Schedule (Fall 2024)

Weekly readings will be marked by where they can be found: bookstore (see Course Book List for complete listing by week); book reserve, ereserve, or online for articles available for downloading from the web. Note that most of the articles and excerpts are available in books on reserve. To facilitate discussion, you should have all the readings for the day and your notes ready to consult during class. Smartphones are not allowed during class discussions, and laptops are not preferred but can be used responsibly for taking notes. To avoid distractions and grappling with data we can't vet on the spot, we will try hard NOT to google things in class! Please let me know as soon as possible if you have any trouble obtaining the readings. Go to our class moodle to get ereserves, post discussion questions and respond to readings online.

Paper guidelines and a summary of assignment due dates

List of Weekly Discussants Section 05

List of Weekly Discussants Section 06

Part I: Anthropology's Contested Pasts and Presents

Week One - Culture, Selves and Others

Assignments

Tues Sept 3 

  • Introductions and goals of the course

Thurs. Sept 5 Self-Other, Native-Outsider: The Cultural Politics of Anthropology

Optional: Podcast: Anténor Firmin. Speaking of Race Podcast (43 min),
University of Alabama, 2021

  • Firmin, Joseph-Anténor. 2000[1885]. Preface and Ch. 1 Anthropology as a Discipline (pp. liii-lix, pp. 1-14). The Equality of the Human Races: Positivist Anthropology. New York: Garland Publishing Inc. (~20 pp). bookstore, ereserve and book reserve.

  • Meyers, Richard. Native Anthropology, to be a Native Scholar, or a Scholar that is Native: Reviving Ethnography in Indian Country," Anthropology Now, 2019 (10 pp). ereserve.

Learning goals reflection paragraph due, Monday Sept 9, midnight, Moodle upload

Week Two - Decolonizing Anthropology: Ambivalent Histories of the Discipline

Assignments

Tues. Sept. 10

  • Harrison, Faye V. 1997. Foreword (by Yolanda Moses), Preface (by Kimberly Eisen Simmons), and Anthropology as an agent of transformation: introductory comments and queries (pp. v-viii, pp. 1-11), in Faye Harrison, ed., Decolonizing anthropology: moving further toward an anthropology for liberation. 2nd edition. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association. ereserve and book reserve (14 pg).
  • Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. 1991. "Anthropology and the Savage Slot," in Fox, ed., Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present. Santa Fe: SAR press. (23 pp) ereserve and book reserve.

Slide: Diagram of Troillot's "savage slot" argument

Thurs. Sept. 12

  • Simpson, Audra. 2014. Ch. 1 Indigenous Interruptions: Mohawk Citizenship, Nationhood and the State, and Ch. 3 Constructing Khanawa'ke as an Out of the Way Place: Ely S. Parker, Lewis Henry Morgan and the Writing of the Iroquois Confederacy, in Mohawk interruptus: political life across the borders of settler states. Durham: Duke University Press. (~60 pp) ereserve and book reserve.

Discussion Leadership sign-up

Week Three - Anthropological Precedents: Race, Evolutionism and New Anthropological Methods at the Turn of the 20th Century

Assignments

Weekend Podcast Assignment: The Invention of Race (42 min), Throughline, NPR, online, 2019

Tues. Sept. 17 Race and Evolutionism

  • Lewis Henry Morgan. 1877. "Ancient Society" in High Points in Anthropology. (23 pp.) On ereserve, book reserve.
  • Firmin, Joseph-Anténor. 2000[1885]. Ch. 4 Monogenism and Polygenism (p. 35-86). The Equality of the Human Races: Positivist Anthropology. New York: Garland Publishing Inc. (~50 pp). bookstore, ereserve and book reserve.

