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201/401. The Inca and Aztec States. PQ: Consent of instructor. This
course is an intensive examination of the origins, structure, and meaning of
two native states of the ancient Americas: the Inca and the Aztec. Lectures are
framed around an examination of theories of state genesis, function, and
transformation, with special reference to the economic, institutional, and
symbolic bases of indigenous state development. The seminar is broadly
comparative in perspective and considers the structural significance of
institutional features that are either common to or unique expressions of these
two Native American states. A. Kolata. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
205/310. The Tragic in Literature and Ethnography (=GS Hum 282/382, SocTh
321). This course explores variations of the tragic in sharply contrasting
literatures: Aeschylus's Agamemnon, Beckett's Waiting for Godot,
selected passages from Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary, and
one modern ethnography text. The course also compares and evaluates basic
dimensions in the idea of tragedy--the will of the gods, implacable social
forces, hubris, tragic sensitivity, and tragic weaknesses such as wrath and
jealousy--in terms of specific cultural contexts, universal values, and
intersections of chance and probability. P. Friedrich, D. Radulescu.
Summer.
208. Introduction to Prehistory. Class limited to twenty-five students.
This course offers a critical overview of the methods and data available
for reconstructing the prehistoric past, followed by a comprehensive account of
cultural evolution from the initial emergence of human beings (broadly defined)
four million or more years ago through the origins of civilization within the
last few thousands of years. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
211. Classical Readings in Anthropology: Myth and Ritual. Some of the most
durable concerns of cultural anthropology were shaped in the early literature
dealing with the relationship between myths and rites. Authors considered
include E. B. Tylor, W. Robertson Smith, J. G. Frazer, Emile Durkheim, Marcel
Mauss, and Henri Hubert. R. Nicholas. Winter.
211/360. Classical Readings in Anthropology: History of Archaeological Theory
(=HiPSS 235). PQ: Consent of instructor. This is a survey of the
development of prehistoric archaeology from its inception to the present day.
Special attention is paid to the development of theory. L. Freeman, R.
Fogelson. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
211/447. Classical Readings in Anthropology: Marx--a Critical Overview of His
Thought (=SocSci 285). A reading and interpretation of Marx's principal
writings, emphasizing both the continuities and the changes from his earlier to
his later works, with attention given to contemporary developments and
controversies in Marxian scholarship. T. Turner. Not offered 1995-96; will
be offered 1996-97.
212. Intensive Study of a Culture: Eastern Europe. Close study of an
ethnographic region. Explores the current dramatic transformations in Eastern
Europe after the Cold War, the meanings of nationalism in the region, everyday
life under state socialism, how and why the "fall of Communism" occurred,
current transnational migrations, the situation of ethnic and linguistic
minorities, and the role of intellectuals in political life. S. Gal.
Winter.
212. Intensive Study of a Culture: Iroquois. This course offers an overview
of Iroquois culture from its prehistoric backgrounds to the modern day. In
addition to studying the basic data of Iroquois ethnology, the course examines
how Europeans and anthropologists have viewed the Iroquois as well as how the
Iroquois view themselves and others. R. Fogelson. Not offered 1995-96; will
be offered 1996-97.
212. Intensive Study of a Culture: Belief and Symbol in Early Christian Spain.
PQ: Reading knowledge of Spanish or medieval Latin helpful. An
exploration of the history and meaning of symbolism in early Christian
churches, concentrating on the rural Romanesque. The course examines the
literary and pictorial sources of graphic symbolism and its larger cultural
context, explores the significance of regional and hierarchical differences,
studies the relationship between iconography and the advancing frontier of the
Reconquest, and discusses new techniques for the analysis of relationships
between symbols and the organization of symbol sequences and their
significance. L. Freeman. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
212. Intensive Study of a Culture: Brazil. Has Brazil changed or has
social science changed? How has a country described for so long as harmonious
become a byword for violence? In this course, violence is the common thread
among traditional topics such as race relations, social movements, and state
policy toward indigenous peoples. Religious change is also covered. Readings
are from Brazilian social scientists in translation as available. The received
wisdom will be contrasted with more recent studies. M. Carneiro da Cunha.
Autumn.
212/321. Intensive Study of a Culture/Ethnosociology: Hindu (=SocSci 256).
PQ: Third-year standing. May be taken for either 100 or 200 units of
credit. Readings sample classical Indian works of astrology, biology, and
sociology, focusing on what they assume about persons and interpersonal
relations--that they are made of ether, air, fire, water, and earth; are
affected by goodness, passion, and darkness; and seek advantage, attachment,
coherence, and the opposites of these. Combinations of these assumptions are
examined through a simulation game and through ethnographic descriptions of
Hindu institutions and behavior. M. Marriott. Autumn.
212/323. Intensive Study of a Culture/Ethnopsychology: Japan (=SocSci 260).
PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. A Japanese social psychology
contrasting with the Western is developed from Japanese perceptions of human
affairs as defined by containers and energies. This science is then applied to
specimens of Japanese behavior presented in ethnography, literature, and film.
