Anthro 306, 7 Dec 03 Study Questions

 

These are examples of issues you should be able to handle on the exam; it is obviously not an exhaustive list of issues that may be covered.  The questions on the exam will include short essay, multiple choice, some identifications, and the ubiquitous map questions.  There will be a somewhat higher percentage of multiple choice questions than on the midterms.

Politics and culture.  What does Kaplan mean by the "lies of mapmakers"?  Why is there so little correspondence between African boundaries and what Murdock calls "the real Africa"?

Physical geography.  Why is the Jos Plateau where it is?  Why is there a bend in the Niger?  The Atlas Mountains demarcate what geologic boundary? What and where is the inter-tropical convergence zone?

Western conceptions of Africa.  The "horror" in Kurtz's dying words may refer to a failing of culture in Africa: explain.  Compare Kaplan's and Richards' takes on the "yellow eyed politician" and the frightening young Sierra Leonean men.

Inter-cultural relations.  What language to Pygmies speak?  Why do some researchers believe the Pygmies could not have lived in the rainforest before farmers arrived?

Environment.  In the 1970s, Sahelian desertification was widely blamed local decreases in rainfall caused by African landuse.  How could landuse affect rainfall?  How has this theory fared in recent years?

It is often said that African cultures traditionally emphasizes the communal.  What is one factor that would promote communal land ownership?

In Kissidougou, colonial powers and many others have considered the landscape to be mostly derived savanna, with some remnant forest.  What evidence contradicts this?

Witchcraft.  Although African cultural institutions that Westerners have called “witchcraft” vary, there are some features that are common.  Briefly describe three.

What are the three major aspects of variation among African cultural institutions generally labelled as “witchcraft”?

Why do Azande call witchcraft the “second spear”?

Tsav plays a role in Tiv in the Asamu area having a more extensive farming system than the Kofyar.  Explain.

What was a unfortunate concrete effect of the Kofyars' stress on paa divination in medical diagnosis?

 Culture & Agriculture. Describe the cultural institutions that make it easy for the Tiv to move frequently.

 When the Kofyar moved from their homeland to the frontier, how did their agricultural practices change and why?

 Why would the Kofyar switch to slash & burn farming on the frontier?

 Why did Kofyar eventually change from slash & burn to intensive agriculture on the frontier?

 Politics & Social Organization. Why do Southall and others consider “tribe” to be an illusion?

 Why does Fried consider tribe to be a very real cultural form?

 What aspect of Hausa socio-political organization made Indect Rule work so well?

 What aspect of Tiv socio-political organization made Indirect Rule work so poorly?

State & Culture.  What are the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria?

What was the Biafran War all about?  Who won?  What role did starvation play in it?

 In 1993, Nigeria elected Mashood Abiola president.  What was the larger significance of this event, according to Wole Soyinka?

How and when did apartheid come about?

Cultures, Politics and Borders.  Why does Kaplan consider map-makers "liars"? What factors shaped Africa's national borders? Give an e.g. of a national border cutting through a cultural group.

 If African borders were oblivious to African ethnic groups, why have they remained almost totally intact since the period of independence?

 When did most African countries become independent?  What was the main dynamic in global politics at the time?

Nigeria's origins as a state were flawed, Soyinka says, but no worse than others; what does he mean?

What is economic neo-colonialism?  Give an example from Africa.

What is Pan-Africanism, and who supported it? 

Misc. Briefly define or describe:

  1. Concept reification
  2. Extensive agriculture
  3. Wuk, Marmuos
  4. Paul and Laura Bohannan
  5. Mangu, Tsav, mulak
  6. Biafra
  7. Robben Island
  8. cowpea, Njera, wot, plantains, palm oil
  9. Obasanjo, Mandela, Selassie
  10. Jir, Tor Tiv
  11. ANC 

Female Genital Cutting.  Give 2 exmaples of how the topic of African FGC has been brought to the attention of the American public.

Describe variation in the practice of FGC in Africa.

FGC has been compared to child abuse and castration.  But what other cultural institutions might it be compared to to help make sense of its popularity?

What problem does Parker identify in the use of research on the medical aspects of FGC?

What were Leonard's surprising findings on FGC in Chad?