapas are so different than those found in Yucatan that the uprising would not occur in the Yucatan. What differences do you see in the social conditions of people in Chiapas that are different from what you have seen in Yucatan?
Week Five: Celestún
1. Describe the lagoon area of Celestún. Make a list of the different plants, geography, and animals that you see. Write down several recipes for fish dishes. Ask women in Celestun about their lives; what they do, whether they think it is a good place to live, etc.
2. Some people argue that fishing villages are pretty much the same all over the world. What evidence is there that this is so? Describe the differences between Celestun and other communities you have visited.
3. Ecotourism and the flamingo park. Many people see ecotourism as a way that local places like Celestun can continue to provide a livelihood for local people as well as promote education about conservation. Do you think this is happening at Celestun?
Important addresses and telephone numbers. Please leave a copy of this list with someone in the U.S. Add the number of the family you will be staying with in Merida to it. In the case of an emergency, you can always be reached by telephoning the Office of International Studies and Programs (123 Tigert Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. (352) 392 5323 FAX (352) 392-5575 or the University of Florida Police Department (24 hours; 352 392-1111)
Dr. Allan F. Burns
Advisor for the Yucatan Social Science Course
1112 Turlington
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32611
(352) 392 2253 x 205
FAX (352 392 6929)Merida residence of Dr. Burns:
Calle 17 # 99E X 18 y 20
Col. Chuburna de Hidalgo
Merida, Yucatan 97200
Tel. (52 99) 981 28 29Lic. Gabriela Quintal Aviles
Departamento de Intercambios Academicos
Direccion General de Asuntos Academicos
Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan
Calle 57 X 60
Merida, Yucatan 97000
Phone (52 99) 930 0900 X1355
FAX (52 99) 928 25 57
Professor Carlos Viera Castro
Coordinator for International Students
Coordinacion de Idiomas
Calle 41 X 14, Col. Industrial
Merida, Yucatan 97150
Phone (52 99) 922 46 00 (Office);
(52 99) 945 31 85 (home)
Consulate of the United States of America
Paseo Montejo 453
Merida, Yucatan 97000
Phone (52 99) 925 54 09
Fax (52 99) 925 62 19
Alicia Peon
Assistant for the program
Calle 24 # 104
Col. Mexico
Merida, Yucatan 97128
Tel. (52 99) 927 23 72