  • Moses, Yolanda T. 2011. “Thinking Anthropologically About ‘Race’: Human Variation, Cultural Construction, and Dispelling Myths.” in Thinking Anthropologically: a Practical Guide for Students. Boston: Prentice Hall. (ereserve) (9 pp) ereserve
  • Images: Colonialism Map and World Fairs

Thurs. Sept. 19 New Methods and the Politics of Time Reckoning

Theory Synopsis Handout

Week Four - Boasian approaches: Race, Language, Culture and History (Early 20th Century)

Assignments

Tues, Sept. 24 Whither Anthropology? Race, Culture and History

  • Boas, Franz. 1932. "The Aims of Anthropological Research," in Race, Language and Culture, 1948 (1932). (16pp.) In bookstore, on book reserve, ereserve

  • Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. 2003. “Adieu, Culture: A New Duty Arises (with footnotes).” In Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 97-116. ereserve, bookstore.

First Paper handout

In-class theory synopsis peer review 1 (writing on Boas 1932 OR Trouillot 2003)

Thurs, Sept. 26 Unconscious Patterns? Language, Culture and Recognition

  • Boas, Franz. 1889. On Alternating Sounds. American Anthropologist A2(1): 47-54. (6 pp). ereserve.
  • Sapir, Edward. 1927. "The Unconscious Patterning of Behavior in Society," in Edward Sapir: Selected Writings in Language, Culture, and Personality, in bookstore (a few copies), on book reserve, ereserve (15 pp.)

  • Sapir, Edward. 1938. "Why Cultural Anthropology Needs the Pyschiatrist" (8 pp), in Edward Sapir: Selected Writings in Language, Culture, and Personality, in bookstore (a few copies), on book reserve, ereserve

Theory Synopsis 1 on Boas OR Trouillot (both 250 word and 100 word versions)
due Friday Sept 27, midnight, Moodle upload

Week Five: The Promise and Politics of Ethnographic Practice (early 20th century)

Assignments

Tues Oct 1

Thurs. Oct 3

  • Hurston, Zora Neale. 2009[1938]. Chs. 4-5 (pp. 39-62), Part 1, Jamaica, Tell My Horse. New York: Harper Collins. bookstore, ereserve and book reserve.

  • Harrison, Faye. 1991. Ethnography as Politics (p. 89-110), in Faye Harrison, ed., Decolonizing anthropology: moving further toward an anthropology for liberation. 2nd edition. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association. (16 pp). ereserve.

Paper 1 due (Monday Oct 7, midnight, Moodle upload)

Week Six - Rethinking the Social Through Religion: Primary Categories? (First Decade 20th Century)

Assignments

Tues, Oct. 8

  • Du Bois, W.E.B. 2000[1905]. "Sociology Hesitant." Boundary 2 27(3):37–44. ereserve.

  • Durkheim, Emile.  1912. Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Fields translation (Do not use the Swain or Cosman translations). Use Translator's intro as reference; FOCUS: pp. 1-18 (Intro.), pp. 33-44 (FOCUS: 33-39), pp. 99-126 (FOCUS: 99-103, 111-122) .  In bookstore and on book reserve, ereserve. (55 pp).

Thurs, Oct. 10

  • Durkheim, Emile.  1912. Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Fields translation (Do not use the Swain translation). Use Translator's intro as reference; pp. 207-241, pp. 440-448. In bookstore and on book reserve, ereserve. (41 pp)

Handout: Durkheim's Science of "Society"

Week Seven - Structure and Function: British Social Anthropology (1930s-40s)

Assignments

Tues, Oct. 15

Paper 2 Handout

Thurs, Oct. 17

  • Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1940. The Nuer. Chap. III, "Time and Space" Focus: pp. 94-110, Skim: pp. 111-131, Focus: pp 132-138. (~20 pp.) In bookstore, on book reserve, ereserve
  • Asad, Talal. 1991. Afterword: From the History of Colonial Anthropology to the Anthropology of Western Hegemony.” In George Stocking, ed., Colonial Situations: Essays on the Contextualization of Ethnographic Knowledge , pp.314-324. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. (10 pp). ereserve.