M. Marriott. Winter.
212/333. Intensive Study of a Culture: The Kayapo of Central Brazil. The
Kayapo are notorious for their successful resistance to Brazilian and
internationally financed invasion and development of their territory. One of
the main foci of this course is their resistance and accommodation to the
shifting challenges of interethnic coexistence and the social and cultural
transformations this has involved. The Kayapo also use video to document their
own culture and relations with the Brazilians; the course examines Kayapo
videos, as well as ethnographic films by non-Kayapo. The course also considers
the internal dynamics of Kayapo society, including kinship, gender and
generational relations, the body and personal identity, social values,
political hierarchy and institutions, the organization of social production,
ritual, myth, and cosmology. T. Turner. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
212/336. Intensive Study of a Culture: The Tswana, Past and Present (=Sociol
321). This course describes and analyzes the sociocultural order of an
African people during the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods.
J. Comaroff. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
212/404. Intensive Study of a Culture: Ethnography of the Raj (=Hist 478).
An ethnographic exploration of the history of British domination and rule in
South Asia. Attention is given to parliamentary debates, reports of
commissions, visual materials, autobiographies of colonizers and colonized, and
so on. Topics include rituals and routines of rule, changing social relations,
and modalities of anticolonial initiative. Recent trends and debates in Raj
scholarship are also introduced. J. Kelly, B. Cohn. Winter.
212/406. Intensive Study of a Culture: Yoruba. This course is a rigorous
survey of kinship, politics, economics, and religion among the Yoruba of
southwestern Nigeria, with special emphasis on ritual, gender, and colonialism.
A. Apter. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
213. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Shamanism. The venerable topic of
shamanism is explored in its original Siberian manifestations, North American
variations, and extensions into Central and South America and elsewhere. The
New Age and not-so-New Age interest in shamanism is also considered. R.
Fogelson. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
213. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Myth and Ritual. Contemporary
approaches to the interpretations of myths and of rituals and of the relations
between them. Authors considered include Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown,
Kluckhohn, Douglas, Evans-Pritchard, Geertz, Leach, Lévi-Strauss, and
Turner. R. Nicholas. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
213. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Sexism and Racism in Evolutionary
Anthropology. This seminar discusses Donna Haraway's Primate Visions
and the roots of "scientific" racism, sexism, and elitism in evolutionary
anthropology as evidenced in writings of Darwin, Huxley, Haeckel, Keith,
Osborn, Hooton, Dart, Washburn, Coon, Dobzhansky, Yerkes, and Gould. The second
half of the term treats works by female primatologists and animal rights
advocates. R. Tuttle. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
213/303. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Gender Theory and Anthropology.
This course examines gender as a cultural category in anthropological theory,
as well as in everyday life. After reviewing the historical sources of the
current concern with women, gender, and sexuality in anthropology and the other
social sciences, we critically explore some key controversies, such as the
relationship between production and reproduction in different sociocultural
orders; the links between "public" and "private" in current theories of
politics; the construction of sexualities, nationalities, and citizenship; and
women and gender in postcolonial discourse. S. Gal. Not offered 1995-96;
will be offered 1996-97.
213/323. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Ethnopsychologies of Two Cultures
(=SocSci 257). PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. From modern
ethnographies of two cultures where Western concepts are inappropriate, the
course develops alternative theories of psychological categories and
relationships. M. Marriott. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
213/361. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Hunters and Gatherers. The
historical and theoretical significance of hunting and gathering societies in
general is reviewed, followed by a selected survey of hunting and gathering
peoples from the ethnographic literature. L. Freeman. Winter.
213/453. Modern Readings in Anthropology: Explorations in Oral Narrative--The
Folk Tale. Class limited to thirty-five students. This course
studies the role of storytelling and narrativity in society and culture:
comparison of folk tale traditions; the shift from oral to literate traditions
and the impact of writing; the principal schools of analysis of narrative
structure and function; and the place of narrative in the disciplines--law,
psychoanalysis, politics, history, philosophy, and anthropology. Story
performance and contemporary storytelling in America are considered. J.
Fernandez. Autumn.
214. The Practice of Anthropology. Class limited to twenty students.
This course examines an intellectual biography of a selected significant
figure (or figures) in the history of anthropology and studies his (her, their)
writings, context, and influence as a specimen of the historical sociology of
anthropological knowledge. Alternatively, the course may focus on a particular
problem or theme of anthropological inquiry, to the same end. There are
readings, discussions, and lectures. G. Stocking. Spring.
214/335. The Practice of Anthropology: Lévi-Strauss. Class
limited to twenty students. This course discusses some fundamental topics
in Lévi-Strauss's anthropology, namely kinship, myth, and structure.
Starting with alliance theory, it proceeds to examine the structural analysis
of myths, its relationship to art, and the very notion of structure in
Lévi-Strauss, relating it with models in other sciences which were its
inspiration. M. Carneiro da Cunha. Spring.
214/383. The Practice of Anthropology: Celebrity and Science in
Paleoanthropology. This seminar explores the balance among research, show
biz, big business, and politics in the careers of Louis, Mary, and Richard
Leakey; Alan Walker; Donald Johanson; Jane Goodall; Dian Fossey; and Birute
Galdikas through films, taped interviews, autobiographies, biographies, pop
publications, instructor's anecdotes, and samples of their scientific writings.
