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COURSE OUTLINE
Course Content and Objectives
The Pacific was the last major region of the globe to be colonized
by humans. The settlement of Near Oceania (New Guinea and the Northern
Solomon Islands) is dated to the Pleistocene, while Remote Oceania
(the remaining portion of Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia)
was not inhabited until the Holocene (<3,500 years ago). This
course examines the archaeological, linguistic and biological diversities
of the people of the Pacific that have formed the basis of our understanding
of the colonization of this region.
Required reading
Kirch, P.V. 2000. On The Road Of The Winds: An Archaeological History
Of The Pacific Islands Before European Contact. University of California
Press, Berkeley.
Recommended readings will be available in a folder in Science 1,
Rm. 224.
Format
Lectures with discussions and student presentations. Grades will
be based on class participation and weekly quizzes (10%), an oral
presentation during the final 1/3 of the course (20%), midterm examination
(30%), and final examination (40%).
Course outline
| Date |
Topic |
Assignment |
| 9/2 |
course introduction |
|
| 9/4 |
introduction to the Pacific and molecular biology
|
Kirch intro |
| 9/9-9/11 |
History of Oceanic Exploration |
Kirch 1 |
| 9/16-9/18 |
Pacific Islands Geography |
Kirch 2 |
| 9/23-9/25 |
"Old" Melanesia |
Kirch 3 |
| 9/30-10/2 |
Lapita and the Austronesian Expansion |
Kirch 4 |
| 10/7-10/9 |
"New" Melanesia |
Kirch 5 |
| 10/14 |
Midterm Review |
|
| 10/16 |
MIDTERM EXAMINATION |
|
| 10/21-10/23 |
Micronesia |
Kirch 6 |
| 10/28-10/30 |
Polynesia |
Kirch 7 |
| 11/4-11/6 |
Polynesian Chiefdoms |
Kirch 8 |
| 11/11-11/13 |
Synthesis |
Kirch 9 |
| 11/18-12/9 |
Oral Presentations |
|
| 12/11 |
Final Review |
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| TBA |
FINAL EXAMINATION |
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The Oral Presentation
The oral presentation can be on any topic related to people of
the Pacific including current events. The instructor must approve
presentation topics in advance. The presentation should be structured
into three sections: 1) background information, 2) specific topic,
and 3) larger implications or importance. The duration of the presentation
will be between 10-20 minutes depending on class enrollment.
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