World Regions and Cultures: Diversity and Interconnections
0867 Sec 03
TTh 2:00 - 3:20 PM
Anderson Hall 14
Dr. Marina Mikhaylova
Office Hours: Mon 3-4 PM, Wed 1-2 PM,
Thur 12:30-1:30 PM and by appointment
Email: marina.mikhaylova@temple.edu
TA: Mehret Mandefro
Office: GLFLTR 246
Mehret’s Email: mehret.mandefro@temple.edu
Peer Teaching Intern: Abby McFerran Abby’s Email: tue52736@temple.edu
Course Description [from course catalogue]: What is globalization? Are we now all citizens of
a global capitalist economic and truly international political order? Or do we still live mostly
under the economic constraints and governmental policies of the particular nation states of which
we are citizens? Is globalization the same thing as economic and cultural imperialism in the form
of multinational corporate and “development” projects or other projects that assume
“Westernization,” or “Americanization” agendas? Or do different nation states experience and
negotiate global capitalism in profoundly different ways rooted in their distinctive historical and
political-economic experiences? We live in a fascinating era marked simultaneously by the reach
(and the risks) of global capitalism and by the distinctive yet interrelated histories of a
tremendous variety of modern nation-states. This course provides you with a strong repertoire of
concepts to help you understand our complex contemporary world, and will also expose you to
the key foundational concepts and methodologies of contemporary sociocultural anthropology.
We will systematically explore the ways in which anthropologists have come to theorize both
global capitalism and the nation state through ethnographic case studies in three to four
contemporary nation states.
This course is a General Education World Societies course. World Society courses are intended
to teach students how to:
· Understand the influences (e.g. political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary,
geographic, economic) on world societies or processes (e.g. globalization) linking world
societies;
· Develop observations and conclusions about selected themes in world societies and cultures;
· Construct interpretations using evidence and critical analysis;
· Communicate and defend interpretations.
Goals and Methods: Students will learn to apply anthropological comparative framework to
think critically about their own and other cultures and societies. The course will also provide
students with theoretical tools to analyze global processes and contemporary issues from an
anthropological perspective. Teaching methods in this course include lecture, the use of various
media, including power point, video clips, and films, as well as in-class discussion and group
excercises. Therefore, participation is expected and important.
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Readings
Required book: Liechty, Mark. Suitably Modern: Making Middle-Class Culture in a New
Consumer Society. It is available at the University’s bookstore. All other readings will be
available online through Blackboard. The readings on the syllabus are preliminary: check online
for up-to-date information on assigned readings. Please read the texts for the date they are
assigned.
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated on the basis of:
Final Exam 35%
Midterm Exam 30%
Two Reading Response Papers (each 10%) 20%
Attendance/Participation 15%
Attendance/Participation
Students are expected to attend lectures and do all of the readings by the assigned date. I will
take attendance. Students are allowed only two unexcused absences. Students should be ready to
participate in discussions and in-class assignments. There will be two short response paper
assignments, which will be explained in class. Midterm and final are in the form of written inclass essays and short questions. The final exam is cumulative.
Reading Responses
Reading responses should be 2-3 double-spaced pages (one inch margins, 12 point font).
The response paper should cover all of the readings for the week when they are due and should
include:
· Brief summary of the readings
· How do the readings relate to one another?
· What were the most important/interesting points of the readings?
· What do the readings fail to address or what questions do they provoke?
· What do they highlight about the broader topic (conclusion)?
Statement on Plagiarism and Cheating
Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated in this course and will result in a failing grade. All
the material drawn from books or internet sources must be properly cited in papers. Quotations
marks and the exact page number must be used for direct quotes. Paraphrased material must be
cited as well. Cheating during exams or on papers is not acceptable.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
Disability Statement: This course is open to all students who meet the academic requirements
for participation. Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a
disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as
possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to
coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
Statement on Academic Freedom: Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable
facets of academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty
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Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the
following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02
Course Readings
I. CAPITALISM, COLONIALISM, AND NATIONALISM IN THE GLOBAL REALM
Globalization and Anthropology
Tuesday, August 27
Introduction.
Thursday, August 29
Friedman, Thomas. “The Groundswell.” Lexus and the Olive Tree. 2000.
Debates about Global History
Tuesday, September 3
Fukuyama, Francis. “The End of History.”