R. Tuttle. Autumn.
215. Problems in Gender Studies II (=Eng 103, GS Hum 206, Hist 205, Hum 229,
SocSci 283). PQ: Second- or third-year standing and completion of a
Common Core social science or humanities course or the equivalent. This is
the second quarter of a two-quarter interdisciplinary sequence that is designed
as an introduction to theories and critical practices in the study of feminism,
gender, and sexuality. Both classic texts and recent reconceptualizations of
these contested fields are examined. Problems and cases from a variety of
cultures and historical periods are considered, and the course pursues their
differing implications for local, national, and global politics. Topics might
include the politics of reproduction; gender and postcolonialism; women, sexual
scandal, and the law; race and sexual paranoia; and sexual subcultures. E.
Alexander, E. Povinelli, Staff. Winter.
220/355. The Anthropology of Development. This course applies
anthropological understanding to development programs in "underdeveloped"
societies through case studies of food production, nutrition, and health care
practices. Special attention is paid to the role and impact of indigenous and
anthropological concepts in the design and implementation of development
projects. Topics include development within the world system, the role of
national and international development agencies, both public and private
(nongovernmental); the cultural construction of well-being and deprivation; the
impact of world market mechanisms and consumerism on underdevelopment; local
resistance and engagement in development; the politics of underdevelopment; and
future scenarios of development. J. Fernandez, R. Fernandez, A. Kolata.
Spring.
225. Health and Society: A Biocultural Approach. This seminar is devoted to
case studies of the interaction among the environment, biological health and
well-being, and social structures and cultural beliefs involving self-image,
sexuality, modesty, and stigma. Particular attention is paid to infant
nutrition, malnutrition, and several pandemics (IDD and other nutrient
deficiencies), as well as to the problems of instituting public policies
effective in altering human behaviors pernicious to health. R. Fernandez.
Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
228. Diasporas and Subcultures: Asian Migration in a Modern World (=Hist
379, SoAsia 282). Immigration policy is a controversial issue in the United
States as established groups seek to limit who is entitled to jobs and
citizenship. This course explores the problems of migration, citizenship, and
multiculturalism through the lens of South Asian migration. It examines the
historical contexts which shaped the modern diaspora of people from India,
beginning with the expansion of labor markets in the British Empire and ending
with postcolonial movement of professionals, skilled laborers, and refugees.
The course focuses on the formation of subcultures and subnationalities, and on
the discourses of freedom that connect India, South Africa, the Caribbean, and
the United States. Through its focus on the migration of South Asians, this
course also calls attention to contemporary problems of freedom, citizenship
and identity. Materials used in this course include historical writing, novels,
film, and popular media. A. Appadurai, C. Breckenridge. Not offered 1995-96;
will be offered 1996-97.
237/337. Capitalism, Colonialism, and Nationalism in the Pacific.
This course compares colonial capitalist projects and their dialogic
transformations up to present political dilemmas, with special attention to
Fiji, New Zealand, and Hawaii, and a focus on the labor diaspora, the fates of
indigenous polities, and tensions in contemporary citizenship. General
propositions about nationalism, "late" capitalism, global cultural flows, and
postcolonial subject positions are juxtaposed with contemporary Pacific
conflicts. J. Kelly. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
243/403. Medicine and Culture (=HiPSS 273). Class limited to fifty
students. Diverse systems of thought and practice concerning health,
illness, and the management of the body and person in everyday and ritual
contexts are examined. This course seeks to develop a framework for studying
the cultural and historical constitution of healing practices, especially the
evolution of Western biomedicine. J. Comaroff. Spring.
247/347. Political Anthropology (=LL/Soc 273, Sociol 347). This course is
an exploration of major theoretical approaches to the study of political
institutions, structures, and processes in different societies, with special
reference to the nature of power, the role of symbolism and ideology in
politics, and images of the state. J. L. Comaroff. Not offered 1995-96; will
be offered 1996-97.
254/354. Knowledge and Power. A very large, boundary-crossing literature
has developed around searches for general insights into relations between
knowledge and power. This course is intended as an introduction, for advanced
undergraduates and graduate students, to some recent (and some not so recent)
scholarly debates about rationality and hegemony, about discourse, disciplines,
dialogics, and authority, and about the (non)uniqueness of modernity,
postmodernity, and science. While designed to engage theoretical literature
about knowledge and power from several disciplines--history of science,
literary criticism, sociology, and philosophy--the course gives special
attention to ethnography, both to ethnographic contributions and appropriations
of them in these debates and to possible ethnographic projects raised by new
questions. J. Kelly. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
260/460. Mesoamerican Archeology. The prehistoric native cultures of
Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras are introduced using a
framework of environmental analysis and cultural evolutionary theory. The
course traces the development of aboriginal societies from the earliest
settlements in the late Pleistocene until the Spanish conquest. Survey focuses
include the Olmec, the Maya, Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec. A.
Kolata. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
261. Ancient Celtic Societies. This course explores the prehistoric
societies of Iron Age "Celtic" Europe and their relationship to modern
communities claiming Celtic ancestry. The course aims to impart an
understanding of (1) the kinds of evidence available for investigating these
ancient societies and how archaeologists interpret these data, (2) processes of
change in culture and society during the Iron Age, and (3) how the legacy of
Celtic societies has both persisted and been reinvented and manipulated in the
modern world. Issues include the relationship between language, material
culture, and society; colonial interaction; urbanization; art and religion;
gender roles; and cultural identity in the construction of tradition. M.
