Download ANTH 113 Urban Anthropology—Course Outline Course

ANTH 113 Urban Anthropology—Course Outline
Course Description:
This course introduces students to the significance and development of urban anthropology
within socio-cultural anthropology and core themes and debates in the field of urban
anthropology. It is structured to introduce students to important theoretical perspectives that
inform anthropologists’ studies of urban contexts and to investigate research themes through case
studies. The course pays focuses on three core themes in the study of urban anthropology: 1) the
possibilities and limits of cities as global and local ethnographic sites, 2) the past, present and
future of cities, and 3) scale: the dynamics internal to the city itself, cities in relation to other
cities, and cities in relation to other political, economic, social and historical formations like the
nation and the global economy. Other important sub-themes include the relationship between the
rural and urban, political economy and inequality, urban life and its cultural and social dynamics,
space and place, race and exclusion, gender and sexuality, and cities and citizenship. The course
also examines lenses from which to study cities: global cities, fortress cities, de-industrializing
cities, post-9/11 cities, and Global South cities, for example. Through case studies, students will
work on thinking across the West/non-West divide in urban studies. Through readings of case
studies and ethnographies, the course content will also investigate the role of ethnographic
method in anthropologists’ contributions to pressing issues in urban studies.
The course begins by introducing the development of urban anthropology and anthropological
debates on how urban contexts should be studied given the classical fieldwork models of
anthropologists. It then explores the development of typologies of cities and different lenses from
which to study the city. Course material then investigates research themes on colonial and postcolonial cities, cities in the global political-economic context, de-industrializing cities in the
West, poverty and exclusion in the city, immigration, race and violence, cities and citizenship,
and gender and sexuality. It concludes by exploring the future of cities, alternatives to current
urban problems identified anthropologists, and the ongoing relevance of urban anthropology to
the discipline as a whole. The course also makes use of two rotating urban ethnographies in the
global context to help cement the use of ethnographic method with the study of the urban.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will satisfy learning outcomes in anthropology by:
1. Making use of a wide range of ethnographic material and case studies from
anthropologists who work in urban contexts so that students become comfortable with
terminology, key concepts, theories and ideas in the field of urban anthropology.
2. Understanding how the study of urban contexts is relevant to all the sub-fields of
anthropology.
3. Becoming familiar with the application of theory and research methods in the field of
urban anthropology and its relationship to ethics and responsibility in the intellectual and
research process.
4. Understanding how the field of urban anthropology is relevant to broader questions about
the human condition, particularly through both historical and cross-cultural perspectives
of the city.
5. Developing skills for communicating anthropological information and knowledge
through critical reading, writing and oral presentations.
The course is broadly applicable and fundamentally addresses the UC Merced guiding principles
of general education:
1. Communication: The course is structured to maximize critical thinking, through critical
reading skills and verbal and written communication exercises (weekly responses, oral
presentations, and class discussion).
2. Self and society: Courses such as this broaden the student's overall perspective on the
world and invite them to examine their own closely-held beliefs about their community,
society and surroundings.
3. Ethics and responsibility: Exposure to sociocultural anthropology perspectives on urban
contexts is expected to foster societal responsibility, sustainable forms of living,
understanding and tolerance of human diversity and awareness of social, political and
economic inequalities.
Assessments:
This class is ideal for students who enjoy reading and writing and who would like to or need to
develop critical thinking, reading, writing and presentation skills. The class is based on lectures
and discussions of readings. Assessment is based on participation in class discussion, weekly
response papers, one midterm essay, and a final research paper based on primary research data
and/or secondary sources.
Required Readings:
Beyond the two rotating ethnographies that students are required to read in the course, the
students will read several chapters from Theorizing the City: The New Urban Anthropology
Reader (Low, 2005); Urban Fortunes: the Political Economy of Place (Logan and Molotch
2007, 2nd edition ); and Cities in a World Economy (Sassen 2012, 4th edition). Other book
chapters (The Country and the City, Williams; Urban Outcasts, Waquant; Cultural Struggles,
Conquergood) and articles will be assigned from journals such as Theory and Society, Public
Culture, and Cultural Anthropology. There will be approximately 60 pages of reading per
week—at times less, at times a little more.