NC State University

Tourism is a social, cultural, political and economic phenomenon. The impacts of tourism are enormous not only for whole countries, but also for small communities and wilderness areas. In this course we will take a broad approach to understanding the impact of tourism on the society, culture, economy and environment of human, esp. rural communities, around the world. We will rely heavily on anthropological concepts and methods, but will draw upon the contributions by scholars from many other disciplines. It is a multidisciplinary field, because (1) it is of interest to researchers and practitioners from many different fields, (2) the data gathered by researchers in one field are used by those in another and (3) people from both applied and theoretical perspectives find it to be interesting to study. Furthermore, and perhaps, more important, the tourism industry is one of the largest and most dynamic of any in the world. The goal of this course is to give students an understanding of tourist culture and its effect on the hosts and the environment. In this course, students study the impacts of tourism development on the culture, society, local economy and the environment of the local communities in international and domestic settings.

The anthropology of tourism is a relatively new topical area within cultural anthropology and has both theoretical and applied directions. Initially, anthropologists studied only the effects of tourism on host culture. Today there is a growing body of research that also investigates the interaction between hosts and guests in terms of social and environmental impacts. It is one of those fields that deals heavily with issues of culture change. Students will become familiar with both perspectives through study, discussion and fieldwork.

All of us in this class have either been tourists, seen tourists in action, or at least held strong opinions about tourists. Because we've all somehow been touched by tourism, our collective experiences and perceptions on the subject should make for some lively discussions and debate. All of us will be responsible for the learning that takes place in this course. As instructor, I have two key roles. One is to build a scaffolding for the class, selecting the readings and themes we will examine throughout the semester. The second is to facilitate creative and interesting discussions that will allow us to hear from each other. Your key contribution as a participant is to explore the readings carefully and come to class prepared for critical discussion. I will begin most classes with a lecture, and then encourage each of you to participate with your own perspectives, questions and analyses. If you prefer passive listening, this class is not for you!

As a part of the course students should participate in two or three field trips to tourism-dependent communities in North Carolina. The field trips are designed to assist students better understand the key issues discussed in the course and learn how anthropologists study tourism. Students who participate in the field trips will have to arrange their own transportation, pay for any food or lodging costs that might be involved, and assume any risks involved in traveling to the destinations. This course will primarily be a seminar type course, so it is important that you keep up with the readings and be prepared for discussion.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course the student will be able to:

1. explain the meanings and functions of tourism and travel in contemporary cultures and societies;

2. identify the key authors and theoretical perspectives in the anthropology of tourism, as well as the interrelationships between hosts and guests;

3. outline the positive and negative effects of tourism upon the socio-cultural, economic and physical environments with actual case studies;

4. interpret the type of cultural changes that result from tourism development in traditional communities,

5. explain how travel and tourism both reinforces and challenges one’s own cultural identity by encounters with alterity.

6. explain the role and function of international forces in ideological control in the hegemonic discourse of tourism; and,

7. outline the basic research techniques anthropologists use to study tourism.

Class Format and Philosophy

All of us in this class have either been tourists, seen tourists in action, or at least held strong opinions about tourists. Because we've all somehow been touched by tourism, our collective experiences and perceptions on the subject should make for some lively discussions and debate. All of us will be responsible for the learning that takes place in this course. As instructor, I have two key roles. One is to build a scaffolding for the class, selecting the readings and themes we will examine throughout the semester. The second is to facilitate creative and interesting discussions that will allow us to hear from each other. Your key contributions as a participant is to explore the readings carefully and come to class prepared for critical discussion. I will begin most classes with a lecture, and then encourage each of you to participate with your own perspectives, questions and analyses. If you prefer passive listening, this class is not for you!

There are two readers and one book available in the bookstore.  In addition, there are two other books, one is a novel and the other is some of the articles in a journal issue.  Most of these are downloadable online, but are also available in a book form.  I have chosen a number of very interesting readings that will get you into the topic, that I think you will find very interesting.

Erve Chambers, Native Tours: The Anthropology of Travel and Tourism. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2000.

Orvar Lofgren, On Holiday; A History of Vacationing. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999. $19.95

Robert C. Davis and Garry R. Marvin, Venice: The Tourist Maze: A Cultural Critique of the Wolrd's Most Touristed City. Berkely, CA: U. of California Press, 2004.