Dietler. Autumn.
262/462. Approaches to the Past. Drawing heavily on evidence from Old World
prehistory, this course considers the variety of approaches to the analysis of
archaeological data, illustrating each with examples derived from the reports
of archaeological excavations. It prepares the student to evaluate
reconstructions of lifeways to be found in archaeological literature. L.
Freeman. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
263/363. Andean Prehistory. This course is an in-depth examination of
selected pre-Hispanic Andean societies and their evolution. It is not an
exhaustive survey of South American prehistory. Rather, emphasis is placed on
the formulation of general theoretical cultural models for Andean societies and
their evolution through a series of empirical case studies. The central role of
ethnohistorical research in understanding the dynamics and institutional bases
of indigenous Andean civilization is a recurrent theme during the course. A.
Kolata. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
264/463. Artifact Typology and Technology. This course provides an
introduction to the principles of stone artifact classification, using both
qualitative and quantitative methods and involving firsthand contact with
actual Paleolithic specimens. L. Freeman. Autumn.
266. Summer Prehistory Field School in Spain. This summer field school in
method and theory in Paleolithic prehistory is taught jointly with the
Institute for Prehistoric Investigations in Santander, Spain. This course
carries 300 units of credit. L. Freeman. Summer.
267/464. Prehistoric Art. This course covers data, techniques of analysis,
and interpretive theories. L. Freeman. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
268/368. Function and Style in Material Culture. This course introduces the
technologies of preindustrial peoples and the various levels of meaning (social
and ideological as well as technological) of artifacts. L. Freeman. Not
offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
269/469. Archaeological Data Analysis. This course introduces the use of
statistical procedures and the computer in the analysis of archaeological data.
L. Freeman. Autumn.
270-1,-2,-3/370-1,-2,-3. Introduction to Linguistics I, II, III (=Ling
201-202-203/301-302-303, SocSci 217-218-219). PQ: Must be taken in
sequence. This course is an introductory survey of methods, findings, and
problems in areas of major interest within linguistics and of the relationship
of linguistics to other disciplines. Topics include the biological basis of
language, basic notions of syntax, semantics, pragmatics, basic syntactic
typology of language, phonetics, phonology, morphology, language acquisition,
linguistic variation, and linguistic change. J. Sadock, Autumn; R. Janda,
Winter; K. Kazazis, Spring.
272. Language in Culture and Society (=Ling 212). This course is an
intensive introduction to the study of language as communicative practice.
Topics include linguistic structure, its relation to other sign systems, speech
acts, approaches to "context," varieties of interaction, and basic elements of
a practice approach. W. Hanks. Winter.
273. Language, Voice, and Gender (=Psych 273). The role of language (as
structure, as text, and as discursive practice) is considered in the
sociocultural construction of gender as an aspect of social identity. A variety
of scholarly and popular works is discussed in a cross-cultural framework of
comparison, with a view to locating the cultural processes in specific cases.
M. Silverstein. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
274. Language, Power, and Identity in Southeastern Europe: A Linguistic View of
the Balkan Crisis (=GnSlav 230, Hum 274, LngLin 230). Language is a key
issue in the articulation of ethnicity and the struggle for power in
southeastern Europe. This course familiarizes students with the linguistic
histories and structures that have served as bases for the formation of modern
Balkan ethnic identities and that are being manipulated to shape current and
future events. V. Friedman. Autumn.
275/475-1,-2,-3. Modern Spoken Quiché Maya I, II, III (=LngLin 278/478).
Introduction to the spoken language with tapes and transcriptions,
grammatical notes and exercises, aural comprehension, and oral practice. N.
McQuown. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
277-1,-2,-3. Intensive Aymara I, II, III (=LngLin 301-302-303, LatAm
301-302-303). Class limited to twenty students. This beginners'
intensive course in Aymara, stresses speaking, grammatical, and cultural
structures. It is intensively taught to reach beyond intermediate speaking
skills by a native speaker who provides instructional materials. M. Huanca.
Summer.
278. Culture and Cognition: Linguistic Relativity (=Ling 270, Psych 249).
PQ: Knowledge of linguistics or cognitive studies helpful. Understanding
language both as a systematic representation of the thinkable and as a
systematic way of inhabiting a universe of social action, we review the ways in
which modern social and cognitive scientists have dealt with the implications
of the formal variability of language. We consider both cross-linguistic,
cross-societal implications and the significance of register-based social
variability of language within linguistic communities. M. Silverstein.
Spring.
279/479-1,-2,-3. Modern Spoken Yucatec Maya I, II, III (=LngLin 279/479).
Introduction to the spoken language with tapes and transcriptions,
grammatical notes and exercises, aural comprehension, and oral practice. N.
McQuown. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
290. Preparation of Bachelor's Essay. PQ: Consent of instructor and
program chairman. Students are required to submit the College Reading and
Research Course Form. At the discretion of the instructor, this course is
available for either Pass or letter grading. For honors
requirements, see honors section under Program Requirements. Staff.
Autumn, Winter, Spring.
299. Readings in Anthropology. PQ: Consent of instructor and program
chairman. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research
Course Form. At the discretion of the instructor, this course is available for
either Pass or letter grading. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
300. Culture I: The Nature of Culture. PQ: Third- or fourth-year
standing. May be taken in sequence or individually. This is the first of a
three-quarter sequence on the nature and varieties of culture. Culture I
considers academic theories of culture and their sources in Western
philosophies of humanity and society. M. Sahlins. Autumn.
301. Culture II: Varieties of Cultural Order. PQ: Third- or fourth-year
standing. May be taken in sequence or individually. This is the second of a
three-quarter sequence on the nature and varieties of culture. Culture II is
concerned with classical anthropological depictions of cultural
differences--that is, from the early modern period or the so-called
ethnological present. M. Sahlins. Winter.
302. Culture III: Cultural Change and Contemporary Ethnography. PQ:
Third- or fourth-year standing. May be taken in sequence or individually.
This is the third of a three-quarter sequence on the nature and varieties
of culture. Culture III is a discussion of cultural change in general and in
the context of modern world history. M. Sahlins. Spring.
304. Human Nature. This course examines attempts in the humanities and
social sciences to define the difference between human and nonhuman nature.
Texts examined include the works of Locke, Rousseau, Freud, Marx, the Frankfort
School, Haraway, and Derrida. The course then compares anthropological studies
of the cross-cultural construction of the categories "human," "animal," and
"nature." Special attention is given to power relations operating and encoded
in any particular construction of human nature. E. Povinelli.
Spring.
306-1,-2,-3. Introduction to African Civilization I, II, III (=SocSci
225-226-227). This course sequence fulfills the Common Core requirement
in civilizational studies. This course presents the political, economic,
social, and cultural development of sub-Saharan African communities and states
from a variety of points from the precolonial past up to the present. The
autumn quarter treats the social organization and political economy of several
precolonial societies in southern, central, and eastern Africa. The winter
focuses on a single region, the Manden of West Africa, covering village social
structure and political economy, precolonial trade and empire, Islam, European
colonialism, and postcolonial society. The spring quarter deals with the
ethnography, history, and politics of South Africa I. Herbich, Autumn; R.
Austen, Winter; J. L. Comaroff, Spring.
307-1,-2,-3. Introduction to Latin American Civilization I, II, III (=Hist
335-336-337, LatAm 345-346-347, SocSci 261-262-263). May be taken in
sequence or individually. This three-quarter course sequence introduces
students to the history and cultures of Latin America, including Mexico,
Central and South America, and the Caribbean islands. The autumn quarter
examines the origins of civilizations in Latin America with a focus on the
political, social, and cultural features of the major pre-Columbian
civilizations of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec. The quarter concludes with
consideration of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest and the construction of
colonial societies in Latin America. The winter quarter addresses the evolution
of colonial societies, the Wars of Independence, and the emergence of Latin
American nation-states in the changing international context of the nineteenth
century. The spring quarter focuses on the twentieth century, with a special
emphasis on the challenges of economic, political, and social development in
the region. A. Kolata, Autumn; C. Lomnitz, Winter; F. Katz, Spring.
308-1,-2,-3. Introduction to the Civilization of South Asia I, II, III (=SocSci
230-231-232, SoAsia 207-208-209). PQ: Must be taken in sequence.
This course sequence fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilizational
studies. Using a variety of disciplinary approaches, this sequence seeks to
familiarize students with some of the important ideas, texts, institutions, and
historical experiences that have constituted South Asian civilization. Topics
covered in the autumn quarter include European and American representations of
India, its place in world history and as a "Third World" and "underdeveloped"
country, and its recent repositioning in the global economy as a consumer
society, and popular movements (women's, rural, tribal, urban slum, and Dalit).
Among topics covered in the winter quarter are Hinduism, Islam, and the issue
of religious commitment and national unity, the Great Epic (Mahabharata)
and Gita in tradition and in the modern media. The spring quarter looks at the
question of "cultural" identity, focusing on South Asians in Britain and in the
United States. R. Inden, Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
313-1,-2,-3. The African Diaspora I, II, III. Staff. Autumn, Winter,
Spring.
313-1. The African Diaspora I: Looking Back on Slavery (=AfAfAm 201, Eng 277,
GS Hum 216). Looking at a variety of texts by black and white authors drawn
primarily from the period extending from the 1930s though the 1960s, we
consider the myriad ways writers sought to come to terms with the "permanence"
of the black presence in the "West." Among the texts we consider are Ellison's
Invisible Man, Hurston's Tell My Horse, Faulkner's Light of
August, Hughes's The Big Sea, James's The Black Jacobins,
Sartre's Black Orpheus, and Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth.
Informing our inquiry is the pressure exerted on the literary imagination by
official histories of the slave trade and of emancipation. K. Warren.
Autumn.
313-2. The African Diaspora II: Race, Class, and Nationalism in the African
Diaspora (=AfAfAm 202). R. Derby. Winter.
313-3. The African Diaspora III: Rethinking the African Diaspora (=AfAfAm 203).
This course focuses on the "African" experience in the New World,
particularly in Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad, and North America. Themes of
acculturation, syncretism, adaptation, and resistance in the classic diaspora
literature are critically reevaluated in light of current issues in cultural
studies--hegemony and the politics of African identity, the symbolic
construction (and deconstruction) of "origins," the rhetoric of racial and
sexual difference, black nationalist ideologies, and the material conditions of
imagined communities. A. Apter. Spring.
313. CIAID: Colonial Society--South Africa and the Caribbean. This course
deals with the formation of colonial societies in the Caribbean and southern
Africa, concentrating on the way in which Africans and people of African
descent became a part of complex multiracial societies with new forms of
culture and social life, sometimes called "creole." Particular attention is
paid to the governmental institutions, racial hierarchies, and cultures of
domination and resistance characteristic of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. J. L. Comaroff, Staff. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
323. Ethnopsychology: Hindu. PQ: Anthro 212/321 (Hindu) or consent of
instructor. Students construct psychological concepts from the realities
assumed, perceived, and acted upon by Indians of various perspectives and
faiths. They apply their concepts to analyze specimens of experience and
behavior from recent ethnographies, biographies, and works of fiction dealing
with family life. M. Marriott. Autumn.
325. Formal Modeling in Anthropology. PQ: Consent of instructor.
Concepts drawn from mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, biology, and
sociology are used to model cultural descriptions of age, caste, class,
kinship, power, prestations, and sports, especially materials exhibiting ranked
properties. M. Marriott. Winter.
326. Anthropology of Europe. PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing.
Ethnographic monographs are discussed in reference to the problem of the
unity and diversity of the cultures of western and central Europe, the problem
of a European matrix culture as seen in the family structures and folklore of
rural life, the emergence of estates and classes, a political economy of
rural/urban confrontation and exploitation, and the contemporary problem of an
emergent European community. Each year a comparison of monographs from two
regions is emphasized. J. Fernandez. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
327. Spain, Greece, and the Mediterranean. PQ: Third- or fourth-year
standing. A comparison of the now extensive ethnographies of community life
in Spain and Greece, with an interest in identifying unity and diversity in
kinship and inheritance structures, in economic organization, and in religious
practices. Spain's and Greece's places in southern Europe and the Mediterranean
are examined by reference to anthropological studies in Portugal, Italy, and
North Africa. J. Fernandez. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
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330. Russian Poetry in Translation (=ComLit 308, Russ 326, SocTh 329). This
course provides a detailed analysis of about twenty major poems with special
attention to Russian cultural values. P. Friedrich. Not offered 1995-96;
will be offered 1996-97.
331-1,-2,-3. North American Indians I, II, III. PQ: Consent of
instructor. Must be taken in sequence. This course is a comprehensive
review of Native American cultural history, including consideration of
intellectual context, prehistory, ethnology, history, and the contemporary
situation. The last half of the third quarter is devoted to a mutually
agreed-on topic in which students pursue individual research, the results of
which are presented in seminar format. R. Fogelson. Autumn, Winter,
Spring.
334. Narrative and Experimental Ethnography. PQ: Open to third- or
fourth-year students with consent of instructor. This is a study of
ethnography as a problem of narration and emplotment, based mainly on the study
of the ethnographies written in the last fifteen years under the
epistemological and methodological pressures of phenomenology, critical theory,
interpretivism, and particularly postmodernism. We consider the reflective
attempts by earlier anthropologists to better render the field experience, the
use of rhetorical devices and image evocation in ethnography, attempts at
expanding emotional range in the ethnographic sensorium, the gendering of the
experience of the "other," dialogic engagement with the "other," and the
"politics of self/other representation." Critical comparison is made to the
classical ethnographies and their commitment to "theory building" and the
"archival function." J. Fernandez. Spring.
343. Psychological Anthropology: Historical Perspectives on Psychological
Anthropology (=HumDev 342). This course considers the logical status of
psychological anthropology as an anthropological discipline. Attention is paid
to the "prehistoric" roots of psychological discipline, as well as the
influence of psychoanalysis on anthropology. The "culture and personality"
movement is evaluated as a movement. The course concludes with a discussion of
trends and trending in modern psychological anthropology. R. Fogelson. Not
offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
344-1,-2. Primitive Religion I, II (=HumDev 335-1,-2). PQ: Consent of
instructor. Must be taken in sequence. A theoretical and substantive survey
of the religions of "primitive" peoples. Topics include the notion of
primitivism, a history of the anthropological study of religion, minimal
definitions of religion, religious experience, dreams, myths, ritual,
divination, theories of magic, shamanism, curing, conceptions of power, and
dynamics of religious change. R. Fogelson. Not offered 1995-96; will be
offered 1996-97.
348-1,-2. Taboo and Pollution I, II. PQ: Consent of instructor. The
phenomenon of taboo and its sanction by pollution, misfortune, and so on are
considered by focusing on a particular body of ethnographic
materials--furnished by the Huaulu of Seram--and comparing it with various
other cases (including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and European cultures). V.
