PRIMATE STUDIES (Anthro. B22Y Intro, Two Semesters) Instructor: Frances Burton Department of Anthropology University of Toronto Scarborough Campus 1265 Military Trail Scarborough, ONT M1C 1A4 CANADA Telephone: 416-287-7345 Email: burton@lake.scar.utoronto.ca BACKGROUND The majority of my students are heading towards careers other than zoology or anthropology; most of them will not be working as researchers. This course is intended to enable students to learn something about primates, primate studies, and research in the contemporary context of diminishing populations. As a course in Anthropology, the emphasis is on social processes and how to attempt to understand them as well as their relevance to hominization. There is a theme for each semester culminating in a student presentation: in the first semester, it is conservation and in the second semester, well-being in captivity. Lectures cover basic information on non-human primates which is supported and supplemented by readings. Films and videos are extensively used so that individual species' behaviour itself can be the focus as an adjunct to compendia and analyses of behaviours as is given in text chapters or journal articles. Students are encouraged to find out for themselves in the library and Metro Toronto Zoo. The basic skills for this are covered in the course. Zoo data is analysed and compared with the literature to be presented to the class and subsequently handed in as a paper. ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION SEMESTER ONE: Project: Conservation or well-being 40% part a. species profile 10 part b. paper 20 part c. seminar 10 SEMESTER TWO: Project: Zoo project 40 part a. data exercise 10 part b. paper 20 part c. seminar 10 Final 20 [includes identification 20 species from CD Rom] SEMESTER ONE: PROJECT - conservation or well-being 40% Part I. The Species profile -library work The species [review recent literature on disc; basic information on the CDROM: MULTIMEDIA GUIDE TO THE NON-HUMAN PRIMATES.] Task: [a] To gain expertise on a species through using the Multimedia Guide. [b] To locate on the library's CDs RECENT MATERIAL [BEGINNING WITH 1995 BACK TO 1992] on the species you have chosen. [c] Group the abstracts according to the categories used in THE GUIDE. [d] Consider this material and discuss. You might summarize what is new and where this recent information changes the view on this species, or note what kinds of information is currently being emphasized, etc. Part II. The paper: 20 pages (double spaced) [25%] TASK: [a] You may choose to focus on conservation OR well-being in captivity. [b] The paper is to be organized according to the following: 1. the problem 2. the issues pertaining 3. the primate: its needs [see Part I: species profile] 4. possible solutions 5. conclusions DETAILS: The problem [an introduction: your statement of the prob. as a function of your thinking and reading] The issues pertaining [a discussion flowing from above] The primate-its needs; the literature [focus on the species chosen as well as literature on that primate's needs. Possible solutions - the literature Conclusions SEMESTER TWO: Project at ZOO or VIDEO project 35 IDEAS FOR PROJECTS at the Metro Toronto zoo: 1. Group size and composition 2. Eye contact 3. Supplantation 4. Nearest neighbour 5. Use of space 6. Adoption in the orang group 7. Growth and development of the marmoset babies 8. Social structure in the mandrills IDEAS FOR VIDEO PROJECT (the monkeys of Kowloon) A.Monkey relations to humans B.Human relations to monkeys C.Soil eating D.Finding a kin unit: establishing criteria E.Following an individual overtime. =================================================== ANTHROPOLOGY B22Y: Primate Studies Monday 9-12 Prof. Burton H424 (287-7345) Please note: videos and films are shown most every Monday in the first hour. SEMESTER ONE Sept 11 1. Intro: scope, purpose, activities,requirements-research; the field; the primates Sept 18 2. The GUIDE: check "ZOO group" MEET IN MACINTOSH LAB Sept 25 3. The Zoo: who is there; cages; age, sex Oct 2 4. Species, distrib., habitat....conservation Oct 9 HOLIDAY T H A N K S G I V I N G Oct 16 5. Conservation: Guest speaker Zena Toos: the guenons in Nigeria Oct 23 6. The group: types of social structures Oct 30 7. Socialization and the life cycle Nov 6 8. Reproduction Nov 13 9. The monkeys of Huashan & Cano Palma:ecotourism Nov 20 10. Continued Nov 27 11. Seminars Dec 4 12. Seminars LAST DAY OF CLASSES DEC 08 SEMESTER TWO. Jan 08 The monkeys of Kowloon & Gibraltar: synanthropy 15 Continued 22 Diet: specialists or omnivores? 29 Communication Feb 05 Ape Language 12 Cultural processes 19 Methods: how we know what we know; how we can know 26 Doing the Zoo project: computer lab Mar 05 Zoo observations 12 READING WEEK 13 Zoo observations [bring data collated into sheets for next week] 26 Processing information: computer lab. Inputting data Apr 02 Results of zoo exercise Apr 06 Seminars Apr 12 Seminars LAST DAY OF CLASSES:PAPERS DUE Texts. Required: Jolly, A. 1985. The Evolution of Primate Behavior Recommended Paterson, J. 1992. Primate Behaviour: An Exercise Workbook. Smuts et al. 1988. Primate Societies Richard, A. 1988. Primates in Nature Burton [ed]. 1992. Social Processes and Mental Abilities in Non-human primates. One of the following is required. Burton, F.D. and M. Eaton 1995. The Multimedia Guide to the Non Human Primates: CD Rom with user's guide and a print version. Prentice Hall. Burton, F.D. 1995. Print Version: The Multimedia Guide to the Non Human Primates. Prentice Hall. VIDEO SHOWN IN THIS COURSE Survey of the Primates or equivalent The Third Angel "Birute" Poor Little Rich Boy: Monkeys of Cayo The Nature of Things: Shirley Strum -Baboons Lemurs-Madagascar video Raw footage - Huashan; Costa Rica Barbary Apes Feeding and Food Sharing Washoe or Ape Lang. People of the Forest [chimps]
URL: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/syllabi/burton.html
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February 19, 2002
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