ANTH 1559

I took this class the first semester it was offered, so some parts might be changed- basically, I'm glad I took it, but wouldn't necessarily recommend to a friend. We had some seemingly arbitrary assignments that didn't necessarily relate to classwork/reading, but they were never too difficult. A lot of class material and reading was pretty self-explanatory, especially if you have previous experience with research/field ethnography. Because of this, you could do well without doing the reading, but make sure you at least skim the assigned chapters for random quizzes. Also, while Professor Bashkow encouraged student input, a lot of the class revolved around what he and the TA (mine was Dio) found "interesting," which was hard to achieve in our writing assignments. If you take the class, try to find the right balance between enthusiasm and covering all your bases.

All comments about course format below are correct, but it was his first year offering the course, and he'll likely take suggestions into account and change it. I got a lot out of the class! It wasn't that the lectures were riveting--though we did have some interesting days and guest speakers--but I think the skills learned will be really useful to me. I'm not an anthro major, but I'm interested in going into business/marketing and the type of research techniques we learn how to do can be applied to so many things. I found the class to be an easy commitment to keep up with throughout the semester but the final project to be burdensome during finals week.

The class is okay. There are weekly assignments which involve data collection and a 1 page single spaced paper. There are roughly 6 or 7 of those. The reading is minimal usually less than 10 pages a class ( if there is reading). You should do the reading, because he may give you a pop quiz on it, we've had about 3 of them this year. The final was essentially a paper and a science fair style poster presentation. HE TAKES ATTENDANCE.