The Anthropology of
Violence and Crime

Instructor: Richard L. Warms
Office: Liberal Arts 260
Office Hours: 8:15 - 9:30 daily
Phone: 245-2504
e-mail: r.warms@txstate.edu

Class Meets: Tuesday, Thursday 2:00-3:15

This class is intended as a wide-ranging upper level seminar on the issues of violence and crime as seen from a primarily anthropological perspective.  The course is divided into three segments. In the first of these, we attempt to arrive at some understanding of the relationship between violence, war, and human nature.  In the second, we examine these ideas as they relate to crime.  In both of these sections, we read and discuss theories on this issue from the perspectives of anthropology, psychology, social analysis and sociobiology/evolutionary psychology.   We will also cover basic examples of violent and non-violent societies from the traditional anthropological literature.  In the third section of the course, students will divide into interest groups to pursue and present their own research on issues of violence and crime in modern life.

This is a seminar style course.  That means I come to class with only a rather vague outline of what I want to say rather than a polished theater-style lecture.   The class is driven by our joint analysis of the readings and of other topics.   This means that keeping up with readings and other assignments is absolutely essential.  If you haven't read or aren't willing to discuss what you've read, the class is going to be very dull.  PLEASE as a general principle, if you haven't done the reading or are not prepared to discuss it, do not come to class.

Reading for the course consists of one book that you should purchase and a variety of essays that will be made available to you on electronic reserve. 

1) Attendance and Participation: In a small class it is absolutely vital that you be present, that you be prepared, and that you participate.  Otherwise, it's going to be awfully dull for all of us.  To encourage you along these lines, we have the following system for crediting attendance.  Attendance will count for 25% of your grade.  We will start taking attendance on January 23.  You have two excused absences that you may use at any time during the semester (unless you are scheduled to present a paper).  After that, each additional absence will count for five points off your attendance grade.  There are no additional excused absences for any reason (well, almost.  If you are hospitalized or have other major trauma I will consider what might be done).

2) Leading Classes.  Students will lead each of the classes.  You will be assigned a number of classes to lead in a rotation.  When you lead a class, you will present a brief analysis of the material you have read for that class as well as four to six discussion questions for that material.  This means you need to prepare the presentation and the discussion materials.  For each presentation, prepare a two to three page, double spaced, outline.  The discussion questions should follow the outline.  This work does not have to be highly polished.  You will submit your work electronically to me and all other students (via a discussion group set up for this purpose) by midnight the night before your presentation.  Keep in mind, the class is yours.  It's an hour and 15 minutes long.  Be Prepared.  This element of the course is worth 30% of your grade.

3) Paper writing is a critical component of this class.  You're required to write one GOOD paper for this course.  I expect the paper to be from 7 to 15 pages long (exclusive of cover sheet, bibliography, etc.) The paper will be written using a peer review process.  Here's how it works:

The Paper:

1) You may select a topic from a list I will provide you.  You are welcome to write papers on topics that do not appear on the list but you must clear the topic with me first. 
2) These are research papers and must include references cited sections.  You are welcome to use as many references as you please from whatever sources you please BUT you MUST use at least three articles that appeared in peer reviewed academic journals.  This would include anything available on JSTOR and many others as well.  Check with me if you have any question about whether a particular essay you want to use as a reference qualifies as peer reviewed.  The peer-reviewed essays must appear in your references cited section and your paper must demonstrate that you've read them (and understood them).  There will be a five point penalty for each missing essay (that means, for example, that if you only reference two peer reviewed essays, I'll subtract five points from your paper grade).

The Process:

All material is to be submitted electronically, in MS Word, as email attachments.  The deadline for all written work is 11:59 PM on the day the assignment is due. 

1) You must submit your paper topic (a one or two sentence statement) to me by March 7.
2) You must submit a 100 to 300 word abstract to me by March 21.
3) You must send the finished paper to me and your assigned reviewer by April 14th
4) Your reviewer will mark-up your paper using the track changes feature in MS Word.  The reviewer is responsible for checking for grammatical mistakes, mistakes in logic, or flow.  The reviewer should also provide comments indicating the strength and weakness of the paper as well as suggestions for improvement.  Each student will act as a reviewer and will be graded on the quality of their review.
5) The reviewer must return the paper to both the author and me by April 21.
6) The final paper must be submitted to me by May 1.
7)  Late penalties:  It's extremely important that work be handed in on time.  Late papers will impose burdens on other students and that's not fair.  So, your paper will suffer a five point penalty per 24 hours or fraction thereof for each deadline missed (March 7 and 21, April 14, 21, and May 1).

Your review of a peer's paper will count for 10% of your grade
Your paper will count for 35% of your grade.

3) Required official stuff: students with special needs (as documented by the Office of Disability Services) should identify themselves at the beginning of the term.  The Department of Anthropology is dedicated to providing these students with necessary academic adjustments and auxiliary aids to facilitate their participation and performance in the classroom.  This syllabus is subject to change.

Here's a recap of important dates and grading information:

Grading
Attendance, 25%
Class Presentations (outline, questions, leadership skill), 30%
Analysis of a peer's paper, 10%
Your research paper, 35%

Important Dates:
Last date to drop, automatic "W," February, 3
Paper Topic, March 7
Paper abstract, March 14
Finished paper to reviewer, April 14
Last day to drop class, April 20
Reviewers return papers, April 21
Final paper to me, May 1

Remember, outlines and questions are due at 11:59 the night before the class you lead.