Alex Garland, The Beach. New York: Riverhead Books, 1997. $11.95 (Can easily be found at used book stores both in the area and online.)

Extra Readings: Graduate students only:

Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press, Canto edition, 1992 (orig. 1983). $17.99.

Richard Handler and Eric Gable, The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg. Durham, NC: Duke U. Press, 1997.

Julia Harrison, Being a Tourist: Finding Meaning in Pleasure Travel. Vancouver: U. of British Columbia, 2003.

Course Requirements for Grade Evaluation

Undergraduate Course Requirements (ANT431)

• 10% -- Participation and attendance
• 25% -- Mid-term exam 
• 25% -- Final exam (December 15, 1PM)
• 20% -- Two field trip reports (10%each) (If you do all three reports, you could receive up to 10% extra credit.)
• 20% -- Research paper (15 pp)

Grading Scale: A+ = 97.0 -100; A=95.9-93.0; A-=92.9-90.0; B+= 89.9-87.0; B=86.9-83.0; B-82.9-80.0; C+=79.9-77.0; C=76.9-73.0; C-=72.9-70.0; D+=69.9-67.0; D=66.9-63.0; D-=62.9-60.0; F= <60.0

Requirements Explained (Undergraduate):

Attendance and Class Participation: Attendance is required. There is no penalty if you only miss two class dates, but you will lose ten points (on a 100 scale) from your overall grade for attendance for every unexcused absence thereafter. You should also be on time to class. If you are more than ten minutes late, you will be recorded as late. Two late notations equal one absence. Keep the instructor informed if you have an emergency during the semester that requires you to miss a class or be late. Class Participation: Classroom discussion is also very important. This means that you must come to class and answer questions when called upon and participate in group discussions and assignments. Your participation grade also will be determined in part by how well you have contributed to the dialogue in the classroom. You may also be called upon to participate in the presentation of an article summary or book chapter for the class.

Research Paper: This is a written (double-spaced, 15+ pages, 1" margins, 11" Arial font) research project which addresses some theme in the anthropology of tourism or ecotourism, selected from a list of topics to handed out. A paragraph about your topic is due on October.  The paper itself is due by the end of November.

Exams: The mid-term exam consists of a essay questions from class discussions and course readings. The final will be the same format, but emphasizing material from the final half of the course.

Field Trips. You are required to do two of the three field trips. You earn extra credit by doing all three.

• Field Trip No.1- Old Salem Tourism. Visit to Old Salem to evaluate the iconography and staging of Moravian heritage tourism. (See http://www.oldsalem.org). Three-four pages (single-space) report. Trip date. Saturday, September 13. No university funding is available to cover travel expenses.
 (10%)
• Field Trip No.2 - Seagrove project. Overnight field trip (Friday to Saturday afternoon) to Seagrove, NC (pottery area south of Asheboro, near the NC Zoo.) Seagrove is one of the State's most important heritage tourism sites, due to the century-long connection with pottery making, starting with Jugtown pottery. BY 2000, there were over 100 potters from all over the country living and working here. We will study and learn about the issues and problems of tourism in the area, visit leading potters and community leaders. Four pages (single space) trip report.  (October 18 - (10%)
• Field Trip No.3 - Field trip to ? Each student may choose a destination of their own choosing as long as it has been approved by the instructor.  Four pages (single space) research results/trip report. No university funding is available to cover expenses. (10%)

Note: While you are strongly encouraged to make the three field trips, an alternate assignment could be designed for students who are financially or otherwise unable to make the trips. Students unable to go will be asked to do a similar investigation in another locale of their choosing, but with consultation from the professor.

Graduate Course Requirements (ANT595A)

• 15% --  Authenticity and tourism paper (must be minimum of 10 double-spaced pp.)

• 10% -- Critiques (weekly), class leadership and participation

• 20% --  Cultural tourism site visit reports (two visits, two reports at 10% each, see below for details)

• 15% --  Research term Paper (must be minimum of 10-15 double-spaced pp.)

