Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology

Anth 2, Spring 2004

Scripps College

Instructor: Prof. Susan Seizer

Meetings: T-TH 1:15-2:30, Humanities 204

Office hours: T-Th 3-4:00 (or by appointment)

Office Phone: (909) 607-3547 email: sseizer@scrippscol.edu

Description:

This course is an introduction to the goals, history, and methods of cultural anthropology. Cultural anthropologists study the organization of human society from a perspective that is at once very broad and intimately close. The breadth of our discipline comes from our commitment to studying human experience around the globe; the closeness stems from our attention to the smallest details of human life and to the distinctions that give that life meaning. The course will focus on what anthropologists study as well as on how we present our analyses and represent our research, in both written and visual ethnographic genres.

Readings:

Course readings include 7 paperback books and a selection of articles. The books are available for purchace at Huntley bookstore, in used and new copies. The assigned articles are on Electronic Reserve (ERES). ERES can be accessed online at the libraries homepage, or at HYPERLINK http://eres.claremont.edu http://eres.claremont.edu. You then select this course either by number (Anth 2) or by my name. The course password is “sseizer2” (*passwords are case sensitive, use all lower case letters). The required readings are also available in hard copy at the reserve desk in Honnold Library, on 2-hour reserve.

Books (available for purchase at Huntley bookstore) :

Clifford Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures (2000)

Annette Weiner, The Trobrianders (1988)

Keith Basso, Wisdom Sits in Places (1996)

Christina Kreps, Liberating Culture (Routledge 2002)

Barbara Myerhoff, Number Our Days (1978)

Don Kulick, Travesti (1998)

Elizabeth Chin, Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture (2001)

Requirements and Grading:

Participation = 15%

All students are expected to read the assigned readings for each class prior to that class meeting and to participate in class discussions. Attendence and participation in class accounts for 15% of your course grade.

Written responses = 15%

Another 15% of your grade is based on one-page written responses to the readings for the course. You are required to prepare a written response on the readings for each day of class. Your response should be between one paragraph to one page in length. I will collect your reading responses at every class; you are allowed to skip three written responses over the course of the semester without penalty. In addition to providing me with an ongoing sense of your grasp of the reading and course material as the semester progresses, these response papers will provide you with a record of your own developing anthropological sensibilities. I suggest that you maintain a file for your responses.; they will also help you in writing papers and exams for this course.

The midterm and final projects for this course consist of take-home essays.

The midterm = 35% of your course grade. The midterm consists of two essay questions (select two out of four possible choices). Your answer to each question should be 2-3 pages long (typed, double-spaced); the total length of your exam will be 4-6 pages. The midterm is due at the end of week 8.

The final = 35% of the course grade. The final consists of one paper of 6-8 pages (typed, double-spaced) and an appendix of transcribed interview passages, both part of a proposed ethnographic project of your own choice. We will discuss the structure and topic of the final project in the second half of the course. The final is due exam week (week 16).

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Section I: What is cultural anthropology?

Introduction to the kinds of things cultural anthropologists study

Week One

Class 1, T 1/20: introductory lecture on seeing ourselves as socially embedded

Anthropological lenses help us focus on both our own and other peoples’ lives as social artifacts.

The notion of a toolbox of theory: in-class handout of a quote from Gilles Deleuze, in conversation with Michel Foucault, on the need for multiple theories rather than a single totalizing theory.

Read over break for our first class meeting: Miner, Horace, “Body Ritual Among The Nacerima” (ERES)

Screen in class: “Babakiueria,” Australian Broadcasting Corp., 30 min

Class 2, Th 1/22: The historical terrain of ethnographic study – Bronislav Malinowski (1)

Bronislaw Malinowski, “Forward” and “Introduction” to Argonauts of the Western Pacitic. NY: E.P. Sutton, 1961, pp. xv-xviii and 1-27 (ERES)

Week Two

First Guest Lecture

Class 3, T 1/27: the goals of ethnography

• Geertz, Clifford, “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” in The Interpretation of Cultures. pp. 3-30

Second Guest Lecture

Class 4, Th 1/29: analysis of a ritual

• Clifford Geertz, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” in The Interpretation of Cultures, pp. 366-411.

In-class viewing: “The Cockfight” (1996, Jud T. Mars,13 min)

Week Three

Third Guest Lecture

Class 5, T 2/3: study and re-study

Annette Weiner, The Trobrianders, first half of book

Fourth Guest Lecture

Class 6, Th 2/5: us and them

Annette Weiner, The Trobrianders, second half of book

Week Four

Class 7, T 2/10: cultural stories and stories as culture – finding things other than that for which you were looking

• Laura Bohannon, “Shakespeare in the Bush” (ERES)

• A.K. Ramanujan, “Annayya’s Anthropology,” trans. N. Hegde, in From Cauvery to Godavari: Modern Kannada Short Stories pp. 44-53 (ERES)

Class 8, Th 2/12: introduction to ethnographic film representation

Discuss handout on viewing ethnographic films

Karl G. Heider, “Introduction” to Ethnographic Film, pp. 3-15 (+ 113, 117, 118-121) (ERES)

Pucin, Diane. “In Cycling, Winning with Honor Means Everything,” L.A. Times, July 23, 2003, p A1-A14.

In-class viewing: Trobriand Cricket” (Gary Kildea, 1992, 53 min)

Week Five

Class 9, T 2/17: We all do it – rites of passage

Turner, Victor. “Liminality and Communitas,” in The Ritual Process, 1969, pp. 94-130

Supplementary reading on ERES:

Victor Turner, 1967. "Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage." From The Forest of Symbols. (ERES)

Class 10, Th 2/19: how does social organization shape the self?

Clifford Geertz, “Person, Time, and Conduct in Bali.” In Interpretations of Cultures, pp. 360-411

Section II: Foundations of the discipline

Week Six

Class 11, T 2/24: The further documentation of culture contact

In-class view: First Contact (1982, Bob Connelly & Robin Anderson 50 min)

Class 12, Th 2/26: Apache relations to place

Keith Basso, Wisdom Sits in Places, Preface and Ch. 1, pp xiii-xviii, 3-36

Week Seven

Class 13, T 3/2: ethnographic praxis

Keith Basso, Wisdom Sits in Places, Ch 2, pp 37- 70

Class 14, Th 3/4: Visions of ethnography – Franz Boas

*Hand-out of midterm exam in class today, due in class Th 3/11

• Franz Boas, “What is Anthropology?” and “The Problem of Race” in Anthropology and Modern Life, NY: Dover. 1986[1928], pp. 11-62 (ERES)

• Franz Boas, “The History of Anthropology,” in Science, Vol. 20 (21 October 1904), pp. 513-524 (ERES)

George Stocking, “Guardians of the Sacred Bundle,” in Learned Societies and The Evolution of the Disciplines, ACLS, 1988 (ERES)

Week Eight

Class 15, T 3/9: Whose vision of “salvage” and “rescue”?

Coco Fusco, “The Other History of Intercultural Performance,” 1995, pp 37-64 (ERES)

In-class viewing: Ishi, The Last Yahi (1992, Jed Riffe, 50 min)

Class 16, Th 3/11: Whose vision? A group exercise

*As midterm essays are due in class, there is no reading for today J

In-class viewing: selected scenes from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the oompa-loompas)

[Spring Break 3/15 – 3/19]

Week Nine

Class 17, T 3/23: Whose culture?

Kreps, Liberating Culture, Introduction pp. 1-19

Class 18, Th 3/25: Whose cultural property?

In class viewing & discussion, “Cracks in the Mask”

Section III: Ethnography

Week Ten

Class 19, T 3/30: student led discussion

Two students meet outside class to prepare questions for two other students to use in leading discussion. Those leading discussion also meet prior to class to discuss their presentation.

Kreps, Liberating Culture, Chs 2 & 3, pp. 20-78

Class 20, Th 4/1: student led discussion

Two students meet outside class to prepare questions for two other students to use in leading discussion. Those leading discussion also meet prior to class to discuss their presentation.

Kreps, Liberating Culture, Chs. 4-6, pp. 79-160

Week Eleven

Class 21, T 4/6: the dialectic of insider/outsider

Donald Messerschmidt, “On Anthropology at Home,” pp. 3-14 , Anthropologists at home in North America, 1981 (ERES)

John Aguilar, “Insider Research: an ethnography of a debate,” pp. 15-28, Anthropologists at home in North America, 1981 (ERES)

In-class viewing: “Passing Girl, Riverside” (Kwame Braun, 1999, 25 min)

Class 22, Th 4/8: identification and the ethnographic project

Victor Turner, Forward to Number Our Days

In-class viewing: "Number Our Days," (1979, 30 min)

Week Twelve

Class 23, T 4/13: moving inside in stages: ethnographic dialog

Barbara Myerhoff, Number Our Days, Ch. 1 & 2, pp. 1-78

Class 24, Th 4/15: student-led discussion of second half of book

Two students meet outside class to prepare questions for two other students to use in leading discussion. Those leading discussion also meet prior to class to discuss their presentation.

· Barbara Myerhoff, Number Our Days, Ch. 4-7

Week Thirteen

Class 25, T 4/20: student led discussion

Two students meet outside class to prepare questions for two other students to use in leading discussion. Those leading discussion also meet prior to class to discuss their presentation.

Travesti, Introduction, Chs. One & Two

Class 26, Th 4/22: student led discussion

Two students meet outside class to prepare questions for two other students to use in leading discussion. Those leading discussion also meet prior to class to discuss their presentation.

Travesti, Chapters Three, Four & Five

Week Fourteen

Class 27, T 4/27: student led discussion

Elizabeth Chin, Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture (2001), first half of book

Class 28, Th 4/29: student led discussion

Elizabeth Chin, Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture (2001), second half of book

Week Fifteen

Class 29, T 5/4: last class meeting

Discussion of student projects

course review and evaluation

*Final exam due Tues. 5/11, 2 pm in Prof. Seizer’s office:

An ethnographic project proposal that grows out of what you learn from conducting at least one in-depth interview with a person connected to a group of people and activities you would be interested in studying further. See handout on final assignment for the specific steps required for this project. Format of your proposal should be a 6-8 page double-spaced paper, with an attached appendix (single-spaced) providing transcriptions of three short excerpts from your interview of passages that proved generative for your project proposal.

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