Download syllabus - Laura A. Ogden

ANTH 3
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Summer 2014
Instructor:
Course Time:
Course Location:
Office Hours:
Office Location:
Email:
Prof. Laura Ogden
11 hour, M/W/F 11:15 – 12:20; X-Hour T. 12-12:50
1 Rockefeller
M/W 10 – 11; F 12:30 – 1:30
406A Silsby Hall
[email protected]
Course Overview
In this Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, we explore a variety of concepts and
theories that help us to understand the similarities, differences, connections and
disconnections that shape world communities (including our own). Cultural
anthropologists are interested in all types of societies, from rural indigenous
communities to life in urban industrial settings. A key aim of cultural anthropology
is to document and comparatively analyze the full range of human cultural
adaptations and achievements, to discern themes and patterns in the human
experience, and to examine processes of (and resistance to) change in a range of
socioeconomic, geographic, and political contexts. Last, we will learn about
Anthropology as a profession, including the methods and ethics of research, and the
ways anthropologists represent their research to varied audiences.
Learning Goals
By the end of this course you should be able to:
 Understand "culture" as a process of sense-making,
 Reflect on how cultural difference is constituted and challenged
 Consider the ways anthropologists use ethnography to translate cultural
difference
 Reflect on the relationship between global & local processes of cultural
production
On written assignments and examinations you should be able to:
 Write clearly and as objectively as possible about social issues
 Define key terms and concepts in anthropology in your own words
 Reflect on the meanings of particular events, acts, or behaviors in their
cultural context
 Identify some prominent anthropologists, both in terms of who they
are/were and what their work has contributed to our understanding of the
world.
Ground Rules
 Please turn off all cell phones (smart or otherwise) in class
1



You may use a laptop to take notes, but turn the Internet off. It is too
tempting to check email, send messages, and surf the web.
Anthropology, as a discipline, is committed to engaging diverse, even
conflicting views. I do not expect that every student will agree with his/her
fellow students or with me. However, I do expect that you will treat your
fellow students and me with respect. Alternative viewpoints are always
welcome – just offer them with care.
Readings are due on the day they are listed in the syllabus. It is your
responsibility to read the syllabus carefully and come to class prepared.
Books
 Lasiter, Luke. 2008. Invitation to Anthropology (4rd edition). AltaMira Press.
 Kohn, Eduardo. 2013. How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the
Human. Univ. of California Press.
 Bourgois, Philippe and Jeffrey Schonberg. 2009. Righteous Dopefiend. Univ. of
California Press.
 Hesse, Karen. 2005. Aleutian Sparrow. Margaret K. McElderry Books.
All other readings are available as downloadable PDF’s via the Canvas site/Library
reserves. Films are streamed whenever possible and are available through Jones
Reserves. All course materials are also available through electronic and hard copy
reserves in Baker-Berry Library.
Grades and Assignments
Your grade in this class will be based on the following:
1. Weekly reading responses
10%
2. Two Ethnographic Exercises
30%
3. Midterm Examination
30%
4. Final Examination
30%
Weekly Written Responses
At the beginning of the term I will divide the class roster in thirds alphabetically,
based on last names. You will either post on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday by
9am. This means that every class meeting a core group of students will post
reading responses to the discussion forum on Canvas, from week 2 through Week
10 of the course. Each written response should be about 100 – 200 words in length.
These responses are an opportunity for you to raise critical issues or conclusions
based on your understanding of the reading assignment for the day. You may not
simply summarize readings in this forum. I will read your responses and often use
these responses as a way of generating in-class discussion. Each individual post will
not be graded. Provided you complete all required posts, you will receive full credit
for this part of the course, worth 10% of your total grade.
Ethnographic Exercises
Students will complete 2 ethnographic exercises. These exercises are meant to be
opportunities for students to have a more “hands on” introduction to ethnographic
2
research methods and anthropological practice, and to engage in critical and
creative assessments of Dartmouth culture as an anthropologist would. Specific
assignments will be distributed in class one week before the assignment is due.
Each ethnographic exercise is worth 15% of your grade.
Midterm Exam
The midterm exam at the end of week five is an in-class format. The exam will ask
students to define key terms and to respond to several essay questions regarding
the materials covered in the beginning half of the course.
Final Exam
A final in-class exam will be given during examination week. The final exam will
require students to define key terms and to answer essay questions on course
topics. The final exam is cumulative, although more emphasis will be placed on
the second part of the course.
Honor Principle
You are reminded that the Honor Principle applies to all work done outside of class,
as well as in-class exams. Research papers and take home-essays, if applicable,
should contain citations to the work of others used in preparing your paper/essay
following the guidelines laid out in Sources:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/sources/. You are encouraged to discuss the
course material with other students outside of class, but the work you submit for
exams, essays, and papers must be written by you and reflect your ideas and
conclusions and contain citations to other sources where appropriate. In the case
take-home essays and papers you are not to collaborate with anyone else in
preparing this work.
Students with Disabilities
Students with learning, physical, or psychiatric disabilities enrolled in this course
that may need disability-related classroom accommodations are encouraged to
make an office appointment to see me before the end of the second week of term. All
discussions will remain confidential, although the Student Accessibility Services
office may be consulted to discuss appropriate implementation of any
accommodation requested.
Religious Observances
Some students may wish to take part in religious observances that fall during this
academic term. Should you have a religious observance that conflicts with your
participation in the course, please come speak with me before the end of the second
week of term to discuss appropriate accommodations.
Course Schedule
3
DATE
Topic & Readings
Week 1
What is Anthropology?
June 20
Week 2
June 23,
25, 27
Week 3
June 30,
July 1 (X
Hour)
July 2
July 4 (no
school)
Week 4
July 7, 9,
11
Assignments &
Other Info.
Get Books!

Lee, Richard, 1969. Eating Christmas in the Kalahari. Natural History
78(10):14-22; 60 – 64.
Available:
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/master.html?http://www.naturalh
istorymag.com/htmlsite/editors_pick/1969_12_pick.html
Race, Culture & Identity
Monday: Race & Ethnicity
 Lassiter, Ch. 1
 American Anthropological Association’s Understanding Race:
http://www.understandingrace.org/home.html
Wednesday: Diaspora & Identity
 Brown, Jacqueline Nassy. 1998. Black Liverpool, Black America, and
the Gendering of Diasporic Space. Cultural Anthropology 13(3):291-325.
 Rahier, Jean Muteba. 1998. Blackness, the Racial/Spatial Order,
Migrations, and Miss Ecuador 1995 – 96. American Anthropologist
100(2):421-430.
Friday: Culture & Cultural Relativism
 Lassiter, Ch. 2
 Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1995. The Primacy of the Ethical:
Propositions for a Militant Anthropology. Current Anthropology
36(3):409-440.
Ethnography & Ethics
Monday: Ethnography
 Lassiter, Ch. 3
 Rosaldo, Renaldo. 1980. Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage, from
Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History.
Tuesday: Ethics of Representation (Yanomami Case Study)
 Secrets of the Tribe. 2010. HBO Documentary Films; Director
José Padilha (call number: 12621) streaming
 Ramos, Alcida R. 1987. Reflecting on the Yanomami: Ethnographic
Images and the Pursuit of the Exotic. Cultural Anthropology 2(3):284-304.
Wednesday: The Politics of Representation
 Bourgois & Schonberg, Intro & chapter 1
Gender and Sexuality
Monday: Gender & Sexuality
 Lassiter, Ch 5
 Martin, Emily. 1991. The Egg and the Sperm: How science has
constructed a romance based on stereotypes. Signs 16(3):485-501.
Wednesday
 Bourgois & Schonberg 2, 3
Friday:
 Williams, Walter L. 2000. The Berdache Tradition, from Annual
Editions of Anthropology (2014).
 Valentine, David. 2003. “I Went to Bed with My Own Kind Once”:
The Erasure of Desire in the Name of Identity, from Anthropological
Theory: An Introductory History.
4
Ricardo Lemvo &
Makina Loca, June 26,
5pm Dartmouth
Green ** Free concert
and option for
ethnographic exercise
Week 5
Kinship and Family
July 14, 16,
18
Monday: Kinship
 Lassiter, Ch 6
 Cadigan, Jean R. 1998. Woman-to-woman marriage: practices and
benefits in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Comparative Family Studies
29(1):89-98.
Wednesday
 Bourgois & Schonberg 4, 6 & 7
Friday
 Midterm (in class)
Livelihoods & Exchange
Week 6
July 21, 23,
25
Week 7
July 28, 30
and Aug. 1
X Hour
film.
Week 8
Aug 4, 6, 8
X hour --
Midterm Review Xhour (Tuesday)
Monday: Subsistence
 Lassiter, Ch 4
 Sahlins, Marshall. 1972. The Original Affluent Society. Stone Age
Economics. Aldine-Atherton, Inc.
 Slocum, Sally. 1975. Woman the Gatherer: Male Bias in Anthropology,
from Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History.
Wednesday: Reciprocity & the Gift
 Mauss, Marcel. 1925. The Gift (selections) from Anthropological Theory:
An Introductory History (McGee & Warms).
 Nadasdy, Paul. 2007. The Gift in the Animal: The Ontology of Human
and Human-Animal Sociality, American Ethnologist 34(1):25-43.
Friday: Commodities & Value
 Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1922. The Essentials of the Kula, from
Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History (McGee & Warms).
 Strathern, Marilyn. 2012. Gifts Money Cannot Buy. Social Anthropology
20(4):397–410.
Religion & Ritual
Monday: Religion
 Lassiter, Ch 7
 Miner, Horace. 1956. Body Ritual among the Nacirema. American
Anthropologist 58(3):503-07.
Wednesday: Rituals & Rites of Passage
 Geertz, Clifford. 1973. Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight.
The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
 Gmelch, George. 2009. Baseball Magic. Conformity and Conflict: Readings
in Cultural Anthropology (13th edition).
 Turner, Victor. 2001. Symbols in Ndembu Ritual. Readings for a
History of Anthropological Theory (Erickson & Murphy, editors).
Broadview Press, pg. 357-381.
Friday: Shamanism & Identity Politics
 Humphrey, Caroline. 1999. Shamans in the City, Anthropology Today
15(3):3-10.
 Conklin, Beth. 2002. Shamans versus Pirates in the Amazonian
Treasure Chest. American Anthropologist 104(4):1050-61.
 Film: The Split Horn: The Life of a Hmong Shaman in America
–steaming or available during X hour.
The World System & Globalization
Monday: Anthropology & the Global
 Wolf, Eric. 1982. The Fur Trade. Europe and the People without History.
Berkeley: Univ. California Press.
5
film
Wednesday: Global Flows
 Appadurai, Arjun. 1990. Difference and disjuncture in the global
cultural economy. Theory, Culture and Society 7.2 (1990): 295-310.
 Ho, Karen. 2005. Situating Global Capitalism: A View from Wall Street
Investment Banks. Cultural Anthropology 20(1):68-96.
Friday: Resisting the Global
 Turner, Terrance. 1993. The Role of Indigenous Peoples in the
Environmental Crises: The Example of the Kayapo of the Brazilian
Amazon. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 36(3):526-545.
 Film: The Kayapo (streaming) – but also shown during x hour.
Week 9
Indigeneity in the Contemporary World
Aug. 11,
13, 15
Monday:
 Hesse, Karen. 2003. Aleutian Sparrow. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.
 Film: Aleut Evacuation – streaming but also shown during X
hour
X hour –
film
Wednesday
 Tsing, Anna. 2007. Indigenous Voice. Indigenous Experience Today (edited
by Marisol de la Cadena and Orin Starn). New York: Berg.
 Cruickshank, Julie. 2007. Melting Glaciers and Emerging Histories in
the Saint Elias Mountains. Indigenous Experience Today (edited by Marisol
de la Cadena and Orin Starn). New York: Berg.
Friday

Week 10
Aug. 18 &
20
Smith, Paul Chaat. 2007. The Terrible Nearness of Distant Places:
Making History at the National Museum of the American Indian.
Indigenous Experience Today (edited by Marisol de la Cadena and Orin
Starn). New York: Berg.
 Mankiller, Wilma. 2009. Being Indigenous in the 21st Century, Cultural
Survival 33(1) – available at:
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survivalquarterly/none/being-indigenous-21st-century
Anthropology Beyond the Human
Monday
Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo. 1989. Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian
Perspectivism, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4(3):469-488.
Kohn: Introduction, 1
Wednesday
Kohn: chapters 2, 3, & 4
Aug 23 26
Sat. Aug 23, 8am
6
Final Exam Review
X Hour