This course requires reading, considering, digesting, and discussing a large volume of written material. The course is core training for students interested in the field of ethnobiology and as an integrative discipline this requires broad perspectives from writers in diverse cultures, sciences and philosophies. Three textbooks are required for this course:
Andrade, C. 2008. Ha`ena: Through the eyes of the ancestors. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
Groom, M.J. G.K. Meffe, C.R. Carroll. 2006. Principles of Conservation Biology. Third Edition. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA.
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press.
Additional readings are drawn from a wide range of published sources. These are made available as .pdf copies of individual articles and chapters. The section of the course in which they are used is cited in the course schedule.
Copyright laws do not permit us to provide PDF copies of the readings to the public. Currently enrolled students can gain access to the readings by following this link.
Alexiades, M.N. 1996. Collecting ethnobotanical data: An introduction to basic concepts and techniques. Pp. 53-94 in Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A field manual. Edited by M.N. Alexiades. The New York Botanical Garden, New York.
Berkes, Fikres 1999. chapter 4 Sacred Ecology: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Resource Management. Taylor and Francis, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Berlin, B. 1992. chapter 1 Ethnobiological Classification: Principles of Categorization of Plants and Animals in Traditional Societies. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Browner, C.H., B.R.O de Montellano & A.J. Rubel. 1988. A methodology for cross-cultural ethnomedical research. Current Anthropology 29:681-702.
Colchester, Marcus. 2004. Conservation Policy and Indigenous People. Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 2004:17-22.
Christie, M. 2008. Boundaries and Accountabilities in Computer-assisted Ethnobotany. www.cdu.edu.au/centres/ik/pdf/Ethnobotany-Software.pdf
Cunningham, A.B. 1996. Professional ethics and ethnobotanical research. Pp. 19-51 in Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual. Edited by M.N. Alexiades. The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York.
Cunningham, A.B. 2001. chapter 6 Applied Ethnobotany: People, wild plant use and conservation. EarthScan, London.
Davis, A & J.R. Wagner. 2004. Who Knows? On the importance of identifying “experts” when researching local ecological knowledge. Human Ecology 31:463-489.
Dupre, John. 1999. Are Whales Fish? Pp 461-475 in Folkbiology. Edited by Douglas Medin and Scott Atran. MIT Press, Cambridge.
Etkin, N.L. 1993. Anthropological methods in ethnopharmacology. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 38:93-104.
Ford, R.J. 1994. Ethnobotany: Historical diversity and synthesis. Pp. 33-49 in The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany. Edited by R.J. Ford. Anthropological Papers, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
MacKay, Fergus & Emily Caruso. 2004. Indigenous Lands or National Parks? Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 2004:14-16.
Martin 2003. Editorial from People and Plants on-line: Speaking of Jargon.
McClatchey, W. 2006. Improving Quality of International Ethnobotany Research and Publications. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 4:1-9.
McClatchey, W., Randy Thaman & Sonia Juvik. 2004. Ethnobiodiversity Surveys of Human/Ecosystem Relationships. Pp. 159-196 in Biodiversity Assessment of Tropical Island Ecosystems. Edited by Dieter Mueller Dombois, Kim Bridges, and Curt Daehler, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Mead, Aroha. 2004. He Paua, He Korowai, Me Nga Waahi Tapu. A Shellfish, A Woven Cloak, and Sacred Places: Maori and Protected Areas. Cultural Survival Quarterly Spring 2004:61-64.
O'Fallon LR, Dearry A., 2002. Community-Based Participatory Research as a Tool to Advance Environmental Health Sciences. Environmental Health Perspective 110(S2):155-159.
Peters, C.M. 1996. Beyond nomenclature and use: A review of ecological methods for ethnobotanists. Pp. 241-276 in Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual. Edited by M.N. Alexiades. The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York.