  • Images: Nuer Clans and Structural Time/Distance

Fall Break: Oct. 19-27

Part II: Rethinking Anthropology

Week Eight - Culture as Primary Structures of Categories? Structuralist Approaches (1960s)

Assignments

Tues., Oct 29

  • Stasch, Rupert. 2006. Structuralism in Anthropology. The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edition, vol. 12, pp. 167-170. Oxford: Elsevier. (4 pages). ereserve.
  • de Saussure, Ferdinand (1915; 1959). pp. 7-20, pp 65-78. Course in General Linguistics, Wade Baskin, trans. New York: McGraw-Hill. (26 pp). book reserve, ereserve.

  • Levi-Strauss, Claude 1966. FOCUS: p. 1-22, pp. 30-33: "The Science of the Concrete," in The Savage Mind. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, (pp. 1-33) ereserve.

  • Images: Levi-Strauss, Signs and Structuralist Method

Thurs., Oct 31

  • Sahlins, Marshall. 1976. "La Pensee Bourgeoise: Western Society as Culture," in Culture in Practice: Selected Essays. New York: Zone Books, 2000. (32 pp.). On ereserve.

  • Image: Sahlins meat diagram

In-class theory synopsis peer review 2 (writing on Sahlins)

Theory Synopsis 2 on Sahlins (both 250 word and 100 word versions)
Optional: for feedback, due Friday Nov 1, midnight, Moodle upload

Week Nine -The Symbolic Turn: Symbols, Meaning and Power (1960s and 70s)

Assignments

Tues, Nov 5 (Election Day!)

  • Douglas, Mary. 1966. Introduction (pp. 1-6) and Ch. 6 Powers and Dangers (pp. 94-113) in Purity and Danger. book and ereserve.

  • Turner, Victor. 1967. "Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in rites de passage," from The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, (44 pp). ereserve, in bookstore and on book reserve.

  • Images: Mary Douglas Powers and Dangers diagrams

Thurs, Nov. 7

  • Geertz, Clifford. 1973. "Deep Play: Notes on a Balinese Cockfight" in The Interpretation of Cultures. In bookstore, on ereserve, book reserve.
  • Rosaldo, Renato. 1993. Ch. 4 Putting Culture in Motion, in Culture and Truth. Beacon Press. (17 pp). book and ereserve.

Week Ten - Economic Anthropology: Rethinking Value and Exchange (1920s)

Assignments

Weekend Film Assignment: Trobriand Cricket, 53 min, (Stream via Moodle)

Tues, Nov 12

  • Mauss, Marcel. 1925. The Gift. Introduction p. 1-9 (all), Chapter 1 Focus: p. 10-18 (Sections I-III), Chapter 2 Focus: p. 24-39, p. 49-59 and Conclusion, p. 83-108 (all) (~70 pp.). In bookstore, ereserve.

Thurs, Nov 14 In-class Paper Workshop

To get full credit for the paper, post a question about your paper for the class to the Moodle discussion forum for today by midnight Wed Nov 9 (eg., What two theorists should I bring in to discuss our kinship conversation? How should I apply xxx theorist? This theme came up really strongly for my interlocutor, what should I do with it? How do I diagram xxx on a kinship chart?). We will discuss your questions in class and go over citation methods for a strong and credible argument.

Anthro Analytic or Ethnographic Paper Template


Paper 2 due, (Monday Nov 18, midnight) Moodle upload

Week Eleven - Rethinking Histories: Imperialism, Capitalism, Globalization (2000s)

Assignments

Weekend film assignment: Cannibal Tours, 1988 (67 min) (Stream via Moodle)

Tues, Nov. 19

  • Marx, Karl. 1849. "Wage Labour and Capital," in Robert Tucker, Ed. The Marx-Engels Reader. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1978. (14 pp.) On book reserve, ereserve

  • Wolf, Eric. 1982. "Introduction (FOCUS: pp. 1-9, pp. 13-23)" and "the Movement of Commodities" (FOCUS: pp. 310-318, pp 321-323 Meat, pp 325-329 Rubber, pp 333-336 Sugar, pp. 346-353 Gold), in Europe and the People Without History, Berkeley: University of California Press. (60 pp). book reserve, ereserve.  

