46763 Social Anthropology
McKay
Anthropology 430
T/R 11:10-12:30
Spring 2015
Kimber Haddix
213 Social Sciences
Office hours: Tues 8:30am-11am
kimber.mckay@umontana.edu
Course Description:
Anthropology 430 is a course for advanced students of socio-cultural anthropology. The class is designed to give students
the opportunity to read and carefully analyze some first-rate written and visual ethnographies presented from differing
theoretical, methodological and pedagogical points of view. Each of these ethnographies has a distinct purpose and set of
goals. Students will choose some of these ethnographies to closely examine, and will write papers and present their
analyses in class. We will also compare and contrast written and film ethnography to examine the merits of each.
Texts:
Nancy Scheper Hughes Saints, Scholars and Schizophrenics
Paul Rabinow
Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco
Lee Cronk
From Mukogodo to Maasai
Geoff Childs
Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and Beyond
Jennifer Johnson-Hanks Uncertain Honor: Modern Motherhood in an African
Crisis
U Cal Press
U Cal Press
Westview
U Cal Press
U Chicago Press
2001
1978
2004
2004
2006
Papers posted on Moodle.
Grading:
Regular, active and enthusiastic participation in-class discussions of ethnographies (50%)
3 papers analyzing ethnographic works (50%)
Grad increment: Scholarly paper, edited post-writing center treatment, analyzing one of the ethnographies; due
April 21.
Outcomes:
Students completing this course will achieve the following

Read five important classic and recent ethnographies and watch 6 short ethnographic films


Analyze the ethnographies on the basis of their theoretical approach, methodology, and chief strengths and
weaknesses
Present analysis in both oral and written formats
Work on papers with the assistance of the UM Writing Center

Participation:
Generally speaking:
You will arrive prepared for a discussion of the day’s readings with notes that define core arguments, themes, concepts
and terminologies central to the assigned readings. On Thursday night by midnight, you will upload one carefully
constructed question to the Moodle discussion site for the class, in preparation for the week’s discussion. You will be
graded on these questions (they will constitute part of your ‘participation’ score).
Class facilitation:
Each week, one team of you will lead the class (discussion “leaders”), while another (discussion “enrichers”) will present
the class with information from an extra (your choice) paper germane to the themes for the week. Plan to use Powerpoint.
Discussion leaders and enrichers will coordinate before class. The leaders will incorporate what they consider to be the
richest/most provocative questions posed by the other members of the seminar on the Moodle discussion board. The
discussion of the readings should be oriented around some of the following points:




Who is the author? What is their academic background and what is their current position? What are their other
scholarly interests and/or achievements?
What is the central argument in the section of the ethnography we read this week? From what position of
authority does the author address this problem?
What seminal works are cited? In what ways is the author or film editor in dialogue with their critics/colleagues,
or is the matter of differing interpretation/analysis/evidence absent or avoided? What questions are left
unanswered?
Finally, how does this work articulate with, clarify, or challenge works we have read (or films we have seen) in
earlier weeks?
Plagiarism and misconduct: Honesty is required. Students found cheating, plagiarizing, “patch writing” (writing by taking
phrases or sections copied from a variety of sources, linked together with your words), or giving false excuses will be
dealt with strictly. If you are unfamiliar with college expectations, please start with this webpage. Academic misconduct
in this class will be subject to an academic penalty (up to receiving a failing grade in this class) and/or a disciplinary
sanction by the University. All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code.
Disabilities Services: Students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodations in this online course. To request
course modifications, please contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you and Disability Services in the
accommodation process. For more information, visit the Disability Services website at http://www.umt.edu/dss/ or call
406.243.2243 (Voice/Text).
Some additional themes that might help you structure your consideration of the texts and films, as
well as your preparation for seminar:
Who gives this person authority? Does the author convince you that their perception and record of the situation is
reliable? How did they do this? More generally speaking, how are you planning to craft yourself as an expert? Bearing in
mind there is nothing wrong with owning this label… Own it!
“Us” versus “the other.” Humans seem to gravitate toward thinking/ideas that allow them to construct a social reality
that includes a dichotomy between their own group (“us”), and other groups (“the other”). Is this juxtaposition implicitly
or explicitly defined in this work? And how does the anthropologist/ethnographer go about setting up a
disciplinary/academic “us” vs. “other”? Is this useful?
Is the theory useful to address ethnographic realities? In this work, how has anthropological theory shaped our
discipline’s understanding of particular social problems? In what ways do you think this is useful, or has it clouded the
exercise?
Who influenced this ethnographer? What genealogy of anthropological concepts, methods, and analytical frameworks
can you see at play here? How did the author add to existing scholarship?
And finally, some guidelines for analyzing the books and films:
1. Identify and analyze the theoretical framework utilized in the ethnography. What is the context of this framework
within anthropology, as presented by the author? How is the theoretical framework utilized in the ethnography?
2. What is the main argument presented in the ethnography? Describe in detail, using examples from the text.
3. How does the author organize the ethnography? What literary devices are employed? Are statistics and/or
quantitative data used? How? What do they convey?
4. Choose 3 distinguished writing samples from the ethnography to share during your in-class presentation. Include
this in a section in your paper.
5. Choose 3 examples the author uses to present data to share during your in-class presentation. Include this in a
section in your paper.
6. Describe what reading this ethnography has taught you as you contemplate authoring a book or paper based on
your own fieldwork. In the oral presentation this can be brief but in your paper it should be thoughtful and
lengthy. Use examples.
Schedule:
Week/Date
Topic/Reading:
Have ready:
Description of class, review of syllabus, start to chart
out the presentation schedule
Your ears and mind
The influence of theory on ethnography and the
importance of training and theoretical background
KHM will do presentation and
discussion leadership
Rabinow, 1st ½
Come prepared to discuss
Rabinow, first 1/2
1
Jan 27/29
2
Feb 3/5
Leaders:
Enrichers:
3
Feb 10/12
Rabinow, 2nd ½
Come prepared to discuss
Rabinow, second 1/2
Leaders:
Enrichers:
4
Scheper-Hughes, 1st ½
Feb 17/19
Come prepared to discuss
Scheper-Hughes first 1/2.
Visit from Jacob Hansen, UM Writing Center
Leaders:
Enrichers:
5
Feb 24/26
Scheper-Hughes, 2nd ½
Come prepared to discuss
Scheper-Hughes second 1/2.
Tuesday: Paper #1 due for peer review (on Rabinow
or Scheper-Hughes)
Thursday: Paper #1 due to KHM
Leaders:
Enrichers:
Films #1 and #2: Himalaya and Learning from Ladakh
Moodle: Shohat and Stam 2002,
Damai 2007, Bauer 2004
6
March 3/5
Childs, 1st ½
7
Come prepared to discuss Childs
March 10/12
Childs 2nd ½
Leaders:
Enrichers:
8
Cronk 1st ½
Cronk 1st ½
March 17/19
Leaders:
Enrichers:
9
March 24/26
No Class – KHM at conferences – students to meet with
instructors at the Writing Ctr on campus about Paper #2
Tuesday: Paper #2 due for peer review (on Himalaya
and Learning from Ladakh)
Thursday: Paper #2 due to KHM
11
March 31
Spring Break
10
Films #3, #4 and #5: Kenya, Where Women Rule, A Wife
Among Wives, and Womanhood and Circumcision
Cronk 2nd ½
Cronk 2nd ½
Moodle: Martinez 1995
Johnson Hanks 1st ½
Come prepared to discuss Johnson
Hanks 1st ½
April 7/9
12
April 14/16
Leaders:
Enrichers:
13
Johnson Hanks 2nd ½
April 21
Come prepared to discuss Johnson
Hanks 2nd ½
Leaders:
Enrichers:
14
April 28/30
Film #6: Monday’s Girls
Moodle: Heider 2006
Tuesday: Paper #3 due for peer review (on
Martinez and Kenya, Where Women Rule, A
Wife Among Wives, and Womanhood and
Circumcision)
Leaders:
Enrichers:
Thursday: Paper #3 due to KHM
15
May 5/7
Discussion of class themes, review paper #3, class
evaluations
16
May 14
Final Exam Period: 8:30am Thursday May 14
Topic: Monday’s Girls and Heider (2006)