Peters, C.M., A.H. Gentry & R.O. Mendelsohn. 1989. Valuation of an Amazonian rainforest. Nature 339:655-656.
Phillips, O.L. 1996. Some quantitative methods for analyzing ethnobotanical knowledge. Pp. 171-197 in Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual. Edited by M.N. Alexiades. The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York.
Posey, D.A. 1990. Intellectual Property Rights: What is the position of ethnobiology? Journal of Ethnobiology 10:93-98.
Salick, J., J. Alcorn, E. Anderson, C. Asa, W. Balee, M. Balick, S. Beckerman, B. Bennett, J. Caballero, G. Camilo, A.B. Cunningham, E. Elisabetsky, L. Emperaire, G. Estabrook, G. Fritz, L. Gross, E. Hunn, T. Johns, E. Luoga, G. Martin, W. McClatchey, J. Miller, P. Minnis, D. Moerman, M. Paletti, D. Pearsall, C. Ramirez-Sosa, J. Rashford, B. Schaal, D. Spooner, J. Stepp, M. Thomas, T. Ticktin, N. Turner, J. Xu. 2003. Intellectual Imperatives in Ethnobiology .NSF Biocomplexity Workshop Report. Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis.
Sauer, C.O. 1952 ch 1 Agricultural Origins and Dispersals. The American Geographical Society, New York.
Sauer, C.O. 1952 ch 2 Agricultural Origins and Dispersals. The American Geographical Society, New York.
Sauer, C.O. 1952 ch 3 Agricultural Origins and Dispersals. The American Geographical Society, New York.
Sithole, B. P. Frost & T.S. Veeman. 2002. Searching for Synthesis: Integrating economic perspectives with those of other disciplines. Pp. 198-227 in Uncovering the Hidden Harvest: Valuation methods for woodland and forest resources. Edited by B.M. Campbell & M.K. Luckert. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London.
Spradley, J.P. 1980. Making a componential analysis. Chapter 9 in Participant Observation. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York.
Stepp, J.R. & M.B. Thomas. 2005. Managing Ethnopharmacological Data: Herbaria, regional databases and literature. Field Methods 17:211-218.
Turner, N.J., I.J. Davidson-Hunt & M. O’Flaherty. 2003. Living on the Edge: Ecological and cultural edges as sources of diversity for social-ecological resilience. Human Ecology 31:439-461.
Veeman, T.S. & M.K. Luckert. 2002. Economic decision-making frameworks for considering resource values: Procedures, perils and promise. Pp. 141-167 in Uncovering the Hidden Harvest: Valuation methods for woodland and forest resources. Edited by B.M. Campbell & M.K. Luckert. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London.
Wester, L. & D. Chuesanguansat. 1994. Adoption and abandonment of Southeast Asian Food Plants. Pp 83-92 in Plants and Human Culture. Haworth Press.
Wester, L. & S. Yongvanit. 1995. Biological Diversity and Community Lore in Northeastern Thailand. Journal of Ethnobiology 15:71-87.
Zent, S. 1996. Behavioral orientations toward ethnobotanical quantification. Pp. 199-239 94 in Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A field manual. Edited by M.N. Alexiades. The New York Botanical Garden, New York.
Zent, S. 2001. Acculturation and ethnobotanical knowledge loss among the Piaroa of Venezuela. Pp. 190-211 in On Biocultural Diversity: Linking language, knowledge, and the environment. Edited by Luisa Maffi, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.
Looking Deeper
The following books are optional readings that supplement materials used as readings in the class. Students with interests that run deep are encouraged to explore these resources in order to learn more.
Nettle, Daniel & Suzanne Romaine. 2000. Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Pearce, D.W. 1993. Economic values and the natural world. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Schultes, R. E. & A. Hofmann. 1979 (1992). Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Womersley, J.S. 1976. Plant Collecting for Anthropologists, Geographers and Ecologists in Papua New Guinea. Botany Bulletin No. 2, Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea Government.