Anthropology Through Film
Merritt College, Anth 008
Spring 2003
Leslie Fleming, Instructor
Office: A-205
Phone: (510) 436-2607
Office Hours: Mon & Fri: 10:00-11:00 am
Wed 10:00 -11:00 am
Wed 5:30 – 6:30 pm
or by appointment
Email: lesliefleming@mindspring.com
Anthropology Through Film
Course Objectives:
Films and videos are important tools in the pursuit of understanding our own culture and the
cultures of other peoples. Moving images have the ability to record and portray nuances of
emotion and subtleties of behavior and communication which photographs and written and
oral descriptions can rarely convey. As anthropologist John Collier, Jr. writes,
“with film or video it is possible to deal precisely with not just ‘what’ but
also ‘how’ behavior happens, not only to see but also to understand the
sparkle and an event, character of a place, a people.”
Films and videos both consciously and unconsciously portray ideas about cultures and
ethnicities. We, as viewers, both consciously and unconsciously absorb those ideas. In this
class we will learn how to critically evaluate ideas and messages communicated through film
and videos. We will also use videos to highlight approaches, findings, and theories from the
field of cultural anthropology--the study of cultures around the world, including our own.
The course will focus on cultures from several regions of the world, including the Caribbean,
Africa, New Guinea, the Amazon Basin, India, and the United States. Expect the videos to
be provocative and challenging. Also, expect to look at films and videos with new insights
and ideas as the class progresses.
Required Readings:
Karl G. Heider. Seeing Anthropology: Cultural Anthropology Through Film, 2nd ed. 2001.
Supplemental articles will be handed out in class.
Course Requirements:
*Attendance and Participation:
Class participation and good note-taking are essential to getting good grades in this course.
There will usually be no other way to view the videos shown in class Our discussions will
be key in learning how to analyze the videos. Attendance and participation are worth 10% of
your course grade.
*Video Critiques:
All students will fill-in one-page video critiques for each video we view. Critique forms will
be given in class. Most of the content of your critiques will be from the discussions in class
following viewing the videos. You will then finish your critiques at home. Critiques are due
in class the following week. You will lose points for lateness. Critiques are worth 40% of
your course grade.
Exams:
There will be a take-home midterm exam worth 20% of your course grade, and
a take-home final exam worth 20% of your course grade.
Doing a Video or an Video Critique Project:
Students will do a 3-5 page typed critique of a video viewed out-side of class. You will
receive guidelines and a list of videos will also be provided. Students who wish to may create
their own video may do it instead of the Critique. The critique or student-created video is
due April 23 and is worth 10% of your course grade.
Grading:
Midterm exam
Final exam
Attendance and participation:
Weekly Video Critiques
Video or Video Critique Project
Total
20%
20%
10%
40%
10%
100%
A = 100-90%; B = 89-78; C = 77-66; D = 65-54; F = 53 or below.
**If you have a learning disability or if English is not your first language, please see me as
soon as possible and before the first exam so that I can be of assistance to you.
**You may take this course on a Credit/No Credit basis. Credit = C (66) or above.
Course Outline and Assigned Readings
Date
Topics & Video/Film
Jan 15
Introduction to Anthropolgy:
Indigenous foragers in Central Africa
Video: Baka: People of the Forest
Jan 22
History of Anthropological Theory and Practice
Video: Margaret Mead: An Observer Observed
Heider, Chpt. 1
Jan 29
Cultures Encountering Cultures
Video: First Contact (New Guinean)
Heider, Chpt. 2
Feb 5
Participant-Observation (Doing Fieldwork)
Video: Studying Cultures: Napoleaon Chagnon
and the Yanomamo (Faces of Culture Series)
Heider, Chpt. 3
Feb 12
Post-modern Approaches to Studying Cultures
Video: Amazon Journal
Heider, Chpt. 4
Feb 19
Psychology and Culture
Video: N!ai: Story of a !Kung Woman
Heider, Chpt 5
Feb 26
Production Strategies
Video: The Hunters (!Kung San of Southern Africa)
Heider, Chpt. 6
Mar 5
Popular Representations Critiqued
Video: The Gods Must Be Crazy
Handout: Shostak:
(!Kung San of Southern Africa)
Assignments
“Woman The
Gatherer.”
Midterm Exam Due
Mar 12
Distribution and Consumption
Video: Joe Leahy’s Neighbors (New Guinea)
Heider, Chpt. 7
Mar 19
Marriage and Family
Video: Dadi’s Family (India)
Heider, Chpt. 8
Mar 26
Kinship and Social Organization
Video: The Nuer (East Africa)
Heider, Chpt. 9
Date
Topics & Video/Film
Assignments
Apr 9
Cultural Construction of Gender
Video: Boys Don’t Cry (USA)
Heider, Chpt. 10
April 16: Spring Vacation!
Apr 23
Social Inequality
Video: Life and Debt (Jamaica)
Video Critique Due
Apr 30
Resolving Conflicts
Video: Long Night’s Journey Into Day
(South Africa after Apartheid)
Heider, Chpt. 11
May 7
Magic and Religion
Video: The Split Horn (Hmong Shaman
Heider, Chpt. 12
in America)
May 14
Culture Change
Video: Trobriand Islanders (New Guinea)
Heider, Chpt. 13
May 21
Final Exam Due
Culture Change
Video: Cannibal Tours (Italian tourists
Heider, Chpt. 14
in New Guinea)
Anthr008syllabus.doc
Lf 2/5/03