Professor Ann Marie Leshkowich
Beaven 230
508-793-2788
aleshkow@holycross.edu
Office Hours: M 10-11, 1-4, W 1-2:30, F 1-3

 

Course Description

This course introduces students to the substantive issues, methods, and concepts of sociocultural anthropology. Generally speaking, sociocultural anthropology is the study of how human beings organize their lives as members of society, and the ways in which they make these lives meaningful as cultural individuals. This study involves encountering, interpreting, and communicating about the human situation in all its variety.

Through readings on such diverse topics as America's last "wild Indian," gift exchange on a tropical Pacific island, adolescence in Samoa, family life in Taiwan, gender identities in Brazil, AIDS in Haiti, and McDonald's in Hong Kong, this course will explore contemporary anthropological approaches to two central questions:

1) How do individuals lead social and cultural lives?
2) What fate and value do cultural differences have in today's interconnected world?

The first portion of the class is devoted to a consideration of anthropological concepts of culture, methods of ethnographic fieldwork, and various ways of thinking about and interpreting society and social action. In the rest of the class, we explore a variety of different anthropological topics, including witchcraft, kinship, gender, medicine, and economic exchange. We will conclude with an exploration of current debates about the meaning of culture and future directions in the anthropological study of globalization and public culture.

 

Learning Objectives

Students completing this introductory course in sociocultural anthropology will understand:
1) The pitfalls of viewing the world from a perspective that defines any one's cultural worldview as the norm from which others are judged.
2) Cultural and structural explanations of human behavior as distinct, in particular, from psychological or individualistic explanations.
3) How anthropology is empirically grounded in close-grained, detailed ethnographic field studies.
4) How anthropology is theoretically grounded.
5) The social bases of hierarchies based on such factors as race, gender, class, age, and sexualities.
6) Ways in which all cultures today are enmeshed in processes of globalization.

 

Class Meetings

The class meets three times per week. Most weeks, two of these periods will be used for lectures, with the additional meeting devoted to viewing films or class discussion. Students will be expected to attend all class meetings (attendance will be taken) and to complete the readings as scheduled on the syllabus. Most weeks, students will write a brief response paper (2-3 pages) on an assigned topic. These will serve as the basis for group discussion.

 

Course Requirements

Course grades will be based on written work and class participation, broken down as follows:

1. Class Discussion and Participation (15%)

This course takes an active approach to learning anthropology; your presence and participation in class are essential to your success! You are required to attend all class meetings, including lectures, films, and discussion sessions. Participation consists of being alert and taking notes during lectures, asking questions to clarify points of misunderstanding, engaging actively in small-group activities, and contributing meaningfully to classroom discussions. Because involvement in class activities is so important, more than two unexcused absences during the semester will result in the lowering of your participation grade by one-half of a percentage point for each additional class missed.

2. Response papers (24%)

In preparation for discussion sections, you will be asked to prepare short response papers on assigned topics. These papers require you to integrate what you have learned from lectures and readings, either by reflecting on them to develop your own insights or by evaluating their methods by completing your own ethnographic research exercise. Eleven papers are assigned, and you must complete eight. Each of the eight assignments will be worth three points, for a total of 24% of your course grade. A ninth paper can be completed for extra credit up to the maximum of 24 points. Late papers will not be accepted. Papers are to be emailed to Prof. Leshkowich before class on the day indicated on the syllabus.

3. Mid-term (25%)

An in-class mid-term will be given on October 6. The mid-term will consist of identification of key terms and concepts from the first portion of the class (readings, lectures, and films), and one essay question.

4. Final Exam (36%)

Like the mid-term, the final exam will consist of identification of key terms and essays. There will be a total of two essays: one in response to a broad question synthesizing the major themes of the course and a second, shorter question focusing on the material covered after the mid-term. The final exam is scheduled to be held on Monday, December 15 at 2:30 pm.

