Fall 2007
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
New College of Florida
Professor Uzi Baram
Class meets: Monday and Thursdays 2 – 3:20 pm in College Hall 221
Office: College Hall 205
Office hours: Tuesday 12:30-2:30 & by appointment
Office telephone: 487-4217
E-mail: Baram@ncf.edu
Web page: http://faculty.ncf.edu/Baram
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an introduction to cultural anthropology and the anthropological perspective. A cross-cultural perspective will be used to examine such topics as language and communication, economics, religion, and social stratification. Examples will come from the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. Class discussions will revolve around the goals of anthropology, the impact of anthropological ideas, and the understandings of culture change around the world. Enrollment will be limited to 30 students.
COURSE PROSPECTUS
As the cliché goes, the world is getting to be a smaller place. And as it gets smaller, there are greater interactions among peoples and societies. From those interactions, we find an acceleration of similarities for human societies as well as a renewed emphasis on cultural differences. For this course, we will use an anthropological perspective for understanding human cultural diversity and social change. The intersection of diversity and social change will be a focus for this course.
This course is an introduction to cultural anthropology. Cultural anthropology is concerned with the description and analysis of people's lifeways in different societies and environments: how people deal with their environment, the range of variation for the organization of families, the means for settling conflicts and making political decisions, how humans view and maintain relations between women and men, what we believe about the supernatural and the different ways to carry out religious rituals, and how groups and individuals deal with human beings who are culturally different from themselves. At the center of those issues is the concept of culture. Culture is a notion that came from anthropology, entered popular discourse, and now means many things (probably too many things). We will endeavor to conceptualize culture as an active process, a self-conscious concept of human social life, actively constructed and negotiated, to gain a critical understanding of culture in terms of human differences, similarities, and transformations.
Anthropology uses the technique of ethnography to describe, analyze, and understand human diversity. Ethnography is a personalistic research approach within the social sciences. Ethnography is also the documented product of anthropological research. Ethnography records a group of people, its behaviors, customs, and traditions. We will explore the complexity of ethnography, its successes and shortcomings, in terms of research and representations.
The specific course objectives are: (a) explore the methods and techniques of ethnography to understand what anthropologists do; (b) contextualize cultures and peoples within the modern world to explore the diversity in human cultures that comes with global interconnections; and (c) explore case studies to enable us to employ a cross-cultural perspective on several components of human societies.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
You are expected to attend each and every class. You are expected to have completed all the readings for that class and be prepared to discuss those readings. There will be midterm and final exams covering materials presented in class and from the readings. In addition, there will be two short written assignments. During the first module, there is an ethnographic interview focused on kinship. During the second module, there is a review of an article from an anthropology journal. More details on the exams and research assignments will be presented in class in a timely manner.
Success in the course requires you satisfactorily complete all of the written assignments by their announced deadlines as well as attend class. You have the responsibility and obligation to inform the professor of absences or problems with deadlines; all the standard reasons will be honored if you contact the professor by email, voice mail, or message in campus mailbox prior to the absence.
Format:
The course will consist of lectures, discussions, readings, films, exams, and projects. The full participation of all students is encouraged and expected. Asking questions is an expected part of participation in the course.
Required Texts:
Textbook
· Conrad Kottak 2007 Mirror for Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. McGraw Hill, Boston. 5th edition. (noted as MFH in the schedule of readings)
Reader
· James Spradley and David McCurdy 2006 Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. Allyn and Bacon, Boston. 12th edition. (noted as C&C in the schedule of readings)
Ethnographies
· Robert Brenneman 2007 As Strong as the Mountains: A Kurdish Cultural Journey. Waveland Press.
· Ronald Niezen 1998 Defending the Land: Sovereignty and Forest Life in James Bay Cree Society. Allyn and Bacon, Boston.
· Marjorie Shostak 2000 Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman. Harvard University Press.
· Martha Ward 2005 Nest in the Wind: Adventures on a Tropical Island. Waveland Press. 2nd edition.
Reserve Readings
Articles, essays, and book chapters noted on the syllabus are available on electronic reserve at the Cook Library webpage.
