Welcome!

DO NOT EDIT THIS PAGE!! IT HAS IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS

This is our class notes page.

Each week a group of you (see the link Notetaker Group List to the right over here --->Click on "sidebar" if you can't see the list) will take notes during class and post them here, and make edits to others' postings as you see fit. The goal is to have the most comprehensive and most accurate set of notes from our class lectures and discussions. If you happen to be taking notes during a class that we have a film, there is no need to post the notes of that film here. Consider it a free pass for that particular class.

Good note-taking is a disciplined activity. It is most certainly not a simple matter of just writing down authoritative statements from the professor, but also includes statements, observations, debates, questions, etc. that emerge in the course of discussion. Paying close attention so that you don't miss anything that is discussed is just part of it. You should strive to reproduce, with as much accuracy as possible, the language that someone is using. In their own notes, anthropologists try not to merely summarize what someone told them. A summary is a subtle way that the one's own biases can come in, or a possibility for the anthropologist to write what he or she thinks they heard, which may not be what was actually said. An anthropologist's notes tend to be fairly raw dialogues, statements, snippets of interviews, etc., which he/she can use later on to reconstruct what was actually said.

Does that mean you shouldn't summarize what someone said? Not necessarily. Sometimes you will have to, especially if it is a very long-winded statement, or you miss crucial details. But you should strive for as much original detail as possible. The reason we're doing this wiki as a small group activity is that other members of the group will hear different things and can add precise details to, or correct, the things that you might have written down in class.

__How to use this wiki__

To read class notes:

Simply click on a link for the class below. Keep in mind that it might take up to a day or two for the group members to make their submissions and edit them. To keep track of who submitted notes and has made changes, click the recent activity button. Wikis keep track of all activity, which is, by the way, how I will know if you are doing this assignment.

To produce class notes:

Please do not edit this front page. During the week you are assigned to take notes, you should come to this site after class and enter your notes and/or edit the submissions of others. Please try to get the class notes up within 48 hours of the class, so that 1) you don't forget little details, and 2) others can use these class notes for their own studying. You don't need to coordinate with your other group members ahead of time--you will each post and/or edit what is already posted independently. Your "colalboration" will be through this site.

Click on the relevant date in the sidebar to the right. Click on the edit button up at the top. Type the notes in the window, upload them, or cut and paste them from another document. You can also edit what someone else has written there. When you are finished simply click on the save button on the bottom left, and the page will appear.