  • Images: Situating Fieldwork in Global Political Economy

Thurs, Nov. 21

  • Tsing, Anna. 2005. Preface, pp. ix-xiii, and Introduction pp. 1-18. Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton: Princeton University Press. (25 pg)  book reserve, ereserve

  • Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2013. Ch. 1 Imperialism, History, Writing and Theory, (pp. 20-43), Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books. (20 pg) ereserve.

Week Twelve - Rethinking Gender and Sexuality (1970s-1990s)

Assignments

Weekend Film: Tongues Untied, Marlon Riggs, dir., 1989, 55 min, **Content Notes: footage of riots and police violence, dramatized street assault, Stream via Moodle

Tues Nov. 26

  • Ortner, Sherry. 1972. "Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?" and "So, Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?" in Making Gender: The Politics and Erotics of Culture. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996 (28 pp.). Bookstore and on book reserve, ereserve

  • Visweswaran, Kamala. 1994[1988]. "Defining Feminist Ethnography," (p. 17-39) in Fictions of Feminist Ethnography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. book and ereserve. (22 pp).

  • Gerstner, David. "Tongues Untied (1989)." Cineaste, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, 2007. (online). (1 pp.)

  • Diagrams: Ortner's structuralist argument
Handout Final Paper Guidelines

Thanksgiving Break Nov 28-Dec 1

Weeks Thirteen and Fourteen - Native Vitality and Global Futures (1990s-2010s)

Assignments

Tues Dec 3

  • Charlotte Coté. Introduction, Chapter One and Chapter Two (pp 1-68). Spirits of our Whaling Ancestors: Revitalizing Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth Traditions. UWash Press, 2010. bookstore, book reserve, ereserve.

Thurs Dec 5

  • Charlotte Coté. Chapter Four and Chapter Five (pp 115-165), and Chapter Six: Focus pp. 166-171, pp. 182-88, pp. 191 bottom-192. Spirits of our Whaling Ancestors: Revitalizing Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth Traditions. UWash Press, 2010. bookstore, book reserve, ereserve.

Tues. Dec. 10 Final Paper Workshop and peer review

For full credit for your paper, post one question to Moodle about your paper (scroll down to Weeks 13-14 Discussion Forum) by Sunday Dec 8, midnight.

Come prepared to discuss your paper. Bring to class some written notes, a rough outline, draft paragraphs to share with a partner. Prepare some questions you would like to pose to your partner and to the class: eg., questions about theory, definitions of key terms, which theorists to use, how best to organize the paper, best practices for citation or theory synopses, how to develop an argument, etc.

Optional Readings: Global Futures of Anthropology? These could be very helpful in developing your final argument!

  • Allen, Jafari Sinclaire and Ryan Cecil Jobson. 2016. The Decolonizing Generation: (Race and) Theory in Anthropology since the Eighties. Current Anthropology. Volume 57, Number 2, April. ereserve.

  • Tallbear, Kim. Caretaking Relations, Not American Dreaming. Vol. 6 No. 1 (2019): Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies (15 pp) ereserve.

  • Lassiter, LukeEric. 2005. From "Reading over the Shoulders of Natives" to "Reading alongside Natives," Literally: Toward a Collaborative and Reciprocal Ethnography" and "Defining a Collaborative Ethnography" (p. 1-24). The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnography. book and ereserve

     

    Paper 3 and 1-2 paragraph course reflection
    due (Wednesday Dec. 18, midnight, Moodle upload)

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