Valeri. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
358-1,-2,-3. Anthropology, Poetics, and the Study of Character: The
Odyssey I, II, III (=SocTh 304). Intensive study of one book per week
in terms of ethnography, poetics, mythology, and the study of character; some
reference to secondary literature (e.g., Finley) and subsequent variants of the
these (e.g., Tennyson). Some attention is given to major alternative
translations; knowledge of Greek helpful but not required. P. Friedrich,
Autumn; P. Friedrich, J. Redfield, Winter; P. Friedrich, Spring.
359. Russian through Its Poetry (=Russ 216/316). P. Friedrich, C.
O'Neil. Autumn.
362. Ceramic Analysis for Archaeologists. PQ: Consent of instructor.
This course exposes students to the theoretical foundations and techniques that
allow archaeologists to use collections of ancient ceramic shards to make
inferences about the behavior of the people who made and used the pots.
Ethnographic, experimental, and physical science approaches are explored to
develop a realistic understanding of the kinds of information about ancient
people that can be plausibly derived from their pottery and to assess which
techniques and analytical strategies may best serve to obtain that information.
M. Dietler. Winter.
364. Archaeological Field Methods. This course provides practical field
training through participation in the excavation of a prehistoric site.
Students receive instruction in the full range of surveying, excavation, and
data-recording tasks necessary for accurate interpretation of the
archaeological record. J. Buikstra. Summer.
365. Archaeological Theory and Research Design. This course covers
site-oriented development of archaeological research design. Students develop
skills in archaeological sampling, data recovery, and analysis based in
critical evaluation of archaeological theory. Quantitative methods are
emphasized. J. Buikstra. Summer.
366. Archeology and the Natural Sciences. This course explores the roles of
geological, zoological, botanical, and related sciences in the interpretation
of the archaeological record. J. Buikstra. Summer.
372-1,-2. Language in Culture I, II (=Ling 311-312, Psych 470-471). PQ:
Consent of instructor. Must be taken in sequence. This two-quarter course
presents the major issues in linguistics of anthropological interest,
including, in the first half, the formal structure of semiotic systems, the
ethnographically crucial incorporation of linguistic forms into cultural
systems, and the methods for empirical investigation of "functional" semiotic
structure and history. The second half of the sequence takes up basic concepts
in sociolinguistics and their critique; linguistic analysis of publics;
performance and ritual; and language ideologies, among other topics. M.
Silverstein, Autumn; S. Gal, Winter.
373. Phonology I (=Ling 208/308). PQ: Ling 201, 202, 203, 206, or
equivalent. This is an introduction to general principles of phonology,
with emphasis on nongenerative theory. J. Goldsmith. Winter.
374. Morphology and Syntax (=Ling 210/310). PQ: Anthro 373. This
course deals with linguistic structure and patterning beyond the phonological
level, primarily from a structuralist point of view. It concentrates on
analysis of grammatical and formal oppositions and their structural
relationships and interrelationships. H. Aronson. Spring.
376. Phonology II (=Ling 209/309). PQ: Anthro 373. The principles of
generative phonology are introduced and studied in detail, emphasizing the role
of formalism and abstractness in phonological analysis. The emphasis is on
Sound Pattern of English theory, with brief discussion of more recent
autosegmental and metrical models. R. Janda. Spring.
377. Phonetics (=Ling 206/306). PQ: Ling 201, 202, 203, or consent of
instructor. This is an introduction to the study of speech sounds. Speech
sounds are described with respect to their articulatory, acoustic, and
perceptual structures. There are laboratory exercises both in phonetic
transcription and in the acoustic analysis of speech sounds. K. Landahl.
Autumn.
378-379. Syntax I, II (=Ling 204-205/304-305). PQ: Ling 201, 202, 203,
or equivalent. Must be taken in sequence. This two-quarter sequence is
devoted to detailed study of the major syntactic phenomena of English, combined
with exposition and critical evaluation of the principal accounts of phenomena
proposed by transformational grammarians and the theoretical frameworks within
which those accounts are developed. Class discussion focuses on ideas advanced
in or arising out of transformational grammar with regard to the relation
between syntax and semantics and the psychological status of linguistic
analyses. J. McCawley, Autumn; A. Dahlstrom, Winter.
381. Evolution of the Hominoidea (=EvBiol 381). PQ: Third- or
fourth-year standing; consent of instructor. This course carries 200 units of
credit. A detailed consideration of the fossil record and the phylogeny of
Hominidae and collateral taxa of the Hominoidea is based
upon studies of casts and comparative primate osteology. R. Tuttle.
Spring.
382. Human Osteology. PQ: Consent of instructor. Class limited to
fifteen students. This is a lab course designed to acquaint students with
human anatomy through the study of skeletal remains. Students learn skeletal
structures, as well as techniques for determining age at death, sex, stature,
and disease. Archaeological applications are emphasized during summer session.
J. Buikstra. Summer.
382. Comparative Primate Morphology (=EvBiol 382). PQ: Consent of
instructor. This course carries 200 units of credit. Functional morphology
of locomotor, alimentary, reproductive, and special sensory systems in primates
is studied. Dissections are performed on monkeys and apes. R. Tuttle. Not
offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
384. History and Theory of Human Evolution (=EvBiol 384, HiPSS 236). PQ:
Third- or fourth-year standing. This proseminar is based on the classic
theoretic writings, autobiographies, and biographies of Darwin, Huxley, Haekel,
Keith, Osborn, Jones, Gregory, Morton, Broom, Black, Dart, Weidenreich,
Robinson, Leakey, LeGros-Clark, Schultz, Straus, Hooton, Washburn, Coon,
Dobzhansky, Simpson, and Gould. R. Tuttle. Winter.