Barber, Benjamin. “Jihad vs. McWorld.” Pp. 268-273
Thursday, September 5
Wilk, Richard. “Television, Time, and the National Imaginary in Belize.” In Media Worlds.
Globalization and Cultural Difference
Tuesday, September 10
Huntington, Samuel. “The Clash of Civilizations.” Foreign Affairs. 1993.
Thursday, September 12
Said, Edward. “The Clash of Ignorance.” The Nation. October 22, 2001.
Edward Said. “Introduction.” Orientalism. 1978.
Colonialism, Capitalism, and Colonial Legacies
Tuesday, September 17
Mohandas Gandhi. “The Doctrine of the Sword.” In Bronner, Stephen, ed. Twentieth Century
Political Theory.
Frantz Fanon. “Concerning Violence.” In Bronner, Stephen, ed. Twentieth Century Political
Theory.
Thursday, September 19
Abu-Lughod, Lila. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on
Cultural Relativism and Its Others” (2002)
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Social Construction of Nationalism and Race
Tuesday, September 24
Walker Connor. “When is the Nation?” Pp. 154-159. In Smith, ed. Nationalism.
Thursday, September 26
AAA “Official Statement on ‘Race’” (1997). In Podolefsky and Brown eds. Applying Cultural
Anthropology
1st Reading Response is due at the beginning of the class (on Connor and AAA)
II. SYMPTOMS OF GLOBALIZATION
Migration as Everyday Reality
Tuesday, October 1
VanWey, Tucker, and McConnell. “Community Organization, Migration and Remittances in
Oaxaca.” Latin American Research Review, Vol. 40, No. 1, February 2005.
Thursday, October 3
Hochshild, Arlie. “Global Care Chains and Emotional Surplus Value.” 2000.
Transnational Politics and the EU
Tuesday, October 8
Shore, Cris. Building Europe: The Cultural Politics of European Integration. pp. 1-40.
Thursday, October 10
MIDTERM
Transnational Criminal Networks
Tuesday, October 15
Farah, Douglas and Braun, Stephen. “The Merchant of Death.” In Foreign Policy. 2006.
Thursday, October 17
Papachristos, Andrew “Gang World” (pp. 48-55). In Foreign Policy. 147. 2005.
Ludlow, Peter. “WikiLeaks and Hacktivist Culture.” The Nation. October 4. 2010.
Managing Urban Populations
Tuesday, October 22
Sassen, Saskia. Cities in a World Economy. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press. 2006.
“Global Cities and Global Survival Circuits” (177-189).
Thursday, October 24
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Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums. “Urban Involution and the Informal Proletariat.”
Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums. “Down Vietnam Street.”
Dilemmas of Development
Tuesday, October 29
Schwartz, Timothy. Travesty in Haiti: A true account of Christian missions, orphanages, fraud,
food aid and drug trafficking. BookSurge Publishing. 2010. (Pp. 1-31).
Tuesday, October 31
Schwartz. (Pp. 125-187; 235-263).
III. CASE STUDIES: LOCAL EFFECTS OF GLOBAL PROCESSES
Socialism, Capitalism, and Domestication of “The West”
Tuesday, November 5
Yurchak, Alexei. “Imaginary West: The Elsewhere of Late Communism” in Everything Was
Forever Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press. 2006. (Pp. 158-207).
Thursday, November 7
Yurchak, Alexei. “Gagarin and the Rave Kids: Transforming Power, Identity, and Aesthetics in
Post-Soviet Russia.” In Barker, ed. Consuming Russia. 1999. (Pp. 76-109).
Social Class in Nepal
Tuesday, November 12
Liechty, Mark. Suitably Modern. Chapter 1, Chapter 2.
Thursday, November 14
Liechty. Chapter 3
2nd Reading Response is due at the beginning of the class on Chapters 1, 2, and 3.
Local Consumption of Global Goods
Tuesday, November 19
Liechty. Chapter 4, 5
Thursday, November 21
Liechty. Chapter 6. Film Viewing.
Media and Dreams of Modernity
Tuesday, November 26
Liechty. Chapter 7, 8.
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Thursday, November 28
THANKSGIVING BREAK – NO CLASS
Tuesday, December 3
Liechty. Chapter 9, 10. Final Review.
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, December 10, 1 PM – 3 PM. Regular classroom.
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