Field School in Caribbean Anthropology

"Small town life in a developing country."

Dr. Cameron interviewing two local residents.

Dr. Catherine M. Cameron (Cedar Crest College)
CCameron@CedarCrest.edu
Dr. John B. Gatewood (Lehigh University)
JBG1@Lehigh.edu

January 3-12, 2007

This field school (Anthropology 235) is an intensive, ten-day, three-credit intersession course located in South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies (the southeastern most group in the Bahama chain). Total price -- including travel, room and board, and tuition -- is around $2,700(including tuition) or $1,650, if full-time students take the course as part of their spring load.

Course Objectives

Culture History of the Caribbean. As background to other topics, students learn the key characteristics of the Caribbean as a culture area, as well as some of the history of the Caribbean, especially the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Sustainable Development of Local Fisheries. South Caicos is the number one producer of conch in the world, most being harvested via free-diving with snorkle and fins. Students learn about the complex human-environment interactions involved in harvesting fish at sustainable levels.
Sustainable Development of Tourism. Parts of the Turks and Caicos Islands are highly developed for tourism (expensive hotels, restaurants, scuba lessons, sport fishing excursions, and so on). At this time, however, South Caicos is virtually untouched by tourists. Students learn about the 'mixed blessing' of tourism as a route to economic development.
Peripheral Countries in the Modern World System. Globalization, transnationalism, cultural resistance, and heritage-making are vividly apparent in South Caicos as local residents are increasingly drawn into the modern world system. Students learn about these social processes by studying their manifestations in the town of Cockburn Harbour.
Doing Ethnography. A key component of this course is involving students in on-going, cumulative research in the local setting of Cockburn Harbour, South Caicos. Some examples of possible student research projects are provided below.

Possible Topics for Student Field Research

Life-history interviews
A study of local conch fishers
Perceived impacts of tourism (before it really hits South Caicos)
A study of school system, healthcare system, or religious life
Collecting folktales, songs, and indigenous medical remedies
Island History
...and so on...

For a pictorial overview of the course and the local setting, please download the following PowerPoint file:Fieldschool07.ppt (about 1.5 Mb).

Contact

Students interested in going on this January field school should contact Cate Cameron as soon as possible. Her office phone number is (610) 606-4666, ext. 3503, and her email address is CCameron@CedarCrest.edu. The deadline for enrolling is early in October.

Basic Travel and Accommodation Information

Documents. Students who are citizens of the U.S.A., Britain, or Canada need only a valid passport to enter T.C.I. Students from other countries may require visas in addition to passports. In addition, it is recommended that all students carry with them some other form of picture ID and a VISA or MasterCard.

Currency. Although they are part of the British Commonwealth, the preferred currency in T.C.I. is the American dollar. Students will not need much cash because virtually everything is included in the field school package price. Still, it would be a good idea to bring enough cash (currency, not travelers checks) for meals while in transit and the occasional soft drink or bottled water in T.C.I. Even though local prices are about 200% of what they are in the U.S., about $100-$200 should be quite adequate for a student's in transit and incidental expenses.

Immunizations. Please see http://www.cdc.gov for a list of immunizations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including routine immunizations (vaccines that are given to all children in the United States and that are usually required for matriculation into elementary school and into college). In addition to the routine immunizations, visitors to T.C.I. should consider being immunized for hepatitis A.

[Note: Hepatitis A (HAV) is a viral infection of the liver that results in jaundice and severe malaise. Unlike hepatitis B, it is rarely fatal, but disease can be protracted, and infected persons can be ill for six weeks or more. Infection is generally transmitted by fecally-contaminated food or water. Symptoms occur in 2 to 6 weeks after first exposure to the virus. The risk of hepatitis A infection for U.S. residents traveling abroad varies with living conditions, length of stay, and the incidence of HAV infection in the area visited. For travelers to low-income countries, risk for infection increases with duration of travel and is highest for those who live in or visit rural areas, trek in back country areas, or frequently eat or drink in settings of poor sanitation. Nevertheless, many cases of travel-related hepatitis A occur in travelers to developing countries with “standard” tourist itineraries, accommodations, and food consumption behaviors. There are now two vaccines licensed in the United States that are extremely effective in preventing hepatitis A infection, and that are quite safe to administer. Both vaccines require two doses (the booster does is given 6-9 months after the initial dose). The initial dose, however, is effective in providing protection, and the CDC recommends that travelers to T.C.I. receive this vaccine, which should be administered at least 4-6 weeks before the trip.]

Room and Board. Students and faculty will be staying in rooms at the School for Field Studies facility in South Caicos. The accommodations are adequate, but not extravagant, i.e., each room has four bunk beds, a table, and a bathroom. The bathroom sink and shower are freshwater (rainwater from a cistern); the toilet is salt water. Students bring their own sheets, blankets, pillowcases, and towels. The only recommended source of drinking water at the facility is a faucet in the central kitchen (that water is micro-filtered and chlorinated). Teams of students are responsible for preparing breakfasts and lunches, as well as cleaning up afterwards. Dinners are prepared by a local cook. Students and faculty must comply with the School for Field Studies' rules, such as no alcohol on premises, observing the nightly curfew (the facility is locked each night), and signing out whenever leaving the compound.

Communications. For routine communications, students have 24-hour access to six computers with Internet and email connectivity. The School for Field Studies also has a telephone, but this should not be used except for emergencies.