 

Academic Honesty

In coming to Holy Cross, students and faculty have joined an intellectual community dedicated to learning together through the open exchange of ideas. For us to feel comfortable sharing our perspectives, we need to be confident that our ideas will be respected as our own. All of us share responsibility for creating an environment conducive to open exchange by holding to principles of trust, integrity, and honesty. Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, and collusion, violates these fundamental principles. As a student, you are responsible for reading and knowing the College Policy on Academic Honesty, as stated in the College Catalog (pages 12-14). As your professor, I am available to help you understand this policy and to guide you in following appropriate methods of research and citation.

In response to a growing number of infractions of the college policy on academic honesty, all written work for this course will be archived. All response papers for this class must be submitted in electronic form so that they may be permanently stored.

This class adheres to a zero tolerance policy for academic dishonesty. Any work that, upon investigation, is found to violate the college policy will receive a grade of zero and a report will be submitted to the college administration. Further information about these procedures is contained in the College Catalog.

 

Grade Calculation

The mid-term, final exam, and course grade will be calculated according to a 100-point scale. The grading scale is as follows:

A, 93 and above	C+, 77-79
A-, 90-92	C, 73-76
B+, 87-89	C-, 70-72
B, 83-86	D+, 67-69
B-, 80-82	D, 60-66
	F, 59 and below

 

Office Hours

My office hours are listed at the top of this syllabus, and I encourage you to visit with me during the semester. I am available to discuss specific issues arising from the course, as well as to exchange more general insights and chat about experiences from your studies or my research.

 

Course Website (http://college.holycross.edu/faculty/aleshkow/101/101.html)

The website for this course is a center for important information: syllabus, lecture handouts, writing assignments, study guide questions, exam review materials, and announcements. Please check it frequently, and feel free to pass along suggestions for additional links and information which should be included. Also, check out my homepage at:
http://college.holycross.edu/faculty/aleshkow/homepage.html

 

Readings

Readings marked "article" on the syllabus are available through ERes. The password for this course is anth101. The following books are required for the course and can be purchased at the bookstore:

Starn, Orin. Ishi's Brain. W.W. Norton, 2004. ISBN: 0393326985.
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Harper, 2001. ISBN: 0688050336
Rabinow, Paul. Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco. University of California Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780520251779
Luhrmann, Tania. Persuasions of the Witch's Craft. Harvard University Press, 1989 (paperback edition, 1991). ISBN: 0674663241
Wolf, Margery. Women and the Family in Rural Taiwan. Stanford University Press, 1972. ISBN: 0804708495
Kulick, Don. Travesti. University of Chicago, 1998. ISBN: 0226461009.
Farmer, Paul. AIDS and Accusation. University of California Press, 2006. ISBN: 0520248397
Mauss, Marcel. The Gift. W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. ISBN: 039332043X

 

SCHEDULE FOR THE COURSE

Introduction: What is culture? What is ethnography?

Since anthropology began, the field's primary object of study has been something called culture. How have anthropologists defined culture? What are the implications of various definitions of culture and how have they changed over time? What is the relationship between culture, the ethnographer, and written ethnography?

September 3 (W): The Concept of Culture
Read: Bohannan, "Shakespeare in the Bush" (article)
Reading Hint: Click here for study guide questions for all the readings.

September 5 (F): The Roots of Cultural Anthropology: Race, Evolutionism and the Concept of Cultural Relativism
Read: Starn, Ishi's Brain, prologue, chapters 1-8

September 8 (M): The "Science" of Culture: The Role of Ishi
Read: Starn, Ishi's Brain, chapters 9-17, epilogue

September 10 (W): Discussion
Writing Assignment #1 due by e-mail before class.

September 12 (F): The Anthropological Method
Read: Malinowski, "On the Methods and Aims of Ethnographic Fieldwork" (article)
Kondo, Introduction from Crafting Selves, pp. 3-6, 9-24 (article)

September 15 (M): Discussion
Note: This unit's writing assignment is not due today, but on September 17.