• 20% --  Mid-term (essay)

• 20% --  Final exam (essay) (December 15, 1PM)

Requirements Explained (Graduate):

Authenticity and tourism paper. This entails writing a ten page paper on the topic of authenticity, the invention of tradition and heritage tourism development, using Eric Hobsbawm’s edited anthology (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983), and Handler and Gable's (1997) book on Colonial Williamsburg.  I will also recommend an additional article or two on authenticity. The 4 H’s (heritage, habitat, history and handicrafts) are often the starting point for community-based tourism development. Through the seminar and paper, students will come to understand the underlying theory of tourism, what is meant by the 4 H’s, how tourism works, what the consequences are for local people, the phenomenological response from tourists.  Guidelines for the paper will be distributed in class.

Critiques, class leadership and participation. Graduate students will attend and participate in a weekly, one-hour, discussion session about the course readings, to be scheduled at a convenient time. Students also will read and prepare for each seminar a brief, written critique of an one of the articles from that week's readings be prepared to discuss it in the seminar. Please use the form provided through this link.Each student will lead at least one discussion session during the seminar.Attendance and participation is expected. There is no formal penalty if you miss two class dates, but your participation grade could suffer by class absences. Attendance and participation in class discussion is expected. You should also be on time to class. If you are more than ten minutes late, you will be recorded as late. Keep the instructor informed if you have an emergency during the semester that requires you to miss a class or be late.

Research Paper This is a written (double-spaced, 10-15 pages, 1" margins, 11" Arial font) research project which addresses some theme in the anthropology of tourism or ecotourism, selected from a list of topics to handed out. A paragraph about your topic is due on October.  The paper itself is due by the end of November.  

Exams, (2) field trips. Same as undergraduate.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Exams and missed tests: The mid-term and final exams are essay. If you miss a test due to an excused absence, you will be given the opportunity to take a make-up test at a mutually convenient time. There will be no make-ups for unexcused absences.

Incompletes: Incompletes will only be given if the student meets the university requirements outlined in the following document: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/pols_regs/REG205.00.13.php

Academic Integrity Statement: Cheating will not be tolerated. Any form of cheating results in an automatic "F" for the test/assignment/homework with which it is connected. Violations of academic integrity may result in an F for the course. For a clear statement of NCSU’s Academic Integrity policy, please visit this website: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/student_services/student_discipline/POL11.35.1.php

Violations of the Student Honor Code will be reported to the appropriate person in your department/College (advisor, Dean, etc.). Everything turned in should be individual work. NCSU has a policy on academic integrity found in the Code of Student Conduct and you should consult it. Note that this policy includes an Honor Pledge. This means that on tests and other individual student assignments that the teacher expects that the student understands that she or he neither gave nor received unauthorized aid.

Students with Disabilities:  Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with Disabilities Services Office of Students located at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 919-515-7653 (http://www.ncsu.edu/dso/). In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("Rehab Act"), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), and state law, North Carolina State University (hereinafter NC State) is required to accommodate an otherwise qualified individual with a disability by making a reasonable modification in its services, programs, or activities. This regulation addresses the eligibility of students for academic accommodations in educational programs, services, and activities at NC State, as well as the provision of such accommodations to students with various types of disabilities. Students desiring special assistance because of any permanent or temporary disability may be eligible for these services. See: http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.1.php or http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.7.php.  Contact Disability Services Office at 513-7653, and consult the website: http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/dss/.

 Anti-Discrimination Statement: The role of all employees and students is to create and maintain a supportive and harassment-free working environment for all members of the campus community. All faculty, staff and students are responsible for understanding and complying with harassment policies: these policies can be viewed at: http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op.  Also, all faculty, staff and students are responsible for knowing where to obtain assistance for resolving concerns. Members of the campus community are encouraged and should feel free to seek assistance, information, and guidance from their department head, supervisor, the Office for Equal Opportunity (513-3148), Human Resources (515-4300) or the Office for Student Conduct (515-2963). All harassment of any person (either in the form of quid pro quo or creation of a hostile environment) based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or sexual orientation also is a violation of state, federal law and/or NC State University policy and will not be tolerated. Retaliation against any person who complains about discrimination is also prohibited. NC State‘s policies and regulations covering discrimination, harassment, and retaliation may be accessed at http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/campus_environ or http://ncsu.edu/equal_op. Any person who feels that he or she has been the subject of prohibited discrimination, harassment, or retaliation should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 919-515-3148.