Information about this and other classes in the anthropolgy department at the University of West Georgia is online at www.westga.edu.
What kind of impact can a college anthropology class have? According to some students in Marjorie Snipes’s course at the University of West Georgia, it can be life changing.
Snipes, whose specialty is religion, has had a major impact on students through her course on the Shakers, a Protestant sect founded in 18th century England and almost non-existent today. The class immerses students in the Shaker culture, even though they’re on a campus in Carrollton.
“To understand another culture, it’s important to see things with those eyes,” said Snipes. “This class lets students identify with the material by going through the motions that the Shakers might have done.”
That means as soon as students arrive in class, the women don shawls they have embroidered with their names, and the men put on straw hats. For about 20 minutes, they sing traditional songs and perform dances typical of a Shaker gathering.
“Wearing the shawls and hats remind us that we’re part of the Shaker order for a short time,” said Snipes. “We refer to ourselves as brother or sister. We also do some manual arts. Right now, groups are into woodworking, herbs and gardening, drawing, basket-making, poetry and fancy work - pin cushions and shawls. One group has started tin punching and reproducing things Shakers used to make.”
Many students are learning those arts for the first time. Senior Savannah Otinger said the embroidery almost defeated her.
“Sewing my name on the shawl took almost five hours!” she said. “I really struggled because it was something I had never done before. There is a lot of hands-on work, and at first I was a bit put off by it. But I was also challenged to learn something new and try something I wouldn’t normally do.”
At the end of class, students reflect on issues facing the Shakers. “And it usually works out that the majority are facing many of the same issues the Shakers did,” said Snipes. “This class helps them consider their own perspectives and faith. I use the Shakers as a case study to talk about the bigger meaning of religion and culture, and the best way to understand that is to experience it. So this is not just a classroom; we’re conjuring up something else.”
Sharing the Shaker experience creates a sense of community that’s rare in the classroom, Snipes added. “We live in a very fractured society, but here, they can interact in an honest and free form.”
The first time Snipes taught the class in 2011, those community bonds were so strong that the 17 students hugged and cried when it ended. “Many of them have stayed in contact and developed a real closeness,” Snipes said. “It wasn’t a fluke; they invested in themselves and the group.”
Christy Daniel, a 2012 graduate, took the first course and was amazed at the amount of participation.
“We sang every morning, and you certainly don’t do that in other courses,” she said. “We also traveled to Kentucky on spring break and sang those songs in a Shaker meetinghouse. It was a very introspective class, too. We wrote and talked about how the things we did and learned had an effect on us. And they did have a big effect because we were experiencing, not just studying.”
Though the semester is only half over, Otinger is already noticing that same effect. “This class has opened me up to different understandings of Christianity - something I’ve struggled with on my own,” she said. “It’s taught me things I wasn’t expecting. It’s brought me to a deeper understanding of myself and my own faith, as well as what the Shakers stand for.”
That’s the result Snipes is shooting for. “I wanted to develop an edgy class that lets them reflect on their identity in the wider world,” she said. “It takes a lot of emotional energy to do that, but so far, it’s been incredibly successful. The biggest challenge? Getting students to come into a very different kind of class.”
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