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Anthropology 126: Anthropological Approaches to Gender
Course Description:
This course will examine gender and sexuality cross culturally, considering cultural,
economic, and religious aspects of gender, sexuality, reproduction, and gender
identity. Readings will explore definitions of male and female roles, sexual mores,
issues in human reproduction, variations in definitions of sexual identity, how
gender roles and gender identity function in the context of marriage and family
structure, and economic and religious aspects of gender, marriage, and family.
Course Schedule:.
Part One: Concepts and Methods
Week 1:
Introduction
Week 2:
Gender as Cultural Category
Week 3:
Anthropological Approaches to the Feminine
Week 4:
Anthropological Approaches to Masculinity
Week 5:
Political Economy of Gender
Week 6:
Gender and Health
Part Two: Research Issues and Case Studies:
Week 7:
Emotion and Gender
Week 8:
Gender and Depression
Week 9:
Love and Sexuality Cross Culturally
Week 10:
More than Two Genders?
Week 11:
Homosexuality in Cross Cultural Perspective
Week 12:
Homosexuality Part Two
Week 13:
Anthropology of Human Reproduction
Week 14:
Anthropology of Human Reproduction, part Two
Week 15:
Conclusions
Required Readings:
Readings will include books such as Ramirez-Ferrero, Eric: Troubled Fields:
Men, Emotions, and the Crisis in American Farming, Parker, Richard: Beneath
the Equator: Cultures of Desire, Male Homosexuality, and Emerging Gay
Communities in Brazil, and Laderman, Carol: Wives and Midwives: Childbirth and
Nutrition in Rural Malaysiam in addition to approximately 30 articles drawn from
scholarly journals and books.
Course Requirements:
Students will be responsible for four reading responses during the semester, and
will provide discussion questions twice. Students will complete a class project in
two parts: first, an annotated bibliography on a relevant topic of the student’s
choice, and secondly a term paper based on the readings in the bibliography.
Course Goals and Learning Outcomes: This course provides knowledge of
anthropological theory on gender. This course fundamentally addresses the UC Merced
guiding principles of scientific literacy, communication, self and society, and responsibility.
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
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Master theoretical approaches to the differentiation of sex and gender as
concepts.
Master approaches to how male and female roles are constructed in a variety of
cultural settings.
Master theory on how gender affects health and the life course in different
cultures.
Develop how ethnographic, archaeological, and biological knowledge contribute
to understandings of the human.
Develop theory on cultural aspects of sexuality and sexual identity.
Develop anthropological knowledge and use critical thinking skills to evaluate
anthropological arguments.
Develop understanding ethics and responsibility in the practice of anthropology.
Master communication of their anthropological knowledge and use critical thinking
skills to evaluate anthropological arguments.
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