Outline of Topics and Readings
Mini-Class:
8/27 Cultural Anthropology in Ethnography, Anthropology, and the Liberal Arts
I. Introduction: Anthropology, Ethnography, and Culture
8/30 Introduction to Anthropology and the Anthropological Perspective
Readings:
· C&C (18) Geertz
9/3 is Labor Day = no class
9/6 The Shock of Re-cognition: Examples of Difference and Social Change
Readings:
· C&C (2) Lee, (3) Bohannan
9/10 Terminology and Concepts
Readings:
· MFH Chapter 1 Anthropology and its Applications
· Ward - Nest in the Wind Introduction and chapters 1-2
9/13 Experiencing Anthropology
Readings:
· MFH Chapter 2 Ethics and Methods and Chapter 5 Language and Communications
9/17 Field Work in Cultural Anthropology
Readings:
· Ward - Nest in the Wind chapters 3-5
· C&C (1) Spradley, (4) Sterk, (7) Spradley and Mann
· Napoleon Chagnon 1992 "Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamö" The Fierce People, pp. 5-31.
9/20 Human Nature and Culture: A (Brief) History of Understanding Others
Readings:
· Ward - Nest in the Wind chapters 6-10
· MFH Chapters 3 Culture
· C&C (8) Schildkrout, (6) Thomson
II. Social Organization: Kinship and Gender
9/24 Differences in Families
Readings:
· MFH Chapter 8 Families, Kinship, and Marriage
· C&C (17) McCurdy, (19) Wolf
9/27 Families and Change
Readings:
· C&C (5) Gmelch, (9) Tannen, (16) Scheper-Hughes
10/1 Studying a Small-Scale Society: Women and Men of the Kalahari
Readings:
· MFH Chapter 6 Making a Living and Chapter 9 Gender
· Shostak – Nisa Introduction and chapters 1-8
· C&C (21) Friedl, (10) Lee, (13) Cronk
III. Change and Traditions
10/4 Life among the San
Readings:
· MFH Chapters 10 Religion
· Shostak - Nisa chapters 9-12
· Mathias Guenter 2006 N//àe (“Talking”): The Oral and Rhetorical Base of San Culture” Journal of Folklore Research 43(3):241-261.
10/8 San Rights/Indigenous Rights/Human Rights
Readings:
· Shostak - Nisa chapters 13-Epilogue
10/11 Mid-Term Exam
IV. Negotiating Power and Social Inequalities
10/22 Power, Culture, and Leadership
Readings:
· Brenneman - As Strong as the Mountains Introduction and chapter 1
· MFH Chapter 7 Political Systems
10/25 Life in Kurdistan
Readings:
· Brenneman - As Strong as the Mountains chapters 2-3
10/29 Urbanization, Diaspora, and other Challenges
Readings:
· Brenneman - As Strong as the Mountains chapters 4-5
· Pierre Bourdieu 1994 "Structures, Habitus, Power: Basis for a Theory of Symbolic Power" From Culture/Power/History, pp. 155-199.
11/1 Struggles in our World: Displacement, Poverty, and Identities
Readings:
· Brenneman - As Strong as the Mountains chapters 6-7
· Paul Farmer 2002 “On Suffering and Structural Violence: A View from Below” The Anthropology of Politics, pp. 424-437.
· Susan Hutchinson 2000 “Nuer Ethnicity Militarized” Anthropology Today 16(3):6-13.
11/5 Race: Organizing Social Differences
Readings:
· MFH Chapter 4 Race and Ethnicity
· C&C (23) Fish
· Robert M. Hayden 1996 "Imagined Communities and Real Victims: Self-Determination and Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia" American Ethnologist 23:783-801.
· Clarence Page 1992 "It's a Boy" From Race, pp. 358-363.
11/8 The Anthropological Struggle against Racism
Readings:
· Roger Sanjek 2000 "Color Full Before Color Blind: The Emergence of Multiracial Neighborhood Politics in Queens, New York" American Anthropologist 102(4):762-772.
· Audrey Smedley 1998 "`Race' and the Construction of Human Identity" American Anthropologist 100(3):690-702.
V. Modernity and Diversity
11/12 State-Sponsored Projects and Indigenous Peoples
Readings:
· Niezen – Defending the Land Introduction and chapter 1
· James Scott 1998 "Thin Simplifications and Practical Knowledge: Mētis" Seeing Like a State, pp. 309-341.
11/15 Dualities and their Social Implications
Readings:
· Niezen – Defending the Land chapters 2-3
· Sherry Ortner 2006 “Resistance and the Problem of Ethnographic Refusal” Anthropology and Social Theory, pp. 42-62.
11/19 Struggles in Native America
Readings:
· Niezen – Defending the Land chapters 4-5
· MFH Chapter 11 The Modern World and Chapter 12 Colonialism and Development
· C&C (12) Reed, (24) Turner
11/22 is Thanksgiving = no class
11/26 Implications of Anthropological Knowledge
Readings:
· MFH Chapter 13 Cultural Exchange and Survival
· C&C (31) Shandy, (32) Brennan, (33) Condry
· Niezen – Defending the Land chapters 6-7
· Eric Wolf 1994 "Perilous Ideas" Current Anthropology 35(1):1-12.
11/29 Diversity in Our World: Concerns for Cultural Anthropology Today
Readings:
· C&C (24) Sutherland, (36) McCurdy
· James F. Weiner and Ron Brunton 2003 "Do Anthropologists Have a Moral Responsibility to Defend the Interests of "Less Advantaged" Communities?" Taking Sides in Cultural Anthropology, pp. 362-383.
· Max Kirsch 2006 “The Politics of Exclusion: Place and the Legislation of the Environment in the Florida Everglades” Inclusion and Exclusion in the Global Arena, pp. 243-268.
Readings:
· Horace Miner 1956 "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" American Anthropologist pp. 503-507.
Final Exam: Monday 12/10 regular class meeting time and place
RESOURCES
The Professor
The professor will strive to arrive early to the classroom for each class meeting: that is a wonderful time to raise any questions about the course or anthropology in general. Office hours are organized as open door: there is no need to sign up for a time slot, just come by my office and I promise to be there to discuss the course and almost any other issues. If there is a crowd of students, I will address your specific questions. If you are the only student to arrive, you have the time to discuss nearly anything related to the course, anthropology, or the college. Beyond office hours, if the door to my College Hall office is open and I’m free, we can chat. In addition, I will reply to emails but please be polite in your requests and acknowledge my response to your questions/concerns.
Teaching Assistant (TA)
The TA, the student assistant, is available for discussions of readings and assignments. Please use the TA for feedback on your concerns when you cannot find me. There is also a TA for the Anthropology Lab: the Lab is a one-room seminar with various anthropological books, anthropology AOC theses, files on internships and fieldworks. The TA can point you toward relevant materials. The Lab is the small building by the Four-Winds Café.
Writing Center
There are two short writing assignments in the course. Because they are short, they need to be well-written. The Writing Center is available for consultation on your written work for this course, and all other classes at the college. The Center has students who will listen to your questions and work with you to come up with answers.
The Counseling and Wellness Center
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology is an introductory course; many of its students will be first-years. Beginning a college career can be stressful. The Wellness Center is available to all currently registered students, providing services related to the development of the whole person; emotional and physical well-being, as well as academic concerns. Their goal is to be a resource to you for any concerns.
My Librarian
The Cook Library offers a personalized instruction service to all first year undergraduate students at New College of Florida. See http://www.ncf.edu/library/mylibrarian.htm for information.
Additional Readings/Projects
Some students in this class have already taken come anthropology; others might want to explore particular units or topics in greater depth. The outline of readings is the foundation for success in the class and the next steps in the AOC; the additions are suggestions for further readings, by course unit. These supplemental readings are meant to provide comparisons, illuminate certain points, or critique lines of argument. Students who have already satisfactorily completed anthropology courses should read those articles and chapters; if this is your first anthropology course, the readings are optional. Those who read the supplemental readings have the obligation to raise the points, themes, and examples in class discussion or discuss the readings with the professor during office hours. The list is available online here. Similarly, the two exercises for the course can be expanded into larger endeavors – see me if you are interested.