CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY Prof. Abigail E. Adams, 832-2616  

Spring 1997 VAX Username: Adamsa

Webpage: http://wwwas.ccsu.ctstateu.edu/depts/anth/faculty/adamsa/

Anthropology 170: INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Class Meetings: MWF 1-1:50 p.m. Place: FD (DiLoreto) 108
Office Hours: MW 2-5, 110E DiLoreto Hall

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This is an introduction to cultural anthropology through several ethnographies (descriptions and analyses of cultures), both written and filmed. Topics include social, cultural and ecological patterns of human societies; the theory, methods and changes in the discipline of cultural anthropology; and ourselves as creations of culture. In this class, we explore how the different perspectives of researchers (most importantly male and female, western and non-western) results in different kinds of knowing. As we read the various ethnographies, we will explore different patterns of marriage and family, gender, livelihood, decision-making. How does the diversity of these patterns call us to question assumptions about the "nature" of humankind? About our future?

Course Goals:

a) a critical reading and viewing of ethnography;

b) an exposure to diversity and to universals of human experience;

c) a taste of some of the cutting-edge issues in socio-cultural anthropology;

d) an understanding of the Culture concept(s); and

e) an appreciation for the varieties of problem-solving techniques that anthropologists can use.

Class Format: includes lecture, films, class discussion and --as you can see in the topics schedule--exercises. The reading per week varies! I have included numbers of pages in the readings section: plan accordingly.

About Your Professor: Growing up three miles from the Smithsonian's national museums, I found my first loves in dinosaurs and whales; the dusty bones, stones and pots in the anthropology exhibits were boring! Well, anthropology, museums and I have all changed. Anthropology has enabled me to work as a journalist in Central America, as a human rights lobbyist on Capitol Hill, and as a professor in the United States.

In graduate school, I returned to Guatemala for my doctoral research, where I studied how a U.S. evangelical mission and a Q'eqchi' Mayan congregation built the largest evangelical church in the country at the height of their civil war. I continue research on relations between North and Central Americans, Mayan religion, gender, ethnicity and reconstruction from violence. I am particularly interested in the impact of foreign aid between the United States and Latin America, both from governmental and private voluntary organizations. Through research and teaching, I have met Mayan shamans, spirit mediums and revolutionaries, U.S. military academy students, Native Americans rebuilding their heritage.

TEXTS: Haviland and Gordon, Talking about People (The course "Reader")

Kondo, Crafting Selves

Lee, The Dobe Ju/'hoansi

Shostak, Nisa

Reserved readings in the Reserve Room of Burritt Library:

See back of syllabus for an alphabetical listing of reserve readings

REQUIREMENTS:

1) Attendance and participation 10%

This includes keeping up with reading! Beware of pop quizzes... Regular attendance and punctuality are important for the success of the class and the student. As much of the course material will be presented in lecture, attendance is critical. Perfect attendance will help your grade; more than three absences will hurt your grade. Students are responsible for documenting their presence by signing the attendance sheet. Whether or not you attend the session, you will be responsible for the material presented in class, and I will not reteach class during office hours. You are responsible for obtaining a VAX account and for informing me of your username. Please print it in BLOCK letters on the attendance list promptly.

2) Quizzes: all weighted equally: 40%

There will be four quizzes, as indicated on the class schedule. The test questions are drawn from lecture, media, readings, exercises and discussion. There will be NO MAKEUP quizzes given, unless the professor is informed well in advance of an unavoidable reason for missing the exam. All reasons must be officially documented. The make-up will take place within one week of the missed exam, and will be more difficult. The first three quizzes will also draw upon your research project!

3) Research project: 10%

You will conduct a research project in a U.S. setting that is "other" to you or that you are curious about. There are a few steps to this project: choosing a site, contacting the people in charge and introducing yourself, visiting a minimum of three times over the course of the semester, keeping a field journal, writing up descriptions of your experiences (ethnography) and then composing the final paper. MORE LATER! The final paper is due during the last class session.

4) Film questions and short exercises: 40%

The exercises are designed to help you work through course concepts and prepare for the quizzes. Handing in the exercises on time, with reasonable length and content counts as an automatic B! Failure to hand the exercise in on time will earn a Fail; demonstrating competence, insight, a good reading and/or thoughtfulness earns more than a B.

See back of syllabus for grading policies and class participation.

READING AND TOPICS SCHEDULE:

Jan 27 Introduction to Course

Exercise due Wednesday: locate the ethnographies and two of the reading selections on the world map

Course Part 1: Encountering the Other: History and Concepts of Cultural Anthropology

Jan 29 - 31: Reading: Reader: "A New World Dilemma," Maybury-Lewis, (7 pages)

"In Black and White," Diamond (4)

Reserve: "Finding Anthropology," Hunter and Whitten

"Anthropology's Native Problems," Sass

The Culture Concept: Definitions

Feb 3-12: Readings: A: Reader: "Language and Social Identity," Stavenhagen (3)

"A Taste of History" Mintz (4)

B: Reader: "Growing Up American," Ojeda, (3)

"Forms of Address," Mufwene, (3)

"Going Native" Klausner (3)

Reserve: "Lessons from the Field", Gmelch

C: Reader: "When Does Life Begin?", Morgan (9), Haviland and Gordon

"When a Juror Watches a Lawyer," O'Barr and Conley, (4)

Reserve: Tannen, "Conversation Style..."

Feb 3: Movie: "Margaret Mead: Taking Note"

Feb 5: Exercise Due: Defining Culture

Feb. 10: Exercise Due: Becoming Bicultural

February 14 and 17: University Holidays for Presidents' Birthdays

Methods

Feb 19-26: Readings: Kondo, Ch. 1, (46)

Shostak, Introduction, (43)

Lee, Ch. 1 (8) and Appendix, "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari" (6)

Reader: "Fieldwork in the Home Counties" Okely (3)

Feb 21: Movie: "Anthropology on Trial": What are the challenges to anthropology?

Feb 26: Exercise Due: Short journal on articles

Course Part 2: Diversity: Environment and Society

Feb 28 - Mar 3: Readings: Reader: Subsistence, (2)

"Nomads on Notice," Stiles, (3)

"The Secrets of Ancient Tiwanaku.." Straughan, (3)

Reserve: "Cultivating the Tropical Forest," Reed

Shostak, Ch. 3 "Life in the Bush," (22)

March 3: Movie: "The Hopi"

March 5: First Quiz

Diversity: Social Relations-- Kinship, Family and Alliance:

March 7-19: Readings: A: Reader: "Family and Kinship" (2)

"Why Migrant Women Feed Their Husbands Tamales," Williams, (6)

"Uterine Families and the Women's Community," Wolf (4)

"Male and Female in Hopi Thought and Action," Schlegel (8)

Reserve: "Mother's Love...," Scheper-Hughes

"Polyandry in Tibet," Goldstein

"African Polygyny," Kilbride

B: Reader: "Sex and Marriage" ( 2)

"Arranging a Marriage in India," Nanda, (4)

"'Ladies' Behind Bars," (4)

"Is the Female Husband a Man?"

March 14: Movie: "Masai Women" and "Father of the Bride"

March 19: Exercise Due: Kinship diagrams and "homepages"

Midterm Evaluation of Course by Students for Professor

Diversity: Exchange, Circulation, the Creation of People and Prestige

March 21- April 2: Readings: Reader: Ch. 6, "Economic Systems," (2)

Reserve: "Reciprocity and the Power of Giving," Cronk

"Subsistence and Markets: When the Turtle Collapses," Nietzchmann

March 31: Movie: "Ongka's Big Moka"

April 2: Exercise Due: Exchange and Reciprocity

April 4: Second Quiz

Course Part 3: Ethnography: The Dobe Ju/'hoansi of Southern Africa

A: The Original Affluent Society

April 7-11: Readings: Lee, Ch. 2 "The People of the Dobe Area," (14)

Skim! 3 "Environment and Settlement",

Ch. 4 "Subsistence, Foraging for a Living" 22)

April 11: Movie: The Hunters

B: Issues of Representation: Dobe Men and Women

April 14 -16: Readings: Lee, Chapter 6, "Marriage and Sexuality" (15)

Chapter 8, "Coping with Life," (17)

Shostak, Chapters 2 through 6 (104, 8, 9, 13 (54)

April 16: Exercise Due: Journal on Nisa; In-class Debate and Interviews

C: Social Organization

April 18- 21: Readings: Lee, Chapter 5, "Kinship and Social Organization" 18)

Chapter 7, "Conflict, Politics and Exchange" 17)

21: Exercise Due: The Kpelle Moot and journal

D: Settlement, colonization, change, fate of indigenous people

April 23- 28: Readings: Lee, Chapters 9-12 ( 42)

Reader: "Culture Change," (2)

"The Bushmen of Today," Biesele (7)

"Dealing with Used Clothing," Hansen (8)

"Cargo Inventories, Shipping Lists and Desire," Lindstrom (4)

"Treating the Wounds of War," Nordstrom, (Mozambique--4)

"Coca Eradication," Spedding, 6)

"The Ugly American Revisited," Brain, (4)

"The Anti-Politics Machine," Ferguson, (7)

"In the Disaster Zone," de Waal (4)

April 25: Movie: "N!ai"

