Oberlin College
Department of Anthropology
Fall '08
Jack Glazier
Office: King 320B
Hours: MW 3:30-5:00
F 3:30-4:00 and apts.
CULTURE THEORY
(Anthropology 353)
MWF 2:30-3:20
COURSE GOALS
We will examine and discuss cooperatively the seminal issues and
questions that have shaped anthropological thinking from the last
half of the nineteenth century until the present. Our aim is to
reach a critical understanding of the most important modes of
thought about the nature of culture, how it is studied, and the ways
anthropologists from various theoretical points of view have
interpreted and explained it. The course should enable you to
organize your readings from this and other anthropology courses into
a set of coherent frameworks.
The syllabus is organized chronologically, with each section
(indicated by a Roman numeral) representing a particular mode of
thinking that particular anthropologists share. We will notice that
through time, anthropologists continue to grapple with certain
enduring questions, which form part of the backdrop of this course.
These include:
What is the relationship between the individual and
society?
What is the difference between society and culture?
What does it mean to be human?
What does a scientific or a humanistic anthropology
entail?
What is the relationship between cultural differences and
universal humanity?
What is the relationship between the observer’s
perspective and the participant’s perspective?
What is the relationship between the anthropologist’s
account and the reality described?
FORMAT
Cooperative, widely participatory class discussions are important
because many of the readings for this course are not “page turners.”
Discussion promotes understanding of difficult material. It’s
essential to read the primary sources, that is, what Boas, Durkheim,
Malinowski, Levi-Strauss, Geertz, etc have said, not just what
others have said about them. Still, we will also read secondary
material
about
these
authors
to
enhance
our
understanding.
Considering the nature of the course and its purpose, the amount of
1
reading is often challenging but not burdensome, and so the
instructor expects students to complete reading assignments on time.
This is indispensable preparation for class discussions.
Each class will utilize both lecture and discussion.
In lectures,
the instructor will periodically pose questions that can lead to a
wider discussion. In addition, every student will be expected to
post on Blackboard one question/comment per week pertinent to the
section and readings we are working on. Some of these will be taken
up in class. While responses on Blackboard to the weekly
questions/commentaries are not required, such responses are welcome
as yet another way for us to engage our course work collectively.
Please get accustomed to checking Blackboard each morning before our
class in order to consider in advance questions/comments posted
since the last session.
REQUIREMENTS
Papers.
5 page paper: due Friday October 17
5 page paper: due Monday November 17
12-15 page paper: due Tuesday December 16 2:00pm
Attendance. Attendance will be taken periodically and assessed on a
Pass/Fail Basis. Three unexcused absences will result in an “F” for
this segment of the course. To paraphrase Woody Allen, 15% of
success in this course is just showing up.
Commitment. Regular, engaged participation in class discussions as
well as Blackboard postings and an oral presentation constitute
commitment.
In keeping with our emphasis on discussion and writing, we have no
exams in this class (unless demanded by the class).
EVALUATION
5 PAGE PAPERS @ 15% EACH
12-15 PAGE PAPER
ATTENDANCE (PASS/FAIL)
COMMITMENT
30%
35%
15%
20%
2
3
Books
Erickson and Murphy, READINGS FOR A HISTORY OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL
THEORY
Salzman, UNDERSTANDING CULTURE
Sahlins, WAITING FOR FOUCAULT, STILL (Recommended)
There are no periodic assignments in WAITING; it’s not that kind
of book. It is a wry, witty set of commentaries, all brief, on
the current state of Anthropology. Read any or all of it as we
proceed, and keep your sense of humor.
Schedule and Readings
*indicate recommended reading
Book titles in Caps. Articles
indicated by quotation marks. All
are on BlackBoard (BB). Erickson
on Reserve. An asterisk* indicate
in books or xeroxes of articles
readings beyond the assigned texts
and Murphy as well as Salzman are
recommended reading.
I. FOUNDATIONS: THEORY AND METHOD;
SCIENCE, EMPIRICISM, HUMANISM, CRITIQUES;
TAKING UP SOME OF THE ENDURING ISSUES, QUESTIONS, AND CONTROVERSIES
IN ANTHROPOLOGY
September 3
September 5
Course Orientation
The Beginnings of Anthropology, Early Modern
Proponents
Erickson and Murphy, READINGS FOR A HISTORY OF
ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY, xiii-xiv, 3-20 (Overview)
Hereafter Erickson and Murphy = E and M)
September 8
The Sciences and the Humanities: Where
Does Anthropology Fit? What is the Relationship
of Ethnography to Theory?
Salzman, UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, pp. 1-12
BB:
Lett, pp. 15-30, *41-47 (from THE HUMAN ENTERPRISE)
Mintz, “Sows’ Ears and Silver Linings:
A Backward Look at Ethnography”
September 10
The Subjectivity/Objectivity Problem
in Anthropology and Social Science: A Feminist View
BB:
Slocum,
September 12
“Woman the Gatherer:
Male Bias in Anthropology”
Anthropology and Contemporary Multiculturalism:
Another Route to the Subjectivity/Objectivity
Problem
BB:
Eller, “Anti-Anti-Multiculturalism”
Perry, “Why Do Multiculturalists Ignore
Anthropologists?”
September 15
Margaret Mead: "Coming of Age" (in class video)
E and M, Mead, Article 11
BB:
*Mead, “Introduction to Sex and Temperament in
Three Primitive Societies”
September 17
Margaret Mead and Samoa (in class video)
BB:
Freeman, “Mead’s Misconstruing of Samoa”
II. NINETEENTH CENTURY EVOLUTION,
BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL;
SCIENCE AND PROGRESS; EVOLUTION VS. HISTORY;
ETHNOGRAPHIC REALISM
September 19
The Background: Evolution, History, Function
BB:
White, "History, Evolution, and Functionalism . .”
September 22
Tylor: Rationality and Religion; the Comparative
Method and the Roots of the HRAF (the Human Relations
4
Area File); Theory by Deduction; Evolution and “Survivals”
E and M, Tylor, Article 2
September 24
Morgan and the Evolution of Society: Kinship,
Materialism, and the Discovery of Social Structure;
Distinguishing Cultural from Biological Evolution
E and M, Morgan, Article 3
Darwin, Article 5
III. HISTORICAL PARTICULARISM/
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ETHNOLOGY;
REACTIONS TO CULTURAL EVOLUTION;
PSYCHOLOGY AND LINGUSTICS ENTER ANTHROPOLOGY
September 26
Theoretical Caution and Cultural Relativism;
The Beginnings of Culture from the Inside;
Psychological Anthropology; Salvage Ethnography;
E and M, Overview, 89-105; Boas, Article 8
Sahlins, Article 22
BB:
Boas, “The Aims of Anthropological Research”
OR
Boas, “The Limitations of the Comparative Method of
Anthropology”
American Museum, 2pdf “A Museum’s Eskimo Skeletons
and Its Own”
September 29
American Historical Ethnology (cont’d)
E and M, Lowie, Article 9
Kroeber, Article 10
October 1
Franz Boas: The Shackles of Tradition (Video)
October 3
Patterns and Configurations of Culture;
Culture and Personality
E and M, Benedict, Article 12
Salzman, pp. 67-71
5
October 6
Linguistics in American Cultural Anthropology
E and M, Sapir, Article 19
BB, Whorf, “The Relation of Habitual Thought and
Behavior To Language”
IV. RESURGENT EVOLUTION, MARXIST INFLUENCE, CROSS CULTURAL
COMPARISON, CULTURAL ECOLOGY, CULTURAL MATERIALISM,
ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
October 8
The Revival of Materialism and Evolutionism in
American Anthropology; White's evolution
and Culturology; comparison
E and M, 225-229; White: Article 20
Harris, Article 21
BB: Ember and Ember, “What Have We Learned from Cross
Cultural Research?”
Look under the title “General
Anthropology”)
October 10
Marxism and Marxist Influence
E and M, Marx and Engels, Article 1
BB:
Leacock, “Interpreting the Origins of Gender
Inequality: Conceptual and Historical
Problems”
Bourgois, “From Jibaro to Crack Dealer: Confronting
The Restructuring of Capitalism in El Barrio”
*Weber, “Puritanism and the Spirit of Capitalism”
October 13
Marxism (cont’d)
BB:
E and M, Wolf, Article 27
October 15
Reconciling Cultural Evolution and History
Salzman, UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, pp. 87-111
BB:
Sahlins, "Evolution: Specific and General”
6
Steward, “The Patrilineal Band
October 17
Ecological Functionalism; Summing Up Oct 8-17
FALL BREAK
October 18-26
V. SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT, THE EMERGENCE OF FUNCTIONALISM, BRITISH
SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
October 27
The Beginnings of Functionalism and Sociological
Thinking; the Roots of British Social Anthropology;
Social vs. Psychological Explanation
E and M, Durkheim, Article 6
BB:
Durkheim,” What is a Social Fact?
Freud, “The Return of Totemism in Childhood”
October 29
Functionalism and British Social Anthropology; the
Role of Psychology; Durkheim vs. Freud
E and M, Radcliffe-Brown, Article 15
Fortes and Evans-Pritchard, Article 17
Salzman, 13-30
October 31
Malinowski in British Anthropology
E and M, Malinowski, Article 16
BB:
Malinowski, “The Essentials of the Kula”
November 3
Malinowski, cont’d
“Bronislaw Malinowski: Off the Veranda”
In class video
7
BB:
November 5
Geertz, "From the Native's Point of View"
Functionalism and Critiques, Emphasizing Change,
Process, Conflict, Interaction; Function vs. Meaning
E and M, Gluckman, Article 18
Salzman, pp.31-48
BB:
Evans-Pritchard, "Social Anthropology: Past
and Present"
VI. STRUCTURALISM, SYMBOLIC, AND INTERPRETIVE ANTHROPOLOGY:
PATHS TO THE STUDY OF MEANING
November 7
What is Structuralism?
E and M, Levi-Strauss, Article 13
Leach, Article 14
BB:
Levi-Strauss, “Structural Analysis in Linguistics
And Anthropology”
OR
Levi-Strauss, “Social Structure”
*Mauss, Excerpts from The Gift
November 10
cont’d
Salzman, 77-86
BB: Ortner, “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?”
November 12
Cultural Classification, Symbol Social Structure
BB: Douglas, “External Boundaries”
November 14
cont’d
E and M, Turner, Article 23
8
November 17
Interpretive Anthropology; Postmodernist Stirrings
E and M, 229-246; Geertz, Article 24
Salzman, UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, 71-77
VIII POSTMODERNISM, CRITIQUES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTHROPOLOGY AS CRITIQUE; INTERPRETIVE ANTHROOPLOGY; PROBLEMS OF
REPRESENTATION AND ANTI-SCIENCE;
DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE 90s FORWARD
November 19
What is Postmodernism? Defining Features;
Postmodernism in Anthropology and Other Disciplines;
Confession and Subjectivity
Salzman, UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, pp. 113-125
BB: Rosaldo, “Grief and the Headhunter’s Rage”
November 21
November 24
NO CLASS THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Representation
E and M,
November 26
Clifford, Article 30
Marcus and Fischer, Article 31
The Scientific Response
BB:
Harris, “Cultural Materialism is Alive and Well . .
(On BB, find this article in the folder,
ASSESSING CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY)
Spiro, “Postmodernist Anthropology”
November 28
Embodied Experience
E and M, Lock and Scheper-Hughes, Article 33
BB:
Abu-Lughod, “A Tale of Two Pregnancies”
Foucault, “The Body of the Condemned”
December 1
Globalization, Power, and Agency
E and M, Appadurai, Article 34
9
10
Presentations
A 10-15 minute oral presentation on your 10-12 page
Paper in progress.
December 3
presentations
December 5
“
December 8
“
December 10
“
December 12
Summing Up/Course Synthesis
E and M, Ortner, Article 32 and Conclusion (525-530)
Salzman, UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, 127-142, 153-156
READING PERIOD
SATURDAY DEC 13-MONDAY DEC 15
NO FINAL EXAMINATION
FINAL PAPER DUE DEC 16, 2:00PM