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Anthropology 445
Fall, 2013
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Professor Paul E. Brodwin
Department of Anthropology
Office hours: Mondays 1-3, and by appointment
UW-Milwaukee
229-4734
Sabin Hall #180
This course explores models of selfhood and subjectivity in diverse cultural settings. Most us stay unaware of the
assumptions about personhood that drive our everyday behavior. We believe that our particular notions of human nature,
the good life, and the proper way to treat other people are universally shared. Anthropological research suggests, to the
contrary, that these notions are culturally specific. Western ideals of individualism and autonomy differ dramatically from
the core assumptions in other settings. Ethnographic research exposes the variation in notions of self, person, and
identity, and helps us to re-visit classic debates about relativism and universalism.
The course compares models of selfhood from different social and cultural settings (Euroamerican, Japan, Fiji,
Indonesia, Malaysia, among others). It then explores the subjective experience of people with schizophrenia. The
anthropological study of severe mental illness lays bare both fundamental and culturally specific components of selfhood.
Finally, the course explores the ethical aspects of subjectivity. Social scientists, including anthropologists, usually avoid
talking about ethics. Going against the grain, this course tries to discern how people frame and experience ethical
dilemmas. It shows how to map the ethical dimensions of ordinary social life. Recent writing on the topic – experimental
and provocative – opens new possibilities for the anthropology of selfhood.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Prerequisites: Junior standing. Anthro 102 is recommended
2. Attendance: Attendance in class is required. Formal attendance is not taken, but students must hand in all work as
hard copy on the assigned date. Emailed assignments will not be accepted except in case of documented medical
emergency.
3. Readings: Readings assigned for each day must be completed by the start of class. There is one book (for sale at
Neebo/Panther Bookstore, 3132 N. Downer Ave., 967-1111) and a course sourcebook containing all required articles.
Please purchase the sourcebook at Clark Graphics, 2915 N. Oakland, 962-4633. The book is also on reserve at the
library, and the sourcebook is on “honor reserve” in the anthropology reading room, Sabin 315.
4. Required book:
Arthur Kleinman: What Really Matters: Living a Moral Life Amidst Uncertainty and Danger (Oxford 2006)
5. Grading:
Undergraduates:
1st take home essay
Due in class 15 Oct
2nd take home essay
Due in class 12 Nov
Final take home essay Due in office 19 Dec
30%
30%
40%
Graduate students:
1st take home essay
2nd take home essay
Research paper
30%
30%
40%
Due in class 15 Oct
Due in class 12 Nov
Due in office 19 Dec
Graduate students must write a research paper (minimum of 15 full pages) about contemporary issues in psychological
anthropology, expanding upon the themes of this course. Consult with the professor by 1 November about your topic.
All examinations must be taken on the date stated in the syllabus. All exercises and papers must be handed in as
hard copies by the stated due-date. No e-mailed exercises or papers will be accepted. Make-ups and extensions will
be granted only for documented emergency situations and must be arranged prior to the stated date of exam or due-date.
Any person not making prior arrangements will automatically be given a grade of zero for that paper, exercise, or
examination. Academic misconduct, including plagiarism, will not be tolerated. In cases of academic misconduct, action
will be taken in accordance with written university policies. Plagiarism will result in a grade of zero (= zero points) for
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the entire essay. For further rights and responsibilities as a student, please consult
www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/SyllabusLinks.pdf
To maintain a good learning environment and to respect your fellow students, turn off all cell phones,
Blackberries, etc. in class. Do not send or receive text messages in class. Personal computers are allowed only for taking
notes. Using computers for other purposes (email or websites) will lead to a ban on computers in class.
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Subjectivity & Models of Selfhood:
Western and Comparative Perspectives
3 Sept
Introduction to course
5 Sept
Questioning our native models and the mission of psychological anthropology
READINGS:
Lindholm: Chap 1
10 Sept
Roots of individualism in the West
READINGS:
Lindholm: Chap 2
12 Sept
Classic text of Western individualism
READINGS:
Hobbes: Chapter 13: Of the Natural Condition of Mankind…
Missner: The main issue in Leviathan
17 Sept
Ethnography of individualism in contemporary urban US
READINGS:
Kusserow: Chapter 4: Queenston hard protective individualism
19 Sept
READINGS:
24 Sept
Japanese self-portrait
READINGS:
26 Sept
1 Oct
3 Oct
READINGS:
Kusserow: Chapter 5: Individualism in …Parkside
Doi: Chapter 1: The first idea of amae
Chapter 2: The world of amae
Doi: Chapter 3: The logic of amae
Ethnographic case study: selfhood and emotions in a Pacific island society
READINGS:
Lutz: Need, nurturance and the precariousness of life…, pp. 119-140
READINGS:
Lutz: Need, nurturance and the precariousness of life…, pp. 140-154
Hand out 1st take home essay questions
Selfhood and Subjectivity in the Experience of Schizophrenia
8 Oct
What is schizophrenia? Case studies and first-person experience
READINGS:
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) (excerpts):
Emilio; Worms; Under Surveillance; The Witch
Leete: How I perceive and manage my illness
10 Oct
In-class peer critique of 1st take home essay
15 Oct
Turn in 1st take home essay
Watch DVD: “Out of the Shadow” about treatment of schizophrenia in US
17 Oct
Subjective experience of people diagnosed with schizophrenia
READINGS:
Lally: Does being in here mean there is something wrong with me?
Estroff: Self, identity, & subjective experiences of schizophrenia
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22 Oct
How to study the narratives of people with schizophrenia
READINGS:
Estroff: Subject/subjectivities in dispute…
24 Oct
Overlap between psychological and psychiatric anthropology
READINGS:
Jenkins: Schizophrenia as a paradigm case for understanding
fundamental human processes
29 Oct
Comparative research of schizophrenia
READINGS:
Murphy: Psychiatric labeling in cross-cultural perspective
31 Oct
Ethnographic case study: Indonesia
READINGS:
Good and Subandi: Experiences of psychosis in Javanese culture
Hand out 2nd take home essay questions
5 Nov
Ethnographic case study: Malaysia
READINGS:
Barrett: Kurt Schneider in Borneo…
7 Nov
In-class peer critique of 2nd take home essay
Is Morality a Basic Ingredient of Selfhood?
12 Nov
Turn in 2nd take home essay
Social science framework for the study of moral subjectivity
READINGS:
Sayer: Chap 4, Beings for whom things matter (start reading)
14 Nov
READINGS:
Sayer: Chap 4, Beings for whom things matter (finish)
19 Nov
Morality and modernity – reflections about contemporary European civilization
READINGS:
Bauman: Chap 1, Introduction: Sociology after the Holocaust
21 Nov
Social psychology of morality
FILM:
Obedience to Authority
READINGS:
Burger: Replicating Milgram (focus on pp. 1-4)
26 Nov
The social nature of evil?
READINGS:
Bauman: Chap 6: The ethics of obedience
28 Nov
No class: Thanksgiving vacation
3 Dec
How to study ethics and moral experience
READINGS:
Kleinman: What Really Matters, Introduction
5 Dec
Case studies in the anthropology of moral experience
READINGS:
Kleinman: What Really Matters, chaps 2-3
10 Dec
READINGS:
Kleinman: What Really Matters, chaps 4-5
12 Dec
READINGS:
Kleinman: What Really Matters, chaps 7-8
Hand out final take home essay questions
19 Dec
Turn in final take home essay, under door in Sabin 180 by 9:30 am
Happy holidays!
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Paul Brodwin, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Guidelines for in-class peer critique of essay examinations
I. Editorial comments
Attribution of all direct quotations (any consistent style is acceptable).
Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
II. Organization
A. Is there an introduction? What does it accomplish?
i. Provide a roadmap
ii. State the thesis and main points
B. Is there a logical outline?
i. Does the first sentence of each paragraph advance the argument? Could you reconstruct
the entire argument by reading only the first sentences?
ii. Is each major point supported by several pieces of evidence?
C. Does the author provide “mini-summaries” along the way?
D. Is there a substantial conclusion?
i. Does the author acknowledge loose ends or unanswered questions? Does he/she
anticipate possible objections from the reader?
ii. Is the conclusion more complex and/or more comparative than the introduction?
III. Substantive argument
A. Does the author accurately summarize the relevant texts and concepts?
B. Does the author go beyond summaries, by skillful comparison, contrast and critique? Does
the author shine new light on the topic or provide a mere book report?
C. Does the author find the right balance between direct quotations and his/her interpretations?
D. Is there an actual argument in the essay? Does the author devote enough space to each major
part of the argument?