The minutes and reports are presented here in order. Year three (current is found at the bottom of the page). It will be updated following our meetings. We are very lucky to have Christie Jamshidnejad back this year!
IMPAC Regional Meeting
February 1, 2003
Sacramento, CA
Minutes
Present:
Barry Pasternack, CSU facilitator; Allen Beck, Fresno City College; Rob Edwards, Cabrillo College; Alan Almquist, CSU Hayward; Laurie Price, CSU Hayward; George Rodgers, Ohlone College; Jo Rainie Rodgers, Ohlone/West Valley/Foothill Colleges; Kristina Casper-Denman, American River College; Patrice Gibson, American River College; Don Lenkeit, Modesto Junior College; Scott Lukas, Lake Tahoe Community College; Christie Jamshidnejad, articulation, Diablo Valley College.
Minutes:
The morning meeting started at 10:30 a.m. with introduction of people. Scott L. was identified as the newcomer to the anthropologists’ group. Barry Pasternack, Business instructor, facilitated the meeting. He also sits on the CAN board. Barry P. briefly outlined the agenda for the meeting, which included a review of CAN descriptors, a discussion of skill sets and competencies required of students at the lower division, obstacles facing faculty in their efforts to meet the educational needs of undergraduates, and barriers to success for both students and faculty.
Barry P. also briefly explained the new CAN model, and the next phase for CAN which has been proposed but not yet implemented. The new CAN model calls for more detailed descriptors that include a breakdown of subjects and learning objectives similar to what is found on a course outline. Significant discussions were generated with specific discontentment of the anthro faculty that the “package” of the new CAN model was written during the 2002 summer and codified in September of 2002, and has yet to be seen by anyone on the meeting. The group determined that members need clarification on the relationship between CAN used to satisfy GE requirements and the use of CAN to satisfy major requirements.
The group discussed a draft of CAN descriptors for anthropology courses drafted by a group of 40 anthropologists, from throughout California, who met in San Luis Obispo on January 18, 2003. The group and about 40 people met in San Luis Obispo back on January 18, 2003. At that meeting, the group heard reports from members who’d researched the CAN process and current CAN descriptors in Anthropology. They also drafted and approved new CAN descriptors for the three CAN Anthropology courses, which were shared with attendees at this meeting. The group discussed issues in anticipation of this IMPAC project.
The group mentioned that certain courses are not being accepted by some CSU campuses, e.g., San Jose State University and CSU Sacramento, though Sacramento recently agreed to accept. Alan A. mentioned that he did not realize this was a problem, since he thought campuses were obliged to accept courses already articulated.
The group discussed how the transfer process can be streamlined. Patrice G. asked what the purpose of the IMPAC meetings were, and that there were mixed messages as to what the procedures were and what was supposed to happen.
Barry P. asked what other courses, besides the existing CAN courses, would be beneficial to have for lower division major preparation. George R. indicated Physical Anthro Lab, 1 unit, is good. Other courses mentioned included California Indians; however, courses like these are often offered at the upper-division level at four-year schools, and at the lower-division level at community colleges.
Rob E. mentioned that different UC campuses have different requirements for the Anthro major. For example, UC Riverside has 11; UCLA has 5 or 6, and UCSB has a few as well. Jo Rainie R. said the courses offered at the community colleges should focus on what the four-year schools have available for the students. Community colleges and four year institutions should also examine top selling courses at two-year schools and consider CAN descriptors for those courses. Four-year colleges should reconsider their own course offerings at the lower and upper divisions, based on current students needs and the success of some courses at two-year colleges. She also mentioned courses to be offered for “majors” vs. “non-majors,” such as biology for majors and for non-majors. Don L. mentioned that Bio Anthro Lab is good as a prep course as well.
Other courses mentioned included Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, Lab, and Linguistics. Scott L. mentioned that offering courses at smaller districts such as his (Lake Tahoe Community College District) is difficult due to budget constrains. He is already teaching six courses this term, and the budget is about $200 to teach both Anthro and Sociology at his college. Alan A. said community colleges around CSU Hayward should have what the community colleges around CSU Hayward can use to transfer/articulate to CSUH, and use that as a model to broaden to other parts of the state. The group thought it was good to start with a small area, and then to use it as a model. Alan also announced plans for a meeting May 10 to bring CSU Hayward faculty together with community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area to network and discuss undergraduate education in Anthropology.
It was mentioned that faculty at community colleges often had to contact faculty at the four-year schools when students have problems transferring courses, and that personal contacts/socializing opportunities are important for such problems. Christie J. mentioned the site, www.assist.org, where students or instructors can report articulation problems to the ASSIST coordination site.
ARC and Ohlone are developing Associate of Arts major in Anthropology. It was indicated that Cabrillo and Foothill Colleges already have such major. Patrice G. volunteered to research more and gather more data on A.A. in Anthropology. The group will use this information to help determine current undergraduate requirements for anthropology majors. Christie J. will research and find out more about whether UC campuses know about CAN, and the possible level of interest from the UC’s by the next IMPAC meeting.
CSU Hayward/Laurie P. mentioned the cluster courses that incoming freshmen take. These cluster courses are not required for transfer students. She also mentioned that statistics is recommended, but not required. Barry P. asked the group whether the CAN descriptors are enough, and the group said it was.
Laurie P. said she will consider being the lead faculty for the Anthropology discipline for IMPAC. Barry P. said the IMPAC people would like to have a community college lead faculty, and not CSU. After lunch, it was decided that a lead faculty absolutely cannot be a CSU person.
The meeting ended at 12:00 p.m., and cross-discipline discussions to continue after lunch.
First cross-discipline discussion: Anthropology and Nursing.
Second cross-discipline discussion: Anthropology and Biology.
The next IMPAC meeting is on March 1, 2003, in the Pasadena area.
In the afternoon, Kate Clark, Lead Faculty Coordinator, provided some clarification for the group regarding the CAN process. IMPAC now handles CAN approval (rather than having colleges develop articulation contracts with four other four-year colleges). IMPAC relies on the approval of the anthropology faculty IMPAC group for recommended changes/additions to Anthropology CAN courses. The anthropology IMPAC group is also responsible for defining major preparation for anthropology majors and prerequisites for anthropology courses. This process change enforces the need for CCC, CSU and UC faculty to participate jointly in IMPAC.
The group agreed to distribute the minutes from this meeting to participants of the San Luis Obispo meetings and other colleagues who are interested in joining the group.
The group encourages our Southern California colleagues to attend the March 1 meeting. Our next large group meeting will be at the IMPAC state meeting April 25-26. At the state meeting, the group will review ongoing research by several group members. Patty Gibson is researching AA degrees in anthropology and major preparation and graduation requirements. Kristina Casper-Denman is researching Physical Anthropology Lab courses. Don Lenkeit is researching Magic, Witchcraft and Religion. Phil Stein and Diane Levine are researching linguistics.
The group needs to find a Lead Faculty Coordinator from the UC system (IMPAC requirement). IMPAC has a formal process for approving Lead Faculty Coordinators and encouraged group members to suggest individuals for consideration for this position. Jo Rainie Rodgers agreed to collect names, work with group members in the search for a Coordinator, and distribute information about this and upcoming meetings to the group.
Respectfully submitted, Christie Jamshidnejad
IMPAC Regional Meeting
March 1, 2003
Pasadema, CA
Minutes
Present:
Scott A. Lukas, Lead Faculty, Lake Tahoe Community College; Lauren Arenson, Pasadena City College; Mark Allen, Cal Poly Pomona; Elvio Angeloni, Pasadena City College; Pamela Ford, Mt. San Jacinto College; Karen Daar, East Los Angeles College; Christie Jamshidnejad, articulation, Diablo Valley College.
Minutes:
The morning meeting started at 10:30 a.m. with introduction of all present. Scott L., Lead Faculty for the Anthropology discipline, gave an overview of the IMPAC project and its purpose and encouraged input from those present at the January meeting in San Luis Obispo as he was unable to attend that meeting due to freeze in travel budgets at his college.
Lauren A. stated that the course numbers at Pasadena City College for cultural and other anthropology courses were different from those indicated in CAN, and said she thought the purpose was to use one identifying number. Christie J. explained that there are two sets of course numbers—one used by each community college, and one that is state-wide (i.e., CAN), which all colleges and universities in California will recognize and honor. Elvio A. asked why not go a step further, to use only one set of courses rather than assigning an additional CAN number. Scott L. explained that it is a budgetary issue and is also time consuming.
The group discussed the three courses already in the CAN system, and discussed possibly adding an additional physical anthro lab class which is 1 unit. Karen D. mentioned that lab course in her district (Los Angeles) carries 2 units though her school, East Los Angeles, does not offer the course. The group felt that it was more common that this course generally carries 1 unit.
The group also discussed the availability of the bioanthro lab. This is a space/storage/classroom issue, though it can also be a possibility to add to CAN. The group identified Orange Coast College, L.A. Pierce, and Mt. San Antonio College as the colleges that are equipped with the bioanthro lab. Lauren A. stressed that the lab is an important component.
The Magic Witchcraft course was also discussed. CSU Northridge is the only school that was identified as the school having this course at the lower division level, and most others are offered at the upper division level, and Karen D. mentioned that the 101 and 102 equivalents at CSUN were the only lower division courses required for the major. The group felt that this was similar for the California Indians courses and myth/religion classes. Scott L. mentioned that in smaller districts such as his (i.e., Lake Tahoe Community College District), staffing is a problem. Pam F. mentioned that at Mt. San Jacinto College, enrollment can be [is not a problem for California Indians course]a problem to fill these courses. It was decided that Scott L will follow up and contact people from the February 1, 2003, IMPAC meeting at Sacramento for results as mentioned in the February 1, 2003, meeting minutes regarding the results of gathering more data on the linguistics and the Native American courses.
It was mentioned that Orange Coast College had a course called language and culture. The group said this course is normally offered at the upper division level at four-year colleges and universities. Karen D. mentioned that at CSU Northridge a while ago, only 101 and 102 were at the lower division level and all others were at the upper division level. Mark A. stated that for Biological/Physical Anthropology courses, the Biology department at Cal Poly Pomona and certain schools are not happy that Anthropology is teaching these courses because students may be taken away from Biology to Anthropology. At Cal Poly Pomona, these anthro courses are not in their General Education for Bio Sci since these are seen as competitors for enrollment of students. Some people in the group felt that enrollment was not an issue at their schools.
Pam F. asked whether lab courses can be CAN’ed if the group wanted to move forward with the physical/bio anthro lab CAN courses. Christie J. explained that lab courses may be CAN’ed separately, and also be coupled together as a sequence if the group wanted to; however, this will be up to each school and depending on the availability of the lab courses at those schools. Pam F. also mentioned that at the San Luis Obispo meeting, someone bravely asked whether the enrollment of archeology courses are declining at each school. For all colleges represented at that particular meeting, everyone stated that their enrollment in archeology had decreased and that there was no lab component.
Mark A. mentioned that archeology was not included in the Bio Sci area of the General Education curriculum at his school because the Biology department has been fighting it for a long time. Though pedagogically sound and makes sense from the discipline point of view, it seemed that this was a risky move due to budget cuts.
Scott L. mentioned that it is difficult in small districts such as his to cover the four fields. Karen D. said at East Los Angeles College, there are no linguistic classes and she would much rather have an archeologist teaching archeology courses to represent the four fields, though she has taught archeology before. Pam F. said that at Mt. San Jacinto College, students transfer to UC Riverside and UCR accepts English linguistics courses to fulfill the anthropology major requirement. The English/linguistics course includes some gender issues, etc., and is accepted. Elvio A. said that at Pasadena City College, linguistics has shifted from English to Foreign Languages and is not sure whether the linguistics course is accepted at other schools as fulfilling the anthro major requirement. Pam F. suggested that this be looked into it to see if other four-year colleges and universities would honor linguistics for anthro major preparation.
The group discussed the next step for CAN/IMPAC, re: offering courses. Pam F. said there are practical issues—who will write the course descriptions? Elvio A. mentioned that perhaps this is already done, and it is a matter of finding schools that offer them. Scott L. asked whether the group would like to meet with another discipline in the afternoon for a cross-disciplinary discussion or to remain as an anthropology group. Karen D. mentioned that meeting with the sociology group may be helpful and interesting. It was decided that the anthro group will meet with sociology during the first half of the cross-disciplinary discussion and come back solo as the anthro group at the end.
Afternoon meetings:
Sociology:
The cross-disciplinary discussion began with sociology. Bernie Seyboldt Day from Foothill College in the sociology group was the facilitator, and she distributed the grid for the CAN courses as well as the CAN course descriptions to the anthropology group. There was a discussion of the distinctions between sociology and anthropology. Someone mentioned that sociology was more theorhetical than anthropology, and there is a distinction of cultural and social structures. Another sociologist mentioned that it should be the students’ responsibility to figure out the differences between sociology and anthropology, not to teach it.
A sociologist suggested that for the next meeting, everyone bring in the schedule of classes and the course outlines, possibly to have the sociologists teach a class in anthropology, and vice versa, for trial/fun. He commented that after all, we are “kissing cousins.” It was also mentioned that the sharing of resources is important, and Kathy Kaiser will be contacted : CSA, and the e-mail will be passed onto her.
The department chair of Sociology at CSU Bakersfield mentioned that Sociology and Anthropology are within the same department at his school. A community college represented stated that at his school, sociology and anthropology are under the same division, common throughout the community colleges in California. CSU Bakersfield mentioned that it decided not to accept anthro courses from community colleges without the lab component; however, the two feeder two-year colleges in the Bakersfield area do not offer lab courses in conjunction with the lecture courses. He mentioned that the decision was made when CSU Bakersfield hired a biological anthropologist who was adamant about having the lab component.
Scott L. mentioned that archeology courses are not accepted at the UC campuses without the field component. CSU Bakersfield mentioned that it is very interested in increasing the number of anthropology majors/undergraduate at his school. Someone in the group asked CSU Bakersfield for the number of sociology and anthropology majors at his school. CSU Bakersfiled stated that there are about 30 anthro majors, and 189 or so sociology majors. Scott L. mentioned that anthro is looking into CANning lab courses, and Bernie Seyboldt Day mentioned that Geography was one discipline who succeeded in doing this.
At the end of the anthro group meeting, it was decided that Scott L. will solicit replies and input from the members via e-mail, including about courses on religion/myth, bioanthro lab, Native American courses, language/culture, and archeology/pre-history classes. He reminded everyone to bring the college catalog and encouraged participation in the Los Angeles state-wide meeting to be held on April 25 and 26.
Meeting was adjourned at 2:50p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Christie Jamshidnejad
IMPAC Statewide Meeting
April 25 and 26, 2003
Los Angeles, CA
Anthropology
Present: Scott A. Lukas, Lead Faculty, Lake Tahoe College; William Fairbanks, Cuesta College; Diane Levine, Los Angeles Pierce College; George Rodgers, Ohlone College (in the afternoon of April 25 & all day on April 26); Jo Rainey Rodgers, Ohlone College; Joyce Bishop, CSU Sacramento; Karen Daar, East Los Angeles College; Adam Wetsman, Rio Hondo College; Christie Jamshidnejad, Diablo Valley College (Articulation Officer)
Minutes:
Morning meeting, Friday, April 25th
Scott Lukas began the meeting with having the participants introduce themselves. Scott then distributed a packet of information including CAN descriptors for anthro courses, agenda for meetings, roaster of attendees, and the grid of anthro courses at different colleges and universities. Scott mentioned that some of the rural, northern colleges may be interested in joining the group next year.
Scott mentioned issues from the past regional meetings as part of his introduction, including rewriting of CAN descriptors and outcome/actions taken at previous regional meetings. He indicated that the 4-fields/AAA erosion of 4-fields is a concern regionally, especially with faculty resources and other related problems.
Jo R. mentioned that the cross disciplinary discussions have not been fruitful. She feels that the momentum to keep the faculty attending these meetings needs to be on-going, and that there was great interest at the beginning especially at the San Luis Obispo meeting but the group is shrinking as a result of the cross disciplinary meetings. Scott said that it is not mandatory to have cross disciplinary meetings with other groups, and that anthro even chose not to meet with any other groups at one of the past meetings.
The group then reviewed the grid courses. Joyce B. indicated that the Language and Culture course isn’t always the same as Linguistics. Joyce B. also mentioned that linguistics was required for speech therapy programs back East where she used to teach. Scott L. said CAN would like to expand and CAN (verb) more courses, though at smaller colleges like Lake Tahoe not all courses may be taught. Karen D. mentioned that the grid may not be accurate. Scott L. said that the information was based on available information, and encouraged any corrections to be made. William F. said Allan Beck at Fresno would be a great resource as he already has the grid down.
Bill F. summarized the discussion by saying that there were three issues, all significant. 1970s was when J.C.s were renamed as community colleges, and one was upper division/lower division issue. Second was what do we do about CSUs and UCs involvement. Third, future of the discipline--physical anthropology lab makes more sense as it does for biology lab.
Joyce B. said there is much interest in forensic anthropology. Karen said physical anthro lab seemed to be 1 unit, and Diane L. said it might have something to do with the carnegie units but wasn't sure.
Jo R. mentioned that the CAN courses aren't listed at Ohlone College as courses are listed in ASSIST, though at Foothill College CAN courses are listed. Christie J. responded that this may be a human factor, since not all articulation officers or people in charge of catalogs vary. Jo R. mentioned that for IMPAC and anthro, a solid plan is necessary to move the CAN descriptors forward.
Christie J. suggested that Jose Michel, Director of CAN (California Articulation Number System), join the anthro discussion in the afternoon for half an hour or an hour. It was decided that Scott L. will ask.
This meeting was adjourned at 12:05pm.
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A “working lunch” was held with Jose Michel at the anthropology table, since Jose had to catch a flight at 2pm and was not available for the afternoon meeting. Jose clarified questions from the group and explained procedures of CANning courses.
Topics discussed were the old and new models of CANning courses, the need to have articulation agreements reviewed every 4-5 years, the need to have all schools articulate all courses, and the fact that there are 80,000+ courses presently listed on www.assist.org.
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Afternoon meeting, Friday, April 25th
Afternoon attendees: Scott L., Jo R., Bill F., Adam W., Joyce B., Karen D., Diane L., Christie J.
The meeting began at 1:15 pm. Bill F. said for future meetings we should not be re-doing CAN descriptors or any other issues that have already been worked on. Scott L. said there are a lot of resources at IMPAC, and any new recommendations should reflect the concerns of the anthro faculty and the students they serve.
Bill F. commented that at the meeting in San Luis Obispo, descriptions were really worked on especially by the physical anthro group. He remembers about 10 or 12 physical anthropologists, with varied age ranges with Phil Stein introducing himself as the 'senior' member. Scott L. sent out 500 surveys and received two back, which was not a good return rate. He indicated that not everything is applicable to all campuses. Diane L. followed up on this comment saying that it was interesting since every school seems to have different needs, i.e., "my college is..."
Scott went over the new CAN descriptors in the meeting packet. Discussions were centered around revisions of CAN descriptors, including grammatical and spelling issues. Karen D. asked whether course outlines and syllabi must include all words in CAN descriptors. The response was that if all ideas/concepts were included, then that was sufficient. There was a question re: Bioanthro lab methods. Bill F. reiterated that the SLO group was working on this descriptor and was quite consistent. He also reiterated that CSU and UC participation was important. Joyce B. offered to contact other CSU people and Bill F. said it was beneficial to have four-year representations.
Jo R. said there were also a lot of tips and teaching related information were exchanged at SLO. Bill F. said it was "an intensive meeting and a party." Karen D. suggested changing the first sentence of CAN ANTH 2 because it sounds awkward and complex. Diane L. said it sounds awkward and complex but there may not be a solution. Bill F. said the number of words in the descriptors are limited by CAN, and if things needed to be elaborated on then they could be, though this is about as clean as the description can get. Adam W. thinks the descriptor is modeled after the biology one.
Cultural anthro descriptor, CAN ANTH 4, was well cleaned up. Karen D. suggested that the second sentence should change, and it was decided that the words "This course" should be deleted preceding "subjects include...", and that the sentence should begin with "Subjects include." Other grammatical issues were discussed, including use of passives.
Archeology anthro descriptor, CAN ANTH 6, was worked on at the SLO meeting. Bill F. said Rob Edwards had worked on this descriptor. Scott L. said Pam Ford, who was at the Pasadena regional meeting and who teaches archeology, seemed happy with the description. Bill F. said that Pam Ford was also in attendance at the SLO meeting.
Joyce said Magic Witchcraft and Religion courses are always popular. At Sacramento State, it is Anthro 13 and courses are taught even at the lower division, and not enough sections are offered. Therefore, having this course taught at the community colleges does not take away the clientele. However, according to the grid courses at UCs are upper division courses and they aren't the same courses at all. Upper division courses are much more theory, and if this course becomes CAN then the UCs will give a lot of flack though she's not sure what the CSUs will do.
Joyce B. continued that people should not give up upper division level, and that magic witchcraft and religion is a marketing title. At the upper division level, the title is most likely called anthropology of religion. Jo R. suggested that for CAN, the course should clearly reflect descriptions that do not conflict with the four-year, upper division level religion courses, and that the title should be magic witchcraft and religion. There were articles on articles and textbooks used in anthro courses.
CAN ANTH 8, Intro to Language and Linguistics, seems ready-to-go. Five lower-division level comparable courses are listed. Joyce B. asked about articulation agreements, and Diane L. mentioned that the articulation officer at L.A. Pierce might already be working on it, since Phil is always bugging the articulation officer over there. Bill F. asked whether the first sentence should just be language, or linguistics should be included. It was decided that the second sentence details linguistics, and also language is larger--linguistics is a sub of language. Adam W. asked whether the word "anthropology" should be included somewhere in the description. It was decided that the word will be included in the first sentence of the descriptor.
Karen D. expressed her reservations about having the CAN descriptor more detailed than what are described in the four-year schools' course descriptions. Nevertheless, it was decided that the CAN ANTH 8 descriptor will be forwarded to IMPAC for addition to CAN as is, with the minor modification as indicated above.
The group discussed the bio anthro lab next. Joyce B. read the description of the bio anthro lab course from Sacramento State. Scott L. solicited descriptions for this course via e-mail. This is a popular option for general education, natural science lab. Jo R. mentioned that Alan at CSU Hayward was willing to change the lab to physical anthro lab if this is a big seller at two-year schools and as a good recruiting tool. It was decided that Adam W., who is a physical anthropologist, will work on the descriptor for this course and others will help via e-mail.
Jo R. mentioned that courses such as the Native Americans and Magic Witchcraft Religion are important for the two-year schools with cases for the importance of these courses such as voting for Indian gaming. It was decided that this issue will be explored in future meetings.
This meeting was adjourned at 3:35 pm, to attend the IMPAC large group discussion.
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Saturday, April 26th
Attendees: Scott L., George R., Jo R., Joyce B., Bill F., Christie J.
Scott L. began the meeting by announcing that the anthropology group will finish meeting in the morning and will adjourn by noon. All present consented.
Scott L. brought up the issue of cross-disciplinary discussions and some of the past discussions such as biology. It seemed that biology was not happy with some courses offered by anthro faculty. Bill F. mentioned a student who had a graduate degree in biology but returned to take a lower division physical anthropology course because she didn't have the backgrounds in evolution, etc. George R. mentioned about "survival option" and about losing enrollment.
Joyce B. asked about the SLO meeting, and Bill F. gave a history of the group. It is a self-generated group of all anthropologists that started in 1994 that met in Yosemite. The group talked about the event next year, budget, and how IMPAC may be able to fund it or what the value of IMPAC meetings are to the anthropology discipline.
Jo R. mentioned the diversity issue to tap into the opportunity. Joyce B. said Anthro 101, Cultural Diversity, is offered at the low-upper division level. The group decided that syllabi for diversity/plurarism courses, as well as for other courses such as magic myth courses, should be brought together for the larger group.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
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Respectfully submitted, Christie Jamshidnejad
February 1, 2003
Sacramento, CA
Minutes
Present:
Barry Pasternack, CSU facilitator; Allen Beck, Fresno City College; Rob Edwards, Cabrillo College; Alan Almquist, CSU Hayward; Laurie Price, CSU Hayward; George Rodgers, Ohlone College; Jo Rainie Rodgers, Ohlone/West Valley/Foothill Colleges; Kristina Casper-Denman, American River College; Patrice Gibson, American River College; Don Lenkeit, Modesto Junior College; Scott Lukas, Lake Tahoe Community College; Christie Jamshidnejad, articulation, Diablo Valley College.
Minutes:
The morning meeting started at 10:30 a.m. with introduction of people. Scott L. was identified as the newcomer to the anthropologists’ group. Barry Pasternack, Business instructor, facilitated the meeting. He also sits on the CAN board. Barry P. briefly outlined the agenda for the meeting, which included a review of CAN descriptors, a discussion of skill sets and competencies required of students at the lower division, obstacles facing faculty in their efforts to meet the educational needs of undergraduates, and barriers to success for both students and faculty.
Barry P. also briefly explained the new CAN model, and the next phase for CAN which has been proposed but not yet implemented. The new CAN model calls for more detailed descriptors that include a breakdown of subjects and learning objectives similar to what is found on a course outline. Significant discussions were generated with specific discontentment of the anthro faculty that the “package” of the new CAN model was written during the 2002 summer and codified in September of 2002, and has yet to be seen by anyone on the meeting. The group determined that members need clarification on the relationship between CAN used to satisfy GE requirements and the use of CAN to satisfy major requirements.
The group discussed a draft of CAN descriptors for anthropology courses drafted by a group of 40 anthropologists, from throughout California, who met in San Luis Obispo on January 18, 2003. The group and about 40 people met in San Luis Obispo back on January 18, 2003. At that meeting, the group heard reports from members who’d researched the CAN process and current CAN descriptors in Anthropology. They also drafted and approved new CAN descriptors for the three CAN Anthropology courses, which were shared with attendees at this meeting. The group discussed issues in anticipation of this IMPAC project.
The group mentioned that certain courses are not being accepted by some CSU campuses, e.g., San Jose State University and CSU Sacramento, though Sacramento recently agreed to accept. Alan A. mentioned that he did not realize this was a problem, since he thought campuses were obliged to accept courses already articulated.
The group discussed how the transfer process can be streamlined. Patrice G. asked what the purpose of the IMPAC meetings were, and that there were mixed messages as to what the procedures were and what was supposed to happen.
Barry P. asked what other courses, besides the existing CAN courses, would be beneficial to have for lower division major preparation. George R. indicated Physical Anthro Lab, 1 unit, is good. Other courses mentioned included California Indians; however, courses like these are often offered at the upper-division level at four-year schools, and at the lower-division level at community colleges.
Rob E. mentioned that different UC campuses have different requirements for the Anthro major. For example, UC Riverside has 11; UCLA has 5 or 6, and UCSB has a few as well. Jo Rainie R. said the courses offered at the community colleges should focus on what the four-year schools have available for the students. Community colleges and four year institutions should also examine top selling courses at two-year schools and consider CAN descriptors for those courses. Four-year colleges should reconsider their own course offerings at the lower and upper divisions, based on current students needs and the success of some courses at two-year colleges. She also mentioned courses to be offered for “majors” vs. “non-majors,” such as biology for majors and for non-majors. Don L. mentioned that Bio Anthro Lab is good as a prep course as well.
Other courses mentioned included Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, Lab, and Linguistics. Scott L. mentioned that offering courses at smaller districts such as his (Lake Tahoe Community College District) is difficult due to budget constrains. He is already teaching six courses this term, and the budget is about $200 to teach both Anthro and Sociology at his college. Alan A. said community colleges around CSU Hayward should have what the community colleges around CSU Hayward can use to transfer/articulate to CSUH, and use that as a model to broaden to other parts of the state. The group thought it was good to start with a small area, and then to use it as a model. Alan also announced plans for a meeting May 10 to bring CSU Hayward faculty together with community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area to network and discuss undergraduate education in Anthropology.
It was mentioned that faculty at community colleges often had to contact faculty at the four-year schools when students have problems transferring courses, and that personal contacts/socializing opportunities are important for such problems. Christie J. mentioned the site, www.assist.org, where students or instructors can report articulation problems to the ASSIST coordination site.
ARC and Ohlone are developing Associate of Arts major in Anthropology. It was indicated that Cabrillo and Foothill Colleges already have such major. Patrice G. volunteered to research more and gather more data on A.A. in Anthropology. The group will use this information to help determine current undergraduate requirements for anthropology majors. Christie J. will research and find out more about whether UC campuses know about CAN, and the possible level of interest from the UC’s by the next IMPAC meeting.
CSU Hayward/Laurie P. mentioned the cluster courses that incoming freshmen take. These cluster courses are not required for transfer students. She also mentioned that statistics is recommended, but not required. Barry P. asked the group whether the CAN descriptors are enough, and the group said it was.
Laurie P. said she will consider being the lead faculty for the Anthropology discipline for IMPAC. Barry P. said the IMPAC people would like to have a community college lead faculty, and not CSU. After lunch, it was decided that a lead faculty absolutely cannot be a CSU person.
The meeting ended at 12:00 p.m., and cross-discipline discussions to continue after lunch.
First cross-discipline discussion: Anthropology and Nursing.
Second cross-discipline discussion: Anthropology and Biology.
The next IMPAC meeting is on March 1, 2003, in the Pasadena area.
In the afternoon, Kate Clark, Lead Faculty Coordinator, provided some clarification for the group regarding the CAN process. IMPAC now handles CAN approval (rather than having colleges develop articulation contracts with four other four-year colleges). IMPAC relies on the approval of the anthropology faculty IMPAC group for recommended changes/additions to Anthropology CAN courses. The anthropology IMPAC group is also responsible for defining major preparation for anthropology majors and prerequisites for anthropology courses. This process change enforces the need for CCC, CSU and UC faculty to participate jointly in IMPAC.
The group agreed to distribute the minutes from this meeting to participants of the San Luis Obispo meetings and other colleagues who are interested in joining the group.
The group encourages our Southern California colleagues to attend the March 1 meeting. Our next large group meeting will be at the IMPAC state meeting April 25-26. At the state meeting, the group will review ongoing research by several group members. Patty Gibson is researching AA degrees in anthropology and major preparation and graduation requirements. Kristina Casper-Denman is researching Physical Anthropology Lab courses. Don Lenkeit is researching Magic, Witchcraft and Religion. Phil Stein and Diane Levine are researching linguistics.
The group needs to find a Lead Faculty Coordinator from the UC system (IMPAC requirement). IMPAC has a formal process for approving Lead Faculty Coordinators and encouraged group members to suggest individuals for consideration for this position. Jo Rainie Rodgers agreed to collect names, work with group members in the search for a Coordinator, and distribute information about this and upcoming meetings to the group.
Respectfully submitted, Christie Jamshidnejad
IMPAC Regional Meeting
March 1, 2003
Pasadema, CA
Minutes
Present:
Scott A. Lukas, Lead Faculty, Lake Tahoe Community College; Lauren Arenson, Pasadena City College; Mark Allen, Cal Poly Pomona; Elvio Angeloni, Pasadena City College; Pamela Ford, Mt. San Jacinto College; Karen Daar, East Los Angeles College; Christie Jamshidnejad, articulation, Diablo Valley College.
Minutes:
The morning meeting started at 10:30 a.m. with introduction of all present. Scott L., Lead Faculty for the Anthropology discipline, gave an overview of the IMPAC project and its purpose and encouraged input from those present at the January meeting in San Luis Obispo as he was unable to attend that meeting due to freeze in travel budgets at his college.
Lauren A. stated that the course numbers at Pasadena City College for cultural and other anthropology courses were different from those indicated in CAN, and said she thought the purpose was to use one identifying number. Christie J. explained that there are two sets of course numbers—one used by each community college, and one that is state-wide (i.e., CAN), which all colleges and universities in California will recognize and honor. Elvio A. asked why not go a step further, to use only one set of courses rather than assigning an additional CAN number. Scott L. explained that it is a budgetary issue and is also time consuming.
The group discussed the three courses already in the CAN system, and discussed possibly adding an additional physical anthro lab class which is 1 unit. Karen D. mentioned that lab course in her district (Los Angeles) carries 2 units though her school, East Los Angeles, does not offer the course. The group felt that it was more common that this course generally carries 1 unit.
The group also discussed the availability of the bioanthro lab. This is a space/storage/classroom issue, though it can also be a possibility to add to CAN. The group identified Orange Coast College, L.A. Pierce, and Mt. San Antonio College as the colleges that are equipped with the bioanthro lab. Lauren A. stressed that the lab is an important component.
The Magic Witchcraft course was also discussed. CSU Northridge is the only school that was identified as the school having this course at the lower division level, and most others are offered at the upper division level, and Karen D. mentioned that the 101 and 102 equivalents at CSUN were the only lower division courses required for the major. The group felt that this was similar for the California Indians courses and myth/religion classes. Scott L. mentioned that in smaller districts such as his (i.e., Lake Tahoe Community College District), staffing is a problem. Pam F. mentioned that at Mt. San Jacinto College, enrollment can be [is not a problem for California Indians course]a problem to fill these courses. It was decided that Scott L will follow up and contact people from the February 1, 2003, IMPAC meeting at Sacramento for results as mentioned in the February 1, 2003, meeting minutes regarding the results of gathering more data on the linguistics and the Native American courses.
It was mentioned that Orange Coast College had a course called language and culture. The group said this course is normally offered at the upper division level at four-year colleges and universities. Karen D. mentioned that at CSU Northridge a while ago, only 101 and 102 were at the lower division level and all others were at the upper division level. Mark A. stated that for Biological/Physical Anthropology courses, the Biology department at Cal Poly Pomona and certain schools are not happy that Anthropology is teaching these courses because students may be taken away from Biology to Anthropology. At Cal Poly Pomona, these anthro courses are not in their General Education for Bio Sci since these are seen as competitors for enrollment of students. Some people in the group felt that enrollment was not an issue at their schools.
Pam F. asked whether lab courses can be CAN’ed if the group wanted to move forward with the physical/bio anthro lab CAN courses. Christie J. explained that lab courses may be CAN’ed separately, and also be coupled together as a sequence if the group wanted to; however, this will be up to each school and depending on the availability of the lab courses at those schools. Pam F. also mentioned that at the San Luis Obispo meeting, someone bravely asked whether the enrollment of archeology courses are declining at each school. For all colleges represented at that particular meeting, everyone stated that their enrollment in archeology had decreased and that there was no lab component.
Mark A. mentioned that archeology was not included in the Bio Sci area of the General Education curriculum at his school because the Biology department has been fighting it for a long time. Though pedagogically sound and makes sense from the discipline point of view, it seemed that this was a risky move due to budget cuts.
Scott L. mentioned that it is difficult in small districts such as his to cover the four fields. Karen D. said at East Los Angeles College, there are no linguistic classes and she would much rather have an archeologist teaching archeology courses to represent the four fields, though she has taught archeology before. Pam F. said that at Mt. San Jacinto College, students transfer to UC Riverside and UCR accepts English linguistics courses to fulfill the anthropology major requirement. The English/linguistics course includes some gender issues, etc., and is accepted. Elvio A. said that at Pasadena City College, linguistics has shifted from English to Foreign Languages and is not sure whether the linguistics course is accepted at other schools as fulfilling the anthro major requirement. Pam F. suggested that this be looked into it to see if other four-year colleges and universities would honor linguistics for anthro major preparation.
The group discussed the next step for CAN/IMPAC, re: offering courses. Pam F. said there are practical issues—who will write the course descriptions? Elvio A. mentioned that perhaps this is already done, and it is a matter of finding schools that offer them. Scott L. asked whether the group would like to meet with another discipline in the afternoon for a cross-disciplinary discussion or to remain as an anthropology group. Karen D. mentioned that meeting with the sociology group may be helpful and interesting. It was decided that the anthro group will meet with sociology during the first half of the cross-disciplinary discussion and come back solo as the anthro group at the end.
Afternoon meetings:
Sociology:
The cross-disciplinary discussion began with sociology. Bernie Seyboldt Day from Foothill College in the sociology group was the facilitator, and she distributed the grid for the CAN courses as well as the CAN course descriptions to the anthropology group. There was a discussion of the distinctions between sociology and anthropology. Someone mentioned that sociology was more theorhetical than anthropology, and there is a distinction of cultural and social structures. Another sociologist mentioned that it should be the students’ responsibility to figure out the differences between sociology and anthropology, not to teach it.
A sociologist suggested that for the next meeting, everyone bring in the schedule of classes and the course outlines, possibly to have the sociologists teach a class in anthropology, and vice versa, for trial/fun. He commented that after all, we are “kissing cousins.” It was also mentioned that the sharing of resources is important, and Kathy Kaiser will be contacted : CSA, and the e-mail will be passed onto her.
The department chair of Sociology at CSU Bakersfield mentioned that Sociology and Anthropology are within the same department at his school. A community college represented stated that at his school, sociology and anthropology are under the same division, common throughout the community colleges in California. CSU Bakersfield mentioned that it decided not to accept anthro courses from community colleges without the lab component; however, the two feeder two-year colleges in the Bakersfield area do not offer lab courses in conjunction with the lecture courses. He mentioned that the decision was made when CSU Bakersfield hired a biological anthropologist who was adamant about having the lab component.
Scott L. mentioned that archeology courses are not accepted at the UC campuses without the field component. CSU Bakersfield mentioned that it is very interested in increasing the number of anthropology majors/undergraduate at his school. Someone in the group asked CSU Bakersfield for the number of sociology and anthropology majors at his school. CSU Bakersfiled stated that there are about 30 anthro majors, and 189 or so sociology majors. Scott L. mentioned that anthro is looking into CANning lab courses, and Bernie Seyboldt Day mentioned that Geography was one discipline who succeeded in doing this.
At the end of the anthro group meeting, it was decided that Scott L. will solicit replies and input from the members via e-mail, including about courses on religion/myth, bioanthro lab, Native American courses, language/culture, and archeology/pre-history classes. He reminded everyone to bring the college catalog and encouraged participation in the Los Angeles state-wide meeting to be held on April 25 and 26.
Meeting was adjourned at 2:50p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Christie Jamshidnejad
IMPAC Statewide Meeting
April 25 and 26, 2003
Los Angeles, CA
Anthropology
Present: Scott A. Lukas, Lead Faculty, Lake Tahoe College; William Fairbanks, Cuesta College; Diane Levine, Los Angeles Pierce College; George Rodgers, Ohlone College (in the afternoon of April 25 & all day on April 26); Jo Rainey Rodgers, Ohlone College; Joyce Bishop, CSU Sacramento; Karen Daar, East Los Angeles College; Adam Wetsman, Rio Hondo College; Christie Jamshidnejad, Diablo Valley College (Articulation Officer)
Minutes:
Morning meeting, Friday, April 25th
Scott Lukas began the meeting with having the participants introduce themselves. Scott then distributed a packet of information including CAN descriptors for anthro courses, agenda for meetings, roaster of attendees, and the grid of anthro courses at different colleges and universities. Scott mentioned that some of the rural, northern colleges may be interested in joining the group next year.
Scott mentioned issues from the past regional meetings as part of his introduction, including rewriting of CAN descriptors and outcome/actions taken at previous regional meetings. He indicated that the 4-fields/AAA erosion of 4-fields is a concern regionally, especially with faculty resources and other related problems.
Jo R. mentioned that the cross disciplinary discussions have not been fruitful. She feels that the momentum to keep the faculty attending these meetings needs to be on-going, and that there was great interest at the beginning especially at the San Luis Obispo meeting but the group is shrinking as a result of the cross disciplinary meetings. Scott said that it is not mandatory to have cross disciplinary meetings with other groups, and that anthro even chose not to meet with any other groups at one of the past meetings.
The group then reviewed the grid courses. Joyce B. indicated that the Language and Culture course isn’t always the same as Linguistics. Joyce B. also mentioned that linguistics was required for speech therapy programs back East where she used to teach. Scott L. said CAN would like to expand and CAN (verb) more courses, though at smaller colleges like Lake Tahoe not all courses may be taught. Karen D. mentioned that the grid may not be accurate. Scott L. said that the information was based on available information, and encouraged any corrections to be made. William F. said Allan Beck at Fresno would be a great resource as he already has the grid down.
Bill F. summarized the discussion by saying that there were three issues, all significant. 1970s was when J.C.s were renamed as community colleges, and one was upper division/lower division issue. Second was what do we do about CSUs and UCs involvement. Third, future of the discipline--physical anthropology lab makes more sense as it does for biology lab.
Joyce B. said there is much interest in forensic anthropology. Karen said physical anthro lab seemed to be 1 unit, and Diane L. said it might have something to do with the carnegie units but wasn't sure.
Jo R. mentioned that the CAN courses aren't listed at Ohlone College as courses are listed in ASSIST, though at Foothill College CAN courses are listed. Christie J. responded that this may be a human factor, since not all articulation officers or people in charge of catalogs vary. Jo R. mentioned that for IMPAC and anthro, a solid plan is necessary to move the CAN descriptors forward.
Christie J. suggested that Jose Michel, Director of CAN (California Articulation Number System), join the anthro discussion in the afternoon for half an hour or an hour. It was decided that Scott L. will ask.
This meeting was adjourned at 12:05pm.
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A “working lunch” was held with Jose Michel at the anthropology table, since Jose had to catch a flight at 2pm and was not available for the afternoon meeting. Jose clarified questions from the group and explained procedures of CANning courses.
Topics discussed were the old and new models of CANning courses, the need to have articulation agreements reviewed every 4-5 years, the need to have all schools articulate all courses, and the fact that there are 80,000+ courses presently listed on www.assist.org.
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Afternoon meeting, Friday, April 25th
Afternoon attendees: Scott L., Jo R., Bill F., Adam W., Joyce B., Karen D., Diane L., Christie J.
The meeting began at 1:15 pm. Bill F. said for future meetings we should not be re-doing CAN descriptors or any other issues that have already been worked on. Scott L. said there are a lot of resources at IMPAC, and any new recommendations should reflect the concerns of the anthro faculty and the students they serve.
Bill F. commented that at the meeting in San Luis Obispo, descriptions were really worked on especially by the physical anthro group. He remembers about 10 or 12 physical anthropologists, with varied age ranges with Phil Stein introducing himself as the 'senior' member. Scott L. sent out 500 surveys and received two back, which was not a good return rate. He indicated that not everything is applicable to all campuses. Diane L. followed up on this comment saying that it was interesting since every school seems to have different needs, i.e., "my college is..."
Scott went over the new CAN descriptors in the meeting packet. Discussions were centered around revisions of CAN descriptors, including grammatical and spelling issues. Karen D. asked whether course outlines and syllabi must include all words in CAN descriptors. The response was that if all ideas/concepts were included, then that was sufficient. There was a question re: Bioanthro lab methods. Bill F. reiterated that the SLO group was working on this descriptor and was quite consistent. He also reiterated that CSU and UC participation was important. Joyce B. offered to contact other CSU people and Bill F. said it was beneficial to have four-year representations.
Jo R. said there were also a lot of tips and teaching related information were exchanged at SLO. Bill F. said it was "an intensive meeting and a party." Karen D. suggested changing the first sentence of CAN ANTH 2 because it sounds awkward and complex. Diane L. said it sounds awkward and complex but there may not be a solution. Bill F. said the number of words in the descriptors are limited by CAN, and if things needed to be elaborated on then they could be, though this is about as clean as the description can get. Adam W. thinks the descriptor is modeled after the biology one.
Cultural anthro descriptor, CAN ANTH 4, was well cleaned up. Karen D. suggested that the second sentence should change, and it was decided that the words "This course" should be deleted preceding "subjects include...", and that the sentence should begin with "Subjects include." Other grammatical issues were discussed, including use of passives.
Archeology anthro descriptor, CAN ANTH 6, was worked on at the SLO meeting. Bill F. said Rob Edwards had worked on this descriptor. Scott L. said Pam Ford, who was at the Pasadena regional meeting and who teaches archeology, seemed happy with the description. Bill F. said that Pam Ford was also in attendance at the SLO meeting.
Joyce said Magic Witchcraft and Religion courses are always popular. At Sacramento State, it is Anthro 13 and courses are taught even at the lower division, and not enough sections are offered. Therefore, having this course taught at the community colleges does not take away the clientele. However, according to the grid courses at UCs are upper division courses and they aren't the same courses at all. Upper division courses are much more theory, and if this course becomes CAN then the UCs will give a lot of flack though she's not sure what the CSUs will do.
Joyce B. continued that people should not give up upper division level, and that magic witchcraft and religion is a marketing title. At the upper division level, the title is most likely called anthropology of religion. Jo R. suggested that for CAN, the course should clearly reflect descriptions that do not conflict with the four-year, upper division level religion courses, and that the title should be magic witchcraft and religion. There were articles on articles and textbooks used in anthro courses.
CAN ANTH 8, Intro to Language and Linguistics, seems ready-to-go. Five lower-division level comparable courses are listed. Joyce B. asked about articulation agreements, and Diane L. mentioned that the articulation officer at L.A. Pierce might already be working on it, since Phil is always bugging the articulation officer over there. Bill F. asked whether the first sentence should just be language, or linguistics should be included. It was decided that the second sentence details linguistics, and also language is larger--linguistics is a sub of language. Adam W. asked whether the word "anthropology" should be included somewhere in the description. It was decided that the word will be included in the first sentence of the descriptor.
Karen D. expressed her reservations about having the CAN descriptor more detailed than what are described in the four-year schools' course descriptions. Nevertheless, it was decided that the CAN ANTH 8 descriptor will be forwarded to IMPAC for addition to CAN as is, with the minor modification as indicated above.
The group discussed the bio anthro lab next. Joyce B. read the description of the bio anthro lab course from Sacramento State. Scott L. solicited descriptions for this course via e-mail. This is a popular option for general education, natural science lab. Jo R. mentioned that Alan at CSU Hayward was willing to change the lab to physical anthro lab if this is a big seller at two-year schools and as a good recruiting tool. It was decided that Adam W., who is a physical anthropologist, will work on the descriptor for this course and others will help via e-mail.
Jo R. mentioned that courses such as the Native Americans and Magic Witchcraft Religion are important for the two-year schools with cases for the importance of these courses such as voting for Indian gaming. It was decided that this issue will be explored in future meetings.
This meeting was adjourned at 3:35 pm, to attend the IMPAC large group discussion.
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Saturday, April 26th
Attendees: Scott L., George R., Jo R., Joyce B., Bill F., Christie J.
Scott L. began the meeting by announcing that the anthropology group will finish meeting in the morning and will adjourn by noon. All present consented.
Scott L. brought up the issue of cross-disciplinary discussions and some of the past discussions such as biology. It seemed that biology was not happy with some courses offered by anthro faculty. Bill F. mentioned a student who had a graduate degree in biology but returned to take a lower division physical anthropology course because she didn't have the backgrounds in evolution, etc. George R. mentioned about "survival option" and about losing enrollment.
Joyce B. asked about the SLO meeting, and Bill F. gave a history of the group. It is a self-generated group of all anthropologists that started in 1994 that met in Yosemite. The group talked about the event next year, budget, and how IMPAC may be able to fund it or what the value of IMPAC meetings are to the anthropology discipline.
Jo R. mentioned the diversity issue to tap into the opportunity. Joyce B. said Anthro 101, Cultural Diversity, is offered at the low-upper division level. The group decided that syllabi for diversity/plurarism courses, as well as for other courses such as magic myth courses, should be brought together for the larger group.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
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Respectfully submitted, Christie Jamshidnejad
California Community College Anthropology Annual Teachers Conference
Friday, January 16, 2004 - Saturday, January 17, 2005
San Luis Obispo, CA
Friday, January 16, 2004
The issue of the on-line anthropology issue at UC Berkeley was addressed by Jo Rainie Rodgers. There is much support for our colleagues who teach on-line anthropology. Don and Roberta Lenkeit are preparing a letter from the group that will express this support.
Saturday, January 17, 2004
A. IMPAC Issues: Scott Lukas presented on the goals of the IMPAC project. A number of questions were answered. One of the issues that came up was the CANing of regional courses or special topics that might be popular. It was explained that such courses would typically not be CANned. Discussion also included the types of courses that should be taught at the lower division level in anthropology as well as which courses are generally upper division in the CSU and UC systems. Another topic raised was whether IMPAC dealt with only transfer courses or others as well.
B. CAN Courses: A review of last year’s CAN efforts was presented. The group then shifted focus to the possibilities of CANing additional courses this year. These include:
1. Medical Anthropology—Though there was some support for this class, the group suggested that only UC Riverside offers it at the lower division level.
2. Myth, Magic and Religion—There is much support for this course. One question included the concern that it could overlap with World Religions, typically taught in religion, philosophy and theology programs. The group confirmed that this course is much different in content, application of methods and approaches than World Religions. Phil Stein will be completing a sample course description for this class. There was much support for CANing the class.
3. Native Americans—A review of the current anthropology CCC chart revealed that this class is taught at many of the CCCs. Scott Lukas noted that he would update the chart to include courses from LA Pierce College—Anthro 145 (Sophomore Seminar), Anthro 125 (Folklore), Anthro 109 (Gender), and Introduction to Archaeology (Anthro 103 replaced by Anthro 106—3 hours lecture and 2 hours lab). The group is supportive of CANing this particularly class, especially as it relates to a regional focus. George Rodgers will lead the work on the sample descriptor.
4. Peoples of the World—Discussion of this class included the suggestion that it is mostly offered at the upper division level, though some exceptions are present. UC Santa Barbara offers it with 35 culture areas. Because of interest in the topic, an exploratory group will consider this class. One individual said that the class would probably involve both contemporary and historic cultures of the world.
5. Applied Anthropology—Some individuals have interest in looking at applied anthropology. Unfortunately, even a number of the four-year institutions to not have staffing to offer this class.
6. Diversity—Discussion of a diversity class was had. The class would focus on contemporary diversity issues. One concern was that the class could overlap with the Race and Ethnicity course taught in sociology.
C. A.A. In Anthropology: The members considered the offering of A.A. degrees in Anthropology. There was support for developing A.A.s in the CCCs. Apparently Ohlone College’s new A.A. in Anthropology was initiated at the administrative level. The idea that anthropology fulfills general curricular requirements was addressed. By majoring in anthropology a student can enter any number of fields.
D. Certificates in Anthropology: Some suggested that offering certificates in anthropology is a good strategy for developing the curriculum on campus. It was noted that a certificate less than 18 units allows local approval without state review.
E. Marketing and Outreach: A very interesting consideration of strategies of increasing the visibility of anthropology in the CCCs was initiated by Phil Stein and Rob Edwards. At LA Pierce one of these is to develop more visual presence of anthropology in the college catalog and schedule of classes. The problem of large course offerings in the discipline was spoken to especially as one-person departments are affected. Finally, some of the members suggested involving SACC—the section of the AAA dealing with community colleges—in this issue.
F. SLOs in Anthropology: A presentation offered the consideration of how anthropologists might adapt to the focus on SLOs—student learning outcomes—that is present in the new accreditation standards. There was some support for developing this focus, however a number of concerns were raised, including, the possibility that SLOs could be used to impact tenure decisions, the idea that many anthropological concepts—like “culture”—cannot be quantified in the SLO framework, and that the use of the new standards will impose curricular changes on anthropologists. Scott Lukas will check to see if other disciplines in IMPAC are developing SLOs for their curriculum.
G. Teaching Strategies: Don and Roberta Lenkeit led a lively and informative consideration of pedagogical strategies in anthropology. They offered a hands-on demonstration of their string figures activity that is used to stress the concept of anthropological rapport. A number of the anthropologists stressed the work of SACC as it relates to teaching strategies. Scott Lukas mentioned the resource Strategies in Teaching Anthropology (Prentice-Hall, three volumes). Finally, participants shared a good teaching strategy with the rest of the group.
H. Next Year: The group will coordinate next year’s seminar. It was agreed that the central location of San Luis Obispo is ideal and that the timing of the event is also convenient. Members also thanked Julie Adams and IMPAC for helping to fund this year’s conference.
Statewide IMPAC Meeting
Los Angeles, CA
April 30 and May 1, 2004
Discipline: Anthropology
Meeting Minutes
Members present: Scott Lukas, Lead Faculty, Lake Tahoe Community College; Rob Edwards, Cabrillo College; Pamela Lindell, Sacramento City College; Karen Daar, East Los Angeles College; Mark Allen, CSU Pomona; Christie Jamshidnejad, Articulation, Diablo Valley College.
April 30, 2004
Discipline Group discussions:
Meeting started with an introduction and review of past meetings--Sacramento and San Luis Obispo. Scott distributed minutes from these two meetings along with two horizontal grids indicating anthropology courses offered by California colleges and universities. One grid showed community college offerings and the other showed CSU and UC anthropology courses, both lower and upper division.
Rob talked about the consortium in archeology technology and the San Francisco Society of Anthropology for community colleges, previously meeting in Chicago and Montreal. Currently, there are 20 community college members and the group is extending out. He also mentioned the next San Luis Obispo meeting will be the Friday and Saturday of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in January of 2005 (according to my calendar, this is January 15th and 16th, 2005). There is support for CANning the Native American course and the myth/magic course at these meetings.
There were also discussions around how community colleges are focusing on learning outcomes in their curricula and on such regulations as No Child Left Behind (NCLB, pronounced Nickel-bee). Scott mentioned quantifying the concept of culture may be difficult for student learning outcomes, others said this is an imposed standard which does not sit well with some community college faculty. The group agreed student learning outcomes (SLOs, sometimes referred to as MSOs) are here to stay and disciplines such as English and Math are already incorporating SLOs.
Scott mentioned a regulation in Colorado that mandated common numbering system within Colorado. Mark said there was a similar proposal in California, something he saw recently and probably within the last two weeks. He will forward more information about this California regulation being discussed to the members.
Scott also brought up UC Berkeley’s on-line anthropology course issue, which most likely has been resolved at this point. This was the issue of UC Berkeley’s anthropology department not accepting cultural anthropology courses taken at community colleges via distance education/on-line format.
Scott then discussed two courses for CAN—Native Americans and Myth/Magic/Religion. Anthropology faculty have been working on course descriptions at previous meetings. Scott sent out the descriptions to other schools and said there were no real objections from any of the schools he contacted, including CSU Chico which thought the descriptions were wordy but did not have any problems with them. Scott asked the group whether these courses should be forwarded to the CAN board, and what other course descriptions should the group work on next year. There were also discussions about how to distinguish between the religion course already being taught at different campuses and distinguishing between what religion is (Magic, Witchcraft, Religion) versus which religion it is (World Religion course). Course description for Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion was worded so that it was clear the course will be taught from anthropological perspectives. Course descriptions for both were revamped to some extent to incorporate suggestions from this group.
Course descriptions revamped during last year’s IMPAC project were forwarded to CAN board members, and those courses will be reviewed and voted on during CAN’s board meeting in May 2004. Due to some miscommunication, revised CAN courses did not make their way onto the CAN board agenda as swiftly as the group thought, but these courses should be approved at the next board meeting.
May 1, 2004
Members present: Scott Lukas, Rob Edwards, Pamela Lindell, Christie Jamshidnejad, a graduate student from Arizona studying articulation and has been shadowing IMPAC, and history instructors.
Cross-discipline discussions:
History
For the first time, Anthropology met with History during first part of cross-discipline discussions. Rob asked about splitting the archeology course into two—one for methods and technique, and other for pre-history. He asked whether the pre-history course would be comparable to what the historians are currently teaching and whether this course would be transferable to four-year schools.
Historians mentioned the course in pre-history would include archeology, rock art, Neolithic, and time period from the “earliest times”—however this is being interpreted. There were also some overlaps with the Native Americans course though not much. History instructions said their survey courses are “big advertisements” to many courses on campus, including anthropology, since they are not able to cover many topics in depth and rely on other disciplines to cover other topics that students may be interested in but do not have the time in class. This is due to history’s curriculum being driven by various regulations and mandates for liberal studies, teacher preparation, and other credentialing programs.
Much of history’s curriculum is based on CSET, California Subject Examinations for Teachers. History instructors regularly distribute the content domain from the website, and students often study from the website so they pass the state exam. This website is http//www.ctc.ca.gov, for California Commission of Teacher Credentialing.
Continuation of discipline discussions:
Anthropology group met briefly to discuss next steps. Scott shared tentative meeting schedules for IMPAC next year, though dates may still change. Meeting dates were comparable to this year’s meeting dates and locations. Pam mentioned she would like to start a consortium to involve two- and four-year schools in her area (community colleges in the Los Rios district, CSU Sacramento, CSU Chico, UC Davis, Sierra College, Lake Tahoe Community College, and possibly CSU Stanislaus). Scott said there may be some money from IMPAC to support these types of activities. Rob said the consortium he mentioned yesterday will be meeting in fall.
There were also discussions about student-run anthropology clubs—fundraising for scholarships, etc. Pam also mentioned the anthropology expo, where community colleges in the Los Rios District in Sacramento take turns each year to host the expo. There were discussions about which community colleges have an anthropology museum on campus. Merritt College in Oakland was mentioned.
In November, there will be the courtly art of the Maya held at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. Students’ visiting schedule and lecture schedule should be out by the end of July. Also, Rob said that topics such as how to develop the anthropology major or the certificate would be beneficial for the San Luis Obispo meeting in January of 2005.
Meeting adjourned: 12:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Christie Jamshidnejad
Diablo Valley College
Friday, January 16, 2004 - Saturday, January 17, 2005
San Luis Obispo, CA
Friday, January 16, 2004
The issue of the on-line anthropology issue at UC Berkeley was addressed by Jo Rainie Rodgers. There is much support for our colleagues who teach on-line anthropology. Don and Roberta Lenkeit are preparing a letter from the group that will express this support.
Saturday, January 17, 2004
A. IMPAC Issues: Scott Lukas presented on the goals of the IMPAC project. A number of questions were answered. One of the issues that came up was the CANing of regional courses or special topics that might be popular. It was explained that such courses would typically not be CANned. Discussion also included the types of courses that should be taught at the lower division level in anthropology as well as which courses are generally upper division in the CSU and UC systems. Another topic raised was whether IMPAC dealt with only transfer courses or others as well.
B. CAN Courses: A review of last year’s CAN efforts was presented. The group then shifted focus to the possibilities of CANing additional courses this year. These include:
1. Medical Anthropology—Though there was some support for this class, the group suggested that only UC Riverside offers it at the lower division level.
2. Myth, Magic and Religion—There is much support for this course. One question included the concern that it could overlap with World Religions, typically taught in religion, philosophy and theology programs. The group confirmed that this course is much different in content, application of methods and approaches than World Religions. Phil Stein will be completing a sample course description for this class. There was much support for CANing the class.
3. Native Americans—A review of the current anthropology CCC chart revealed that this class is taught at many of the CCCs. Scott Lukas noted that he would update the chart to include courses from LA Pierce College—Anthro 145 (Sophomore Seminar), Anthro 125 (Folklore), Anthro 109 (Gender), and Introduction to Archaeology (Anthro 103 replaced by Anthro 106—3 hours lecture and 2 hours lab). The group is supportive of CANing this particularly class, especially as it relates to a regional focus. George Rodgers will lead the work on the sample descriptor.
4. Peoples of the World—Discussion of this class included the suggestion that it is mostly offered at the upper division level, though some exceptions are present. UC Santa Barbara offers it with 35 culture areas. Because of interest in the topic, an exploratory group will consider this class. One individual said that the class would probably involve both contemporary and historic cultures of the world.
5. Applied Anthropology—Some individuals have interest in looking at applied anthropology. Unfortunately, even a number of the four-year institutions to not have staffing to offer this class.
6. Diversity—Discussion of a diversity class was had. The class would focus on contemporary diversity issues. One concern was that the class could overlap with the Race and Ethnicity course taught in sociology.
C. A.A. In Anthropology: The members considered the offering of A.A. degrees in Anthropology. There was support for developing A.A.s in the CCCs. Apparently Ohlone College’s new A.A. in Anthropology was initiated at the administrative level. The idea that anthropology fulfills general curricular requirements was addressed. By majoring in anthropology a student can enter any number of fields.
D. Certificates in Anthropology: Some suggested that offering certificates in anthropology is a good strategy for developing the curriculum on campus. It was noted that a certificate less than 18 units allows local approval without state review.
E. Marketing and Outreach: A very interesting consideration of strategies of increasing the visibility of anthropology in the CCCs was initiated by Phil Stein and Rob Edwards. At LA Pierce one of these is to develop more visual presence of anthropology in the college catalog and schedule of classes. The problem of large course offerings in the discipline was spoken to especially as one-person departments are affected. Finally, some of the members suggested involving SACC—the section of the AAA dealing with community colleges—in this issue.
F. SLOs in Anthropology: A presentation offered the consideration of how anthropologists might adapt to the focus on SLOs—student learning outcomes—that is present in the new accreditation standards. There was some support for developing this focus, however a number of concerns were raised, including, the possibility that SLOs could be used to impact tenure decisions, the idea that many anthropological concepts—like “culture”—cannot be quantified in the SLO framework, and that the use of the new standards will impose curricular changes on anthropologists. Scott Lukas will check to see if other disciplines in IMPAC are developing SLOs for their curriculum.
G. Teaching Strategies: Don and Roberta Lenkeit led a lively and informative consideration of pedagogical strategies in anthropology. They offered a hands-on demonstration of their string figures activity that is used to stress the concept of anthropological rapport. A number of the anthropologists stressed the work of SACC as it relates to teaching strategies. Scott Lukas mentioned the resource Strategies in Teaching Anthropology (Prentice-Hall, three volumes). Finally, participants shared a good teaching strategy with the rest of the group.
H. Next Year: The group will coordinate next year’s seminar. It was agreed that the central location of San Luis Obispo is ideal and that the timing of the event is also convenient. Members also thanked Julie Adams and IMPAC for helping to fund this year’s conference.
Statewide IMPAC Meeting
Los Angeles, CA
April 30 and May 1, 2004
Discipline: Anthropology
Meeting Minutes
Members present: Scott Lukas, Lead Faculty, Lake Tahoe Community College; Rob Edwards, Cabrillo College; Pamela Lindell, Sacramento City College; Karen Daar, East Los Angeles College; Mark Allen, CSU Pomona; Christie Jamshidnejad, Articulation, Diablo Valley College.
April 30, 2004
Discipline Group discussions:
Meeting started with an introduction and review of past meetings--Sacramento and San Luis Obispo. Scott distributed minutes from these two meetings along with two horizontal grids indicating anthropology courses offered by California colleges and universities. One grid showed community college offerings and the other showed CSU and UC anthropology courses, both lower and upper division.
Rob talked about the consortium in archeology technology and the San Francisco Society of Anthropology for community colleges, previously meeting in Chicago and Montreal. Currently, there are 20 community college members and the group is extending out. He also mentioned the next San Luis Obispo meeting will be the Friday and Saturday of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in January of 2005 (according to my calendar, this is January 15th and 16th, 2005). There is support for CANning the Native American course and the myth/magic course at these meetings.
There were also discussions around how community colleges are focusing on learning outcomes in their curricula and on such regulations as No Child Left Behind (NCLB, pronounced Nickel-bee). Scott mentioned quantifying the concept of culture may be difficult for student learning outcomes, others said this is an imposed standard which does not sit well with some community college faculty. The group agreed student learning outcomes (SLOs, sometimes referred to as MSOs) are here to stay and disciplines such as English and Math are already incorporating SLOs.
Scott mentioned a regulation in Colorado that mandated common numbering system within Colorado. Mark said there was a similar proposal in California, something he saw recently and probably within the last two weeks. He will forward more information about this California regulation being discussed to the members.
Scott also brought up UC Berkeley’s on-line anthropology course issue, which most likely has been resolved at this point. This was the issue of UC Berkeley’s anthropology department not accepting cultural anthropology courses taken at community colleges via distance education/on-line format.
Scott then discussed two courses for CAN—Native Americans and Myth/Magic/Religion. Anthropology faculty have been working on course descriptions at previous meetings. Scott sent out the descriptions to other schools and said there were no real objections from any of the schools he contacted, including CSU Chico which thought the descriptions were wordy but did not have any problems with them. Scott asked the group whether these courses should be forwarded to the CAN board, and what other course descriptions should the group work on next year. There were also discussions about how to distinguish between the religion course already being taught at different campuses and distinguishing between what religion is (Magic, Witchcraft, Religion) versus which religion it is (World Religion course). Course description for Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion was worded so that it was clear the course will be taught from anthropological perspectives. Course descriptions for both were revamped to some extent to incorporate suggestions from this group.
Course descriptions revamped during last year’s IMPAC project were forwarded to CAN board members, and those courses will be reviewed and voted on during CAN’s board meeting in May 2004. Due to some miscommunication, revised CAN courses did not make their way onto the CAN board agenda as swiftly as the group thought, but these courses should be approved at the next board meeting.
May 1, 2004
Members present: Scott Lukas, Rob Edwards, Pamela Lindell, Christie Jamshidnejad, a graduate student from Arizona studying articulation and has been shadowing IMPAC, and history instructors.
Cross-discipline discussions:
History
For the first time, Anthropology met with History during first part of cross-discipline discussions. Rob asked about splitting the archeology course into two—one for methods and technique, and other for pre-history. He asked whether the pre-history course would be comparable to what the historians are currently teaching and whether this course would be transferable to four-year schools.
Historians mentioned the course in pre-history would include archeology, rock art, Neolithic, and time period from the “earliest times”—however this is being interpreted. There were also some overlaps with the Native Americans course though not much. History instructions said their survey courses are “big advertisements” to many courses on campus, including anthropology, since they are not able to cover many topics in depth and rely on other disciplines to cover other topics that students may be interested in but do not have the time in class. This is due to history’s curriculum being driven by various regulations and mandates for liberal studies, teacher preparation, and other credentialing programs.
Much of history’s curriculum is based on CSET, California Subject Examinations for Teachers. History instructors regularly distribute the content domain from the website, and students often study from the website so they pass the state exam. This website is http//www.ctc.ca.gov, for California Commission of Teacher Credentialing.
Continuation of discipline discussions:
Anthropology group met briefly to discuss next steps. Scott shared tentative meeting schedules for IMPAC next year, though dates may still change. Meeting dates were comparable to this year’s meeting dates and locations. Pam mentioned she would like to start a consortium to involve two- and four-year schools in her area (community colleges in the Los Rios district, CSU Sacramento, CSU Chico, UC Davis, Sierra College, Lake Tahoe Community College, and possibly CSU Stanislaus). Scott said there may be some money from IMPAC to support these types of activities. Rob said the consortium he mentioned yesterday will be meeting in fall.
There were also discussions about student-run anthropology clubs—fundraising for scholarships, etc. Pam also mentioned the anthropology expo, where community colleges in the Los Rios District in Sacramento take turns each year to host the expo. There were discussions about which community colleges have an anthropology museum on campus. Merritt College in Oakland was mentioned.
In November, there will be the courtly art of the Maya held at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. Students’ visiting schedule and lecture schedule should be out by the end of July. Also, Rob said that topics such as how to develop the anthropology major or the certificate would be beneficial for the San Luis Obispo meeting in January of 2005.
Meeting adjourned: 12:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Christie Jamshidnejad
Diablo Valley College