April 30: Third Quiz

Course Part 4: Stratification: Japan and the United States

May 2 -9: Readings:"Crack in Spanish Harlem," Bourgois (7)

"Global Apartheid," Kohler (6)

A: Reserve: Benedict, selections, Chrysanthemum and the Sword

Kondo, Ch. 3, Disciplined Selves (40)

B: Kondo, Ch. 4 Family as Company, Company as Family (42)

Ch. 5 Adding the Family Flavor (24) (pages 175-198)

C: Reserve: Newman, Chapter One, American Nightmares, (19)

Chapter 3, Rejected Managers, (selections)

May 5: Exercise Due: Stratification

7 or 9: Movie: "Tampopo," we meet at night: worth two class sessions!

Conclusion:

May 12: Readings: Reader: "Dyke to dyke," Adams

Due: Final Draft, Research Project

Monday, May 19, 2-4 Final Exam Scheduled: Fourth Quiz

Grading Policies:

1) Class participation is an important part of this course and consists of:

A) Attendance: More than three absences will hurt a student's grade. Students are responsible for documenting their attendance by signing the attendance sheet. I am taking attendance to encourage your exposure to the material available only in class and to encourage your participation and support in class discussions. Perfect attendance will help the final grade. Whether or not you attend the session, you will be responsible for the material presented in class, and I will not reteach class during office hours.

B) Participation: As part of this class, you are responsible for active listening, discussion participation, supporting each other in sharing, risk-taking and feedback.

2) Film questions and Reading Journals: For six of our eight films, you are to develop and hand in two essay questions about the film and the connections the film has with the readings and other course materials. The questions cannot come from questions I ask in class or class discussion: these are to be your OWN. Please include the date and the film watched on each set of questions. Unclear and/or poorly worded questions will be returned for rewriting.

I will choose from your questions for discussion in the next class session and for the questions about the films on your quizzes; even if you choose not to write questions for that film, you will be quizzed on it by your classmates! Late questions will not be accepted, and those returned for re-writing are due the next class session.

At a few points, I ask for journals based on discussion questions that I will present the previous week. Each reading journal must be at least two pages, typed and double-spaced. each film journal should be at least one page. Make two copies. These will be shared with your classmates and will provide the basis for discussion.

Suggestions for writing a "journal": The journals are more than reading notes, but not as formal as essays. I expect good paragraph and sentence structure, but not necessarily an overall paper structure (thesis, body, conclusion). These should include the MAIN IDEAS of each of the pieces you are reading, and YOUR IDEAS about the connections that you are beginning to draw between the readings and the other course materials.

The films and readings are rich, and each can be 'read' several times. With each reading, more becomes clear, more connections are made, more questions apparent. One suggestion for thinking about a chapter or article is to try to sum it up in ONE WORD after your first reading: "This article is about ____________." Then try a complete sentence: "This article concludes that _______________" or "The reading addresses our reading last week by ____________." Feel free to use first or third person. I, and the rest of the class, will always find interesting the questions and consequences that you raised in your first reading of the material. Include these also and raise them in class! Experiment with your first journal, and remember, I always take improvement into account.

3) Grading Criteria: I grade the written or diagramed homework assignments as follows:

a) The exercise is handed in on time: in class and on due date

b) The exercise demonstrates clarity of communication: correct grammar, punctuation, spelling and sentence structure. Assignment has been proofread and corrected for typos.

c) The writing is responsive to the assignment: instructions were followed, including format and length.

d) The level of thinking demonstrates: an understanding of course concepts; that facts have been distinguished from opinion; that the concepts are applied creatively or originally.

4) Incomplete Grades: I allow incomplete grades only for students who have passed the first half of the course, who have a legitimate reason for not completing the semester's work and who speak with me a week before the final class.

5) Reserve Readings:

Benedict, Ruth, (selections) The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

Cronk, Lee, "Reciprocity and the Power of Giving,"

Gmelch, George, "Lessons from the Field",

Goldstein, Melvyn, "Polyandry in Tibet,"

Hunter and Whitten, "Finding Anthropology,"

Kilbride, Phil, "African Polygyny,"

Newman, Kathleen, (selections), Falling from Grace

Nietzchmann, Bernard, "Subsistence and Markets: When the Turtle Collapses,"

Reed, "Cultivating the Tropical Forest,"

Sass, Louis, "Anthropology's Native Problems,"

Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, "Mother's Love...,"

Tannen, Deborah "Conversation Style..."

6) Attached are:

A World Map

These handouts:

1) WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?

2) CRISIS IN REPRESENTATION

3) MODES OF PRODUCTION

4) KINSHIP AND MARRIAGE

5) MODES OF EXCHANGE

6) STRATIFICATION