We have been jumped right into different kinds of exchange throughout the world and over history. David Graeber'sDebt: The First 5,000 Yearsalso does this to follow what the meaning of debt, currency, and economics is and the progression of these ideas over time and place. Over the course of the semester, you will be writing 3 papers related toDebtand the topics we have been discussing in class. To get us started with our first paper, we will look to the first three weeks of the semester.

• Debt versus obligation
• Morality and debt
• Why have debt and credit been such powerful mechanisms across the world? How do they relate to notions such as guilt, sin, and redemption?

You are required to not only use Graeber, but to also incorporate other works that we have read. The following ethnographic works are available for you to review:

• Wilk & Cliggett 2007
• Malinowski 1922
• Sahlins 1988
• Ember 1978
• Feeny et. al. 1990
• Bjorklund 1990

For a good analysis that is not just summary-based, it is recommended to You should try to keep your evidence from Graeber's work to Chapters 1-3. You should not only describe the events that you are writing about, but instead analyze the significance of them. Think about how any of these authors discuss the concepts you are writing about. Some other questions to consider are: Is there a universal meaning to the concepts you are discussing, or do these vary by culture? What is the overall meaning of these concepts across culture?