Theories of Culture

Anth 280-01 – Fall 2001

 Office Hours: M-F 9-10:50.  During office hours, you are welcome to stop by without an appointment.  I will also be happy to schedule appointments during non-office hours.  If you are having problems with course materials for any reason, I strongly encourage you to come see me.

Getting in touch with me:  If you desperately need to get in touch with me and I am not in my office, you may try calling me at home any day between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.  My home phone # is 236-1402.  You can also e-mail me anytime.  I check my e-mail frequently.

Course Description and Goals:

            This course provides a survey of the history of anthropological social theory.  Beginning in antiquity, we will examine how anthropological ideas about human society, social relations and, in particular, culture have evolved over time.  Anthropology, like other academic disciplines, is primarily the product of western experience and western ideas.  As such, the focus of this class is explicitly on western philosophies.

The bulk of the course materials are arranged historically.  In this way, we will see that ideas do not form in a vacuum but develop and unfold out of the matrix of pre-existing ideas and the social context of the time.  The department's decision to approach this material historically is quite intentional.  We found in the past that students in upper-level seminars experienced difficulty contextualizing, and therefore in comprehending, current approaches in anthropology because they did not understand how current approaches developed, what they were reacting against, and what they were carrying over from the past.  At the request of students, we developed this course in the history of anthropology to better prepare them for developing an overall grasp of the discipline.

This is not a course about "what theory (or theories) is (or are) true."  Truthfulness is not a good criterion by which to judge theories.  Knowledge is always tentative and partial in any case, and theories are simply ways to try to expand and order knowledge.  As such, they can be more or less useful, and we will be asking in what ways particular theories are useful for helping us to see or understand something about society and culture.  We will encounter differences of opinion about the usefulness of particular theories, and we will ask why such differences of opinion exist.  Sometimes new knowledge or understandings render old theories or approaches obsolete.  Sometimes different theories are useful for thinking about different problems.  Sometimes theories fall out of favor for a time and later return in new attire.  Sometimes egos are involved, and sometimes the world simply looks different to different people.  Whatever the reason, most anthropologists find it useful to have several theories on hand with which to think.

We will cover a substantial amount of intellectual territory, and at times names, dates, and theories will seem to fly by rather quickly.  But the succession of authors will gradually begin to "make sense," and you will see how every author built on the work of predecessors.  After reviewing the development of anthropology to the 1990s, we will spend the last three weeks examining some of the main issues the discipline is facing today.  Additional coverage of recent theory and issues in anthropology is found in the department's 300-level courses.[1]

Required Texts:

1. Paul Bohannan and Mark Glazer, High Points in Anthropology. 2^nd ed. (1988)
2. Jerry D. Moore, Visions of Culture (1997)
3. Paul Erickson, A History of Anthropological Theory (1999)
4. E.L. Cerroni-Long, Anthropological Theory in North America (1999)

Reserved Readings

Two copies of each reserved reading are available in the library and one copy in the anthropology reading room on the 3^rd floor of Goodnow Hall (next to my office).  Copies should not be removed from Goodnow. 

Course Requirements

1.     Examinations (60%): There will be 3 examinations over the course of the semester.  The first will cover Historical Foundations and the Early 20^th Century (20% of final grade).  The second will cover from about 1950 to the 1990s (20% of final grade), and the final exam (20% of the final grade) will cover the remainder of the material and include some of the earlier material as well.

2.     Paper 1 (10%): Comparative book review of early ethnographies, and presentation.

3.     Paper 2 (20%): Theoretical review for a research proposal.

4.     Participation (10%):  Learning is best done as an interactive process.  In this course it is essential that you keep up with the reading and come to class prepared to answer questions, ask questions, and engage in discussion of materials with the class.  While I will revert to lecturing on occasion, my goal is to maintain a seminar format as much as possible.  The best way to participate in such a class is to come to class prepared.  Having simply read the materials is rarely sufficient.  You should make notes as you read and after you read on questions that occur to you, connections that strike you from other readings, etc.  Please understand that the 10% of your final grade from participation is not some hidden way that I can bump up active students’ grades at the end.  Rather, it is a required component for all students.

5.     Attendance:  Attendance is required and I will take roll daily.  Each student is allowed 3 absences.  After this point, you will loose one-half of a letter grade for EACH absence.  Any exam or in-class assignment that is missed because of an unexcused absence will receive a zero.  Excused absences will still count toward your 3, but you will be permitted to make up assignments.  An excused absence is given only in the case of medical emergencies (a visit to the health center does not suffice) or a death in the family.  Notice must be provided through academic affairs.  The class begins at 3:15 pm, based on the clock in the classroom.  If you come in late, you are responsible for making sure that I have counted you as present.  Each student is permitted one late arrival.  Each subsequent late will be counted as an absence.

A Note on the Readings:

It is imperative that you keep up on the readings for this course and plan your schedule so that you have enough time to do a thorough reading.  The most difficult readings will be the original essays.  A good way to read these is to read them first very quickly to get a general idea of the material, and then read them more carefully, making sure that you understand the main argument, and thinking about how this responds to or relates to other ideas that we have read.  The Moore book can be read more quickly and will help to set the context for the original essays.  It will also provide a set of ideas concerning relations to other theorists and strengths and weaknesses that you might want to consider.  Finally, the Erickson book is meant to provide a much more general context and timeline for the theories and theorists.  You should read through the chapter at the beginning of each relevant section in the syllabus, and then may want to skim back over parts periodically to recall the context of theories and their authors and the relations between different ones.  This book also has a nice section of review questions, an excellent bibliography, and a very good section of suggested further readings.

                                    Grading Summary and Due Dates (100 point system)

Activity                                   Percentage of Grade                 Due Date

Participation                                        10%                             Always!

Exam 1                                                            20%                             Oct 8

            Ethnography comparison paper                       10%                             Oct 19

Exam 2                                                            20%                             Nov 28

            Research Proposal                                20%                             Dec 10

Final Exam                                          20%                             Dec 21, 2:00pm

100%

COURSE SCHEDULE

(The professor reserves the right to modify the syllabus as deemed necessary)