 

Ways of Conceptualizing Society

Around the globe, individuals come together to form collective groups. How does a society function? What holds it together? How do individuals shape social practices, and how do group norms or expectations shape individual behavior and ideas? In this unit, we explore how several anthropologists have conceptualized and written about the relationship between societies and the individuals who constitute them.

September 17 (W): Functionalism: Is Society like an Organism?
Read: Rappaport, "Ritual Regulation of Environmental Relations Among a New Guinea People" (article)
Writing Assignment #2 due by e-mail before class.

September 19 (F): Discussion
Note: This unit's writing assignment is not due today, but on September 22.

September 22 (M): Margaret Mead and Culture and Personality
Read: Begin Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa
Writing Assignment #3 due by e-mail before class.

September 24 (W): Is Anthropology a Science? The Mead-Freeman Debate
Read: Finish Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa
Freeman, Margaret Mead and Samoa, pages 281-302 (article)

September 26 (F): Film: Margaret Mead and Samoa
Read: Start Rabinow, Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco

September 29 (M): Discussion
Writing Assignment #4 due by e-mail before class.

October 1 (W): Interpretive Anthropology and Intersubjectivity
Read: Finish Rabinow
Geertz, "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" (article)

October 3 (F): Discussion
Writing Assignment #5 due by e-mail before class.

 

October 6 (M): MID-TERM

 

Case Study 1: The Question of Belief / Modern Day Witches in London

Within the broader area of the anthropology of religion, we will focus our attention on witchcraft. How have anthropologists described these beliefs? What are the social and political dimensions of witchcraft beliefs and practices? How do anthropologists analyze beliefs that they may not share? How do shared beliefs shape a cultural community?

October 8 (W): Witchcraft and Spirit Possession
Read: Evans-Pritchard, "Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events" (article)
Luhrmann, Persuasions of the Witch's Craft, chap. 1, 2, 3, 4

October 10 (F): Belief: How and why do we come to believe? What is rationality?
Read: Luhrmann, chap. 9, 10, 13, 14, 21

October 13 (M): NO CLASS, COLUMBUS DAY

October 15 (W): Discussion
Writing Assignment #6 due by e-mail before class.

 

Case Study 2: Kinship and the Family: Rural Taiwan

The discipline of anthropology began in the 1860s with a quest to develop a scientific study of human kind. This week's lectures and readings will explore kinship as a universal phenomenon with both social and biological aspects. Why was kinship seen as so central to anthropological inquiry? How was it defined? What role do the classical categories of kinship play in ethnographic analysis today? How do contemporary anthropologists define kinship? What kinds of questions do they raise about the relationship between gender and kinship? About kinship and social organization?

October 17 (F): Kinship and Its Role in Anthropology
Read: Radcliffe-Brown, "The Study of Kinship Systems" in Structure and Function in Primitive Society
Reading Hint: Don't get bogged down in the details of this article; focus on the structure of the argument and the ways the author describes and analyzes kinship.

October 20 (M): Wolf and the Confucian Family
Read: Begin Wolf, Women and the Family in Rural Taiwan

October 22 (W): Film: Small Happiness
Read: Continue Wolf

October 24 (F): The Anthropological Study of Kinship Today
Read: Finish Wolf

October 27 (M): Discussion
For handout, click here
Writing Assignment #7 due by e-mail before class.

 

Case Study 3: Gender

This section focuses on the relationship between culture, gender, and individual personality. How do gender differences manifest themselves cross-culturally? Are gender differences biological, social, or cultural? How has the study of the relationship between culture and individual personality in different parts of the world influenced debates in the US or Europe? From its earlier focus on gender as a cultural or biological difference, anthropology has shifted to exploring gender as a socially constructed performance. What does it mean to talk about gender as performance? How do individuals behave in gendered ways? How do notions of gender difference vary culturally?

October 29 (W): Gender: Are Women Subordinate Everywhere?
Read: Ortner, "Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?" (article)
Kulick, Travesti, Introduction, chapters 1 and 2

October 31 (F): Third Sex, Third Gender, and the Performance of Gender
Read: Kulick, Travesti, chapters 3-5

November 3 (M): Film: Paris is Burning

November 5 (W): Discussion
Writing Assignment #8 due by e-mail before class.

 

Case Study 4: Health, Healing and the Body

Medical science. Holistic health. Spirit healing. Acupuncture. While the word "medicine" typically refers to medical science as practiced by M.D.'s, medical anthropology explores the variety of theories and practices associated with the body and illness. How do notions of bodily function and dysfunction vary across cultures? Is medical science really distinct or "better" than other belief systems? What is the relationship between the individual body and the social body? How are ideas about bodily experience used to constitute or control communities?

November 7 (F): Bio-Medicine as a Cultural System
Read: Begin Farmer, AIDS and Accusation

November 10 (M): Film: Eduardo the Healer
Read: Continue Farmer, AIDS and Accusation

November 12 (W): Other Ways of Healing
Read: Finish Farmer, AIDS and Accusation

November 14 (F): Discussion (to be led by student volunteers)
Writing Assignment #9 due by email by 5pm.

 

Case Study 5: Money, Money, Money

Economics is essentially the study of the relationship between people, money, and objects. Most of the theories in the modern field of economics were developed to describe capitalist systems. In the first part of this century, economic anthropologists used their studies of non- or partially capitalist societies to question economic assumptions about human behavior. How have anthropologists analyzed "economics" in non-capitalist settings? How does the exchange of objects or money constitute relations between people? What is the relationship between culture and economics?

With economic development and globalization, it has become almost impossible to speak of a non-capitalist society. And yet, capitalism takes different forms in different contexts. How do communities in developing societies make sense of economic change? What are the moral, religious, and social meanings associated with money? What kinds of competing moral visions do individuals employ to challenge or revise capitalism?

November 17 (M): Exchange in Pre-Capitalist Societies
Read: Malinowski, "Kula" (article)
Mauss, The Gift (Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2)

November 19 (W): Money, Gender, and Value under Capitalism
Read: Mauss, The Gift (Chapter 4)
Carsten, "Cooking Money" (article)

November 21 (F): Film: Ongka's Big Moka

November 24 (M): Discussion
Writing Assignment #10 due by e-mail before class.

November 26 (W), November 28 (F): No classes, Thanksgiving Break

 

Case Study 6: Globalization

In this age of increasingly rapid global flows of people, goods, money, and ideas, what will be the fate of cultural difference? Of the anthropological study of it? Our last case study will allow us to explore some contemporary anthropologists' suggestions about the future of culture and ethnographic inquiry in the era of the "global village."

December 1 (M): Modernization, Globalization, and Culture
Read: Chirot, Social Change in the Modern Era, pp. 97-105 (article)
Nietschmann, "When the Turtle Collapses, the World Ends" (article)

December 3 (W): Art, Tourism, Beauty Contests, and McDonald's: Selling Culture and Difference?
Read: Steiner, "The Trade in West African Art" (article)
Watson, "McDonald's in Hong Kong" in Golden Arches East (article)
Wilk, "Learning to Be Local in Belize" (article)

December 5 (F): Discussion
Globalization Debate
Writing Assignment #11 due by e-mail before class.

 

The Concept of Culture Revisited

In recent years, anthropologists have challenged the notion of "culture." Why have they done so? What alternative interpretations have been proposed? What academic and political issues are at stake in writing culture? In writing "against culture?"

December 8 (M): Can We Use Culture in the 21st Century?
Read: Steedly, "What is Culture? Does it Matter?" in Fieldwork (article)
Abu-Lughod, "Introduction" in Writing Women's Worlds (article)

December 15 (Monday, 2:30pm): Final Exam for Anth 101-04.

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu