ANG 6083 Seminar in Anthropological Theories Fall 2014 - Mondays 11:00-1:50 Academic Health Center 4 (AHC4), Room 202
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` ANG 6083 Seminar in Anthropological Theories Fall 2014 - Mondays 11:00-1:50 Academic Health Center 4 (AHC4), Room 202 Dr. Juliet Erazo, SIPA 320 Office Hours: Mondays 2-3:30 and by appointment E-mail [email protected] (use e-mail instead of phone, please) Goals: This seminar is designed to provide students with a grounding in social and cultural anthropology, covering basic issues of perennial relevance to the discipline, major theoretical movements of the past, and current trends in social theory that extend beyond anthropology. The emphasis is on reading original works rather than relying on secondary histories of the discipline, and pairing those original works with contemporary applications in ethnography. I have had to be selective, but have attempted to present a fair cross-section of important theorists and schools of thought. When you finish this course you should: A) Be conversant with the basic assumptions of major theoretical approaches in ethnography and contemporary social theory. B) Be able to read ethnological literature, of any period, and understand and evaluate the author's theoretical orientation. C) Have an understanding of how the development of ethnological thought fits within broader trends in the social sciences and in intellectual history generally. D) Have improved skills in writing, oral presentation, and discussion. Format: Many weekly meetings will include a short lecture component which will place the topic in context and outline key aspects of the topic, linking it to the development of anthropological ideas. Beyond this, there are three formats of class. 1. In the first format, all students read the same set of readings and we discuss them in class. One student will be responsible for presenting on each “big” theorist, his/her influence, and critiques (if any). Presenters should NOT provide a summary of the book. ALL students (including those presenting on the theorists) are expected to come prepared with a 2-3 page writing assignment. Whether or not they are presenting that day, they should be ready to discuss the readings and participate. 2. In the second format, (used twice), students will be broken up into groups, each of which will read a different book. Students should coordinate somewhat ahead of time, but the first 15 minutes of class will be given to students to finalize their presentations. Then, each group will give a 20 minute presentation on their book. The final 30 minutes of class will be spent drawing some connections among the 4-5 books. 1 Requirements: 1. Seminar participation: You are expected to come to each session having read the assigned material, bring questions, and be ready to identify what you think are important issues in the readings. As you read these works, focus not only on who people are and what theoretical schools they represent, but examine critically such issues as: Overall goals, attitude toward the subject, fieldwork methods (if applicable), methodological implications of theories, and the translation of these factors into the written ethnography (if applicable). 2. A critical reflection on the readings are due by the beginning of class. 25% of the grade for this assignment will be based soley on turning it in prior to the beginning of class and the other 75% will be based on the quality of, and the apparent effort invested in writing, the essay. Essays submitted after 11 am on Mondays will therefore receive a maximum score of 75% (with the exception of Labor Day – see below). My preferred method of receiving the assignments is through Blackboard. However, if Blackboard is not functioning properly, you can also email me your assignment or bring in a hard copy. Each week except for the three weeks in which you will present, you will provide a 2-3 page essay. This essay will vary from week to week, but typically combines summarizing the readings with some original analysis. They will also be excellent resources as you move through your graduate career. 3. Group Presentations: Each student will participate one individual and two group presentations in which his/her presentation will be only 5 minutes. 4. Final Book Review: Students will choose a book to read and prepare a theoretical analysis, much like the ones prepared during the course of the semester. More information will be given in class. This is a relatively short writing assignment, since students have already been writing each week as part of the preparation for class. Evaluation: The final evaluation will take into account all aspects of the student’s performance in the course. These include the presentations (3* 10% each), weekly synopses (10* 5% each – students can skip one week without penalty or have their lowest grade dropped); class attendance and degree of participation (10%), final book review (10%). Readings: Required and Ordered through the bookstore: 1. Canessa, Andrew. 2013. Intimate Indigeneities: Race, Sex, and History in the Small Spaces of Andean Life. Duke University Press. 2. Ho, Karen. 2009. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street. Duke University Press. 3. Holmes, Seth. 2013. Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States. University of California Press. 4. Stoler, Ann Laura. 1995. Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault’s History of 2 Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things. Duke University Press. The following are available in pdf form, but you may want to purchase a paper copy if you prefer a traditional book: 1. Blaser, Mario. 2010. Storytelling Globalization from the Chaco and Beyond. Duke University Press. 2. McGee, Jon R. and Richard L. Warms. 2008 or 2012 (4th and 5th edition are equally valid, and the fourth edition is much cheaper). NOTED AS (MGW) Also (group assignments to be determined the first week of class): 1. One Marxism in Anthropology book (see Week 6) 2. One Foucault book (see Week 10) SCHEDULE OF SEMINAR MEETINGS Week 1 – August 25: INTRODUCTION to course and orientation. Week 2 – September 1: LABOR DAY; university closed, so no class…. BUT Please read and comment on the following (all are on Blackboard and in MGW reader) by Tuesday at midnight: 1. Introduction to Nineteenth - Century Evolutionism 2. Herbert Spencer, The Social Organism (1860) 3. Lewis Henry Morgan, Ethnical Periods (1877) 4. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Feuerbach, Opposition of the Materialist and Idealist Outlook (1845-46) Week 3 September 8: The “discovery” of fieldwork and challenges to armchair anthropology from Europe and the US Malinowski, Bronislaw. Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922). Read the following: Foreword by Sir James Frazer Foreword by the Author Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 2 sections I - V Chapters 3, 14, and 22 Boas, Franz – excerpt on BB 3 Week 4 September 15: Symbolic and Interpretive Approaches Readings (on Blackboard) 1. Introduction to Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology (MGW) 2. Victor Turner, Symbols in Ndembu Ritual excerpt (1967) (MGW) 3. Clifford Geertz, Deep Play: Notes on a Balinese Cockfight (MGW) 4. Jean Rahier. 2013: “The Festival of the Kings in Santo Domingo de Ónzole. In Kings for Three Days. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. (BB) Week 5 - September 22: Structuralism: Linguistic and Cultural Readings: 1. Introduction to Structuralism (MGW) 2. Claude Lévi-Strauss, Four Winnebago Myths (1960) (MGW) 3. Sherry Ortner, Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture? (1974) (MGW) 4. Benjamin Lee Whorf, “The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language” (1941) (MGW) Week 6 – September 29: Neo-Marxism, Political Economy, and Hegemony: Historical Approaches. Each group will read one book and present on it in class. Please bring a handout that summarizes the book. Group 1: Wolf, Eric. Europe and the People without History, (first half) Group 2: Mintz, Sidney. Sweetness and Power Group 3: Nash, June We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us Group 4: Anderson, Benedict Imagined Communities Group 5: Said, Edward. Orientalism Week 7 – October 6: Bourdieu part 1: Outline of a Theory of Practice (1977) 1. Pierre Bourdieu, Structures, Habitus, Power (BB) 2. Seth Holmes, Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies (entire book) Week 8 – October 13: Bourdieu part 2: Distinction (1984) 1. Pierre Bourdieu, excerpt from Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (BB) 2. Karen Ho, Liquidated (entire book) Note: In addition to examining how Ho uses Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, also look for how she uses Neo-Marxism and Gramsci’s concept of hegemony in the book. 4 Week 9 – October 20: Postmodernism, the Reflexive Turn, and attempts to challenge the Self/Other divide Readings: (on Blackboard): 1. Excerpt from Paul Rabinow’s Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco 2. Renato Rosaldo, “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage” 3. James Clifford “Introduction: Partial Truths.” 1986. In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. J. Clifford and G. Marcus, eds. Pp. 1-26. Berkeley: University of California Press. 4. Lila Abu-Lughod, 1991. “Writing against Culture,” in Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present, Richard G. Fox, ed. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press. 5. Lila Abu-Lughod. 1995. “A Tale of Two Pregnancies,” in Women Writing Culture. Week 10 – October 27: Foucault and Post-Structuralism Group 1: Birth of the Clinic (Foucault) Group 2: Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Foucault) Group 3: The History of Sexuality. Vol. 1 and Nikolas Rose “The Politics of Life Itself” Group 4: Essay on Governmentality (Foucault – on BB) and Timothy Mitchell. Colonizing Egypt (1991 - entire book) Week 11 – November 3: One example of Foucault’s Influence on Anthropology (analyzing colonialism) Stoler, Ann. 1995. Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault’s History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things. (entire book) Week 12 – November 10: More Foucault-inspired Anthropology and the Ethnologist’s Critique 1. Puar, Jasbir.