385. Field Methods in Biological Anthropology. PQ: Experience in field
archaeology. Advanced training in archaeological fieldwork oriented
specifically to the excavation of materials from mortuary sites. Research
design and data analysis are emphasized. J. Buikstra. Summer.
386. Apes and Human Evolution (=EvBiol 386, HiPSS 237). A critical
examination of the ways in which data on the behavior and morphology of apes
have been used to elucidate human evolution, with particular emphasis on
bipedalism, hunting, meat eating, food sharing, tool behavior, intelligence,
language, self-awareness, and sociability. Labs include trips to local
zoological gardens and the Field Museum of Natural History, films, and
demonstrations of casts of fossils, skeletons, and anthropoid dissections.
R. Tuttle. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
407. Ethnography of South Asia: Social Organization. PQ: Consent of
instructor. Advanced readings and discussions of local, regional, and
topical ethnographies. M. Marriott. Autumn.
411. Seminar: Ethnography of Central and Eastern Europe. PQ: Consent of
instructor. This seminar reads a series of classic and recent ethnographic
studies of populations in the following countries: Germany, Austria, Poland,
Hungary, Rumania, parts of the former Yugoslavia, and parts of the former
Soviet Union. Our aim is to get a sense of how a range of communisms worked "on
the ground," as well as the range of "transitions." Possible questions include
the Cold War as the context of anthropological studies of Europe; theorizing
Communism; the issue of "nationalism"; "embourgeoisment" and
"underdevelopment"; the imagination of democracy, citizenship, and civil
society; and money and the culture of commodities. S. Gal. Not offered
1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
412. Comparative Poetry and Poetics (=ComLit 328, SocTh 327). PQ:
Consent of instructor. This course includes fundamentals of poetic language
and poetry: the music of language, theory of figures, the mythological basis,
linguistic relativism, sociopolitical context, and the moral intentions of the
poet. Russian, Eskimo, T'ang Chinese, and modern American examples are
considered. P. Friedrich. Spring.
414. Metaphor Theory in Anthropology. PQ: Third- or fourth-year
standing. A study of the "play of tropes"--metaphor, metonym, synecdoche,
irony, and so on--in social life, the emplotment of social action, and the
constructions of the cultural imagination. The principle theories, from Vico to
contemporary anthropologists, are reviewed. J. Fernandez. Autumn.
418. Diarchy and History. PQ: Consent of instructor. The
relationship of priestly authority and military-economic power at the top of
society--and more generally the phenomenon of political dualism--are considered
in a variety of ethnographical and historical cases (South and Southeast Asia,
ancient and medieval Europe, and Oceania). Particular attention is paid to the
forms of historicity of diarchic systems. V. Valeri. Not offered 1995-96;
will be offered 1996-97.
423-1,-2. Comparative Agricultural Systems I, II. PQ: Consent of
instructor. Must be taken in sequence. This course provides an introduction
to the substantive data, theoretical arguments, and methodological approaches
for the analysis of temperate and tropical agricultural systems in a
comparative and historical framework. The ecological aspects of various crops
and cropping systems are explored, and the anthropological, environmental, and
developmental implications of these systems are examined. An intensive analysis
is made of temperate and tropical agricultural systems in a comparative and
historical framework. A. Kolata. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
427. Blood and Money. PQ: Consent of instructor. Two generalized
symbolic media--blood and money--are considered for their equivalences,
contrasts, and interactions in a variety of societies, with particular emphasis
on the Huaulu of Seram and modern European culture. Issues of exchange, value,
pollution, and power are addressed in the course of the inquiry. V. Valeri.
Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
432. Problems in Australian Aboriginal Land. This course is about the
cultural constitution of land and place in modern Australian Aboriginal
societies. It considers selected intercultural processes such as land claims
cases, the creation of the special, protected areas of "sacred sites," and
developments in mobility and regional connectivities, as well as relations
between body, place, and "country" fundamental to Aboriginal societies and to
defining identity vis à vis Euro-Australians. N. Munn. Not offered
1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
448. Contextualization of Anthropological Knowledge. PQ: Consent of
instructor before the first class meeting, preferably by the end of the
preceding quarter. Class limited to ten students. This course attempts to
place anthropological knowledge in broader contexts (historical, social,
cultural, ideological, institutional, disciplinary, discursive, and so on),
usually by focusing on a particular theme and following its development from
the eighteenth century to the present. The specific topic varies from year to
year. Recent themes have included boundary formation, colonial context,
cultural comparison and cultural critique, and ethnographic method. In addition
to readings, informal lectures, and discussions relating to the overall topic,
each student is expected to have an interest in some specific aspect or
manifestation of the general theme as the focus of their own contribution to
the course. G. Stocking. Spring.
451. Anthropology of the Body. PQ: Consent of instructor. This
course explores a range of texts, both classic and more recent, that treat the
body as the subject and object of social processes. