ANTH 1a
Introduction to the Comparative Study of Human Societies
Brandeis University
Class: Tues./Fri. 12:10-1:30 (Block J); Olin Sang 101
Fall 2008
Instructor: Dr. Mark Auslander
Office: Brown 219
Phone: 736-2214
Email: mausland@brandeis.edu
Office hours: Tues., 2:00-4:00 p.m., and by appointment
Teaching Fellows:
Casey Golomski (golomski@brandeis.edu)
Mrinalini Tankha (mtankha@brandeis.edu)
Jessica Hardin (jahardin@brandeis.edu)
Lauren Forcucci (forcucci@brandeis.edu)
Community Engaged Fellow:
Henok Mehari (henok@brandeis.edu)
Course description: This course introduces the principal ideas and methods of social and
cultural anthropology, the comparative study of human societies in all their remarkable
complexity and diversity. We will give particular attention to integrating models of “society” and
“culture” and to the interpretive and ethical challenges of understanding different lifeworlds and
relations of power under contemporary conditions.
We will read five “ethnographic monographs,” the distinctive genre of the discipline of
anthropology, offering us detailed and nuanced portraits of specific social and cultural contexts.
Through these texts we will concentrate on several recurrent problems: the implications of our
shared evolutionary heritage for the organization of human societies; the meaning and social
implications of ritual and performance; categories of social hierarchy and social difference;
kinship, reciprocity and exchange; the nature of religion and mystical experience; and
experiences of time, space and place.
Throughout the semester, we will reflect on the dynamic (or “dialectical”) relationship between
theory and practice in anthropology: how do anthropologists observe social dynamics, and how
do they make sense of what they observe? All students in this class will have the opportunity to
observe forms of social action in our immediate environs, and to analyze these observations in
light of our growing comparative appreciation of other human societies. We will add these
observations to the Waltham Community Archives, at:
http://walthamarchives.wikispaces.com/
Please make reference to the “LibGuide” (the LTS-prepared on line guide) for this course, as you
design on line community-oriented resources:
http://brandeis.libguides.com/content.php?pid=18533
This is a “Community-Engaged Learning” course. Students in the course are expected to
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pursue community-engaged learning opportunities in the Greater Boston area, including at the
new Community Learning Center in Prospect Hill Terrace, Waltham’s largest public housing
development, and the Southern Sudanese Community Center in Arlington. (Various possible
projects are suggested at the end of this syllabus.) At a minimum, each student is expected to
perform at least five hours of community-engaged work this semester, and to reflect thoughtfully
on this work in written work. Students are encouraged to work in small groups in these
initiatives. You are asked to keep a written Community Engagement Portfolio, consisting of
observation exercises, field notes, journal reflections, photographs and other materials that help
document your experiences and the impact of your project. You will be asked to share this
portfolio with the instructor and Teaching Fellows several times during the semester. (As a class,
we will explore creative strategies for archiving the portfolios on a digital platform; however,
please keep a hard copy of the portfolio and submit the hard copy at the end of the semester.)
This course serves as a core requirement for majors in Anthropology and in the International and
Global Studies. It also satisfies the University Studies requirements for the School of Social
Sciences and Non-Western and Comparative Studies.
Required Readings: Books are available at the bookstore and on reserve in the library. Some
additional articles will be available through LATTE (these will be marked by LATTE in the
syllabus.) Please be sure to complete the reading on or before the class date listed on the syllabus,
and pleas print out and bring hard copies (as well as your reading notes) of the appropriate
readings to class.
The following books are available for purchase in the bookstore:

Keith Basso. Portraits of the Whiteman: Linguistic Play and Cultural Symbols
among the Western Apache. Cambridge University Press.
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Lee, Richard. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi, 3rd ed. (Thomson Learning, 2003)

Francis Mading Deng. The Dinka of the Sudan.
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Caroline Nordstrom. The Shadows of War. Violence, Power, and. International
Profiteering in the Twenty-First Century (University of California Press, 2004)

Phillipe Bourgeois. In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge
University Press.

Brown, Peter and Aaron Poslansky. Applying Cultural Anthropology: An
Introductory Reader. (hereafter known as ACA) 6th edition (earlier editions have some
but not all of the assigned readings)
Course Requirements:
Two short papers (20% each): 40%
Midterm examination (in class): 20%
Final examination (three hour): 30%
Community Engagement Portfolio: 10%
Class participation (including LATTE commentaries)=extra credit
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Written work: Topics for the essays will be handed out at least two weeks before the work is
due. You will be able to revise and rework the contents of your community portfolio through
the term.
Late work: Written work submitted after the due date and time will be lowered by one third of a
grade for each day (or a fraction of a day) late, except in documented cases of illness or
emergency. Work submitted 15 minutes later than the due date will be considered one day late.
Attendance is required: After three missed class sessions, your grade will be lowered for each
missed class session.
Class Participation will be evaluated in terms of the quality of in-class discussion, postings on
LATTE and the Waltham Community Archives wiki, familiarity with the readings, attendance,
and intellectual support given to fellow students. Thoughtful and constructive extra postings on
LATTE in response to fellow students’ observations will help your grade.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism: You may only submit your own original work in this
course; this includes quizzes, exams, response essays, written papers, and other media. Please be
careful to cite precisely and properly the sources of all authors and persons you have drawn upon
in your written work. Plagiarism (from published or internet sources) is a serious violation of
academic integrity and of the relationship of trust between student and instructor. Please take
special care to indicate the precise source of all materials found on the web, indicating the
correct URL address of any material you have quoted or in any way drawn upon.
Remember, you must indicate through quotations, indentation and citation when quoting from
any outside source (internet or print).
Accommodations: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis
University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please
contact me immediately.
Please Note: This class is a cell phone free and laptop free environment. Please turn off all
laptops, mobiles, pagers, etc. Emailing and texting are not permitted during class time.
(Exceptions only for those with documented needs/disabilities.)
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Course outline
Friday, August 29 Introduction: What is Anthropology? Thinking about Observation,
Interaction and “Ethnographic Encounters.”
*Please post a self-introduction on LATTE.
Tuesday, September 2. Greetings! Encounters in (and out of) the field
• Keith Basso. “To Give up on Words. Silence among the Western Apache” in Applying Cultural
Anthropology (henceforth ACA) also on LATTE.
• Laura Bohannan. Shakespeare in the Bush. ACA. pp. 35-40
• Horace Miner, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” pp. 5-8.
Friday, September 5. Performance, Play and Culture
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• Basso, Portraits of the Whiteman. Foreword, pp. ix-xvii, Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 3-33. Also
please read carefully the notes, pp. 95-100.
**Recommended community activity. Sunday, September 7. 1:00-4:00 p.m. Community workday
at Prospect Hill Terrace. (Cleaning up the community center, helping with community gardens,
arts and cultural enrichment activities for children and youth). Prospect Hill is a 30 minute walk
from campus.
*Monday, September 8. Observation Exercise #1 due on LATTE by 5:00 p.m. Observing
greeting and leave-taking practices on campus or elsewhere. Position yourself somewhere on
campus (perhaps a dining hall, café, Shapiro atrium, or an outdoor spot) for about twenty minutes
and take careful notes on all examples of greeting and leave-takings that you can observe. Post
these in your assigned LATTE discussion board; your observations should be as detailed and
specific as possible.
Note: Good opportunities for observing greetings include:
Sunday, September 7. from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Prospect Hill Community Center Workday
Tuesday, September 9. Thinking about Social and Cultural Explanations
• Basso, Keith. Portraits of a Whiteman pp.37-82: Chapters 3 and 4: Interpretive functions, social
functions. Also read the notes, pp. 100-112.
Friday, September 12. Food: Evolution, Categories, and Culture
• Whitaker, Elizabeth D. “Ancient Bodies, Modern Customs and our Health” ACA. pp. 67-76.
• Jared Diamond. “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” ACA pp. 95-98
• Peter J. Brown. Culture and the Evolution of Obesity. ACA. pp. 84-94.
• Mary Douglas, “Land Animals, Pure and Impure” from Anthropology of Religion (on LATTE)
• Eugene Cooper. “Chinese Table Manners: You are how you eat.” (ACA pp. 77-83)
• Richard Lee. “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari.” (ACA pp. 141-145)
**By this date, please form your Community Engagement Small group of five persons on LATTE
(instructions forthcoming). If you do not sign up for a small group, you will be assigned to a
small group. (Note that you may form your small group earlier and begin community engaged
work as soon as you have discussed it with the instructor and Henok.)
*Due by Monday, September 15 by 5:00 p.m. on LATTE. Observation Exercise #2: Food
choices and cultural meaning on campus or elsewhere. Find a location where food is being
purchased and/or consumed. Take careful notes on the decision-making (or lack thereof) that goes
into food selections in these cases.
Tuesday, September 16. Systems of Kinship and Production
• Richard Lee, The Dobe Ju/’hoansi (2003), chs. 1-4 & 8: pp. 1-58, 109-124
**Optional workshops on atl-atl (spear throwers) to be scheduled this week—details tba!
Friday, September 19. Systems of Kinship and Production
• Lee, ch. 6 and chs. 10-12: pp. 141-192.
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• Marjorie Shostak, “Women and Men,” from Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman
(note:!Kung is another term for the Ju/’hoansi): pp. 213-233. (LATTE)
• Melvyn C. Goldstein, “When Brothers Share a Wife” ACA pp. 156-160.
(Meet in Discussion groups; details tba)
*Due, Monday, September 22 by 5:00 p.m. on LATTE. Paper 1. (5-7 pages) Observation
and Interpretation. Offer an analysis of at least three of the observations offered by students in
the course (about greetings and/or food). Explain the extent to which you have drawn on
evolutionary/biological, social, or cultural dynamics in interpreting the observed data. When
possible, compare and contrast the practices you have observed with comparable practices among
the Dobe Ju/’hoansi. Please attach your peers’ observations as an appendix to the paper.
Tuesday, September 23 Culture, Crisis and Survial: The Dinka
Francis Mading Deng, The Dinka of the Sudan.
Friday, September 26. The Dinka
Continue reading and discussing Deng’s The Dinka of the Sudan.
Monday, September 29 (NOTE: THIS IS A “BRANDEIS TUESDAY, SO CLASS MEETS)
The Crisis in Sudan-I
Jok Madut Jok. Selections from Sudan: Race, Religion and Violence. Chapters Three and Five
and Six, pp.115-154, 185-237.
Guest speaker: Mangok Bol, Southern Sudanese Youth Association.
Friday, October 3. Towards Post-Conflict Sudan? (and Midterm Review)
Guest speaker: Aduei Riak, New Sudan Educational Initiative.
Note: A list of questions, some of which will appear in the midterm examination, will be handed
out in class.
*Please hand in your community engagement portfolios to your assigned Teaching Assistant
before the end of class (you will receive this back on Tuesday, October 7).
Tuesday, October 7. MIDTERM EXAMINATION (IN CLASS)
*Recommended: Anthropology colloquium at 5:00 p.m. Jane Ferguson (Australian National
University). Place, TBA. Extra credit for thoughtful commentary on LATTE.
Friday, October 10. NO CLASS.
Tuesday, October 14. NO CLASS
*Recommended, Wednesday, October 15, screening of the film, Raincoat, featuring the voice of
Shuba Mudgal. 7:00 p.m, in Heller G4.
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Friday, October 17. Performance and Gender: North India
**(Special class meeting in Slosberg Recital Hall with Shubha Mudgal and Ulka Anjaria’s
Bollywood class.)**
Reading: Ann Gold, “Sexuality, Fertility and Erotic Imagination in Rajasthani Women’s Songs”
from Listen to the Heron’s Words:Reimagining Gender and Kinship in North India
By Gloria Goodwin Raheja and Ann Grodzins Gold, on LATTE.
Tuesday, October 21. NO CLASS.
*Strongly recommended: Anthropology Colloquium by Jake Homiak, Thursday, October 23 at
3:00 p.m. Place, tba. From Back ‘o Wall to the Smithsonian: Reflections on the
Internationalization of Rastafari (please post a reflection on the talk on LATTE for extra credit)
Friday, October 24. Culture and Globalization: Rastafarianism.
Special class meeting with Jake Homiak, National Anthropologial Archives, National Museum of
Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
Neil J. Savishinsky. Rastafari in the Promised Land: The Spread of a Jamaican Socioreligious
Movement among the Youth of West Africa.
African Studies Review, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Dec., 1994), pp. 19-50 via JSTOR.
Tuesday, October 28. Theorizing Ritual
Discuss video, “Family Revival” (view previously on line, on your own time)
Bradd Shore. “Spiritual Work, Memory: Revival and Recollection at Salem Camp Meeting”
LATTE.
Victor Turner, “Liminality and Communitas.” LATTE
Friday, October 31. Theorizing Ritual; The Case of Halloween
Claude, Levi Strauss. “Father Christmas Executed,” in Unwrapping Christmas. LATTE
Cindy Dell Clark, “Tricks of Festival: Children, Enculturation, and American Halloween”
ETHOS. June 2005, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 180-205. LATTE
Possible class activity that afternoon: arranging Prospect Hill Terrace children to visit campus
residence halls for Trick or Treat.
Tuesday, November 4. Conflict in Global Perspective.
Caroline Nordstrom. Shadows of War. (begin)
Friday, November 7. Conflict in Global Perspective-II
Caroline Nordstrom. Shadows of War. (conclude)
Tuesday, November 11. Close to Home: Social Conflict and Inequality
• Bourgeois, P. In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. pp. 1-47
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and pp. 77-173 (Intro., ch. 1, ch. 3 & ch. 4).
Friday, November 14. Social Conflict and Inequality
• Bourgeois, In Search of Respect. chapters 6-7: pp. 213-286 (& recommended
pp. 205-212
on adolescent gang rape)
Tuesday, November 18. Social Inequality
•Bourgeois, In Search of Respect. Conclusion & Epilogue: pp. 318-337
• Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” ACA:
pp. 108-111.
(Discussion group tba)
*Field exercise: Visit an off location in Waltham that in some respects
evinces social conflict and/or social inequality. By\ Monday, November 24 at
5:00 p.m. post a one page ethnographic description on the Waltham Community
Archives wiki,
http://walthamarchives.wikispaces.com/
Friday, November 21. Health, Inequality and Society
• Paul Farmer and Arthur Kleinman. “AIDS as Human Suffering.” ACA. pp. 260268
• Paul Farmer, “Culture, Poverty, and HIV Transmission: The Case of Rural
Haiti” ACA) pp. 216-228
Tuesday, November 25. Globalization and its Discontents
• Theodore Bestor. “How Sushi went Global.” ACA. pp. 285-291
• John Bodley, “The Price of Progress” ACA pp. 267-275.
• Daniel Jordan Smith, “Cell Phones, Sharing, and Social Status in an African
Society” ACA
pp. 242-248.
• FILM: “Advertising Missionaries” (Directed by Chris Hilton and Gauthier
Flauder, 1997, 52 min
Friday, November 28. NO CLASS.
Monday, December 1 Due at 5:00 p.m on LATTE. Paper #2 (5-7 pages) on
conflict and social inequality. (Please integrate your field observations from
your community project into the paper, along with a serious consideration of
the readings.
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Tuesday, December 2. Play and Human Development
Jean Briggs, “Because You’re a Baby.” Excerpt from Inuit Morality Play: The Emotional
Education of a Three Year Old. LATTE.
Friday, December 5. Anthropology and Human Rights
• Richard Reed. “Two Rights make a Wrong: Indigenous Peoples versus Environmental
Protection Agencies.” ACA pp. 108-115
• Corinne A. Kratz. “Circumcision, Pluralism and Dilemmas of Cultural Relativism.” ACA. pp.
269-280
Tuesday, December 9. Final Class. Final exam review
Please submit your Community Service portfolio at the start of class.
Final examination (three hour) Note that this is a university-scheduled final exam. University
regulations do not permit the professor to schedule individual make-up examinations before or
after this date. If you have a pressing conflict (such as 3 or more final exams scheduled for the
same date), then you can arrange to take the exam on the final exam conflict resolution date,
generally the last day of the final exam period.
POSSIBLE COMMUNITY PROJECTS IN THIS CLASS
At the Prospect Hill Terrace Community Learning Center:
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Helping mentor the Prospect Hill Alliance of Teens (PHAT)
Arts and cultural enrichment for children and youth (Design and implement a lesson
plan)
Facilitating youth-authored books, ‘zines, and video diaries
English language tutoring and computer learning for adults
Bringing Prospect Hill children to campus for trick or treating on October 31
Bringing Prospect Hill resident and other community members to campus for a forum on
art and community transformation
At the Southern Sudanese Community Center (Arlington):
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Helping the new Sudanese women’s support group
Arts and cultural enrichment for southern Sudanese children
Helping create Dinka language children’s books
Documenting southern Sudanese traditional cultural forms (dance, song, poetics)
Developing an exhibition about the Southern Sudanese experience in the Boston area
Helping plan a high school in Southern Sudan
Involving Sudanese in the “Lose the Shoes” soccer tournaments at Brandeis to raise
money for soccer and HIV/AIDS education campaigns in Africa
With the local Central American and Latino community:
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Participate in the weekly Thursday morning (8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.) community languageexchange walk (especially good for Spanish speakers)
Partnership with the Waltham Community School (adult new immigrants and their
children)
With international students at Brandeis:

Participate in the International Students Services Office’s “Gesture Project”, developing a
video based lexicon of ‘paralinguistic” behavior from diverse language communities
around the world
Please work with the instructor, Teaching Fellows, and the Community Engaged Fellow to
propose and implement other community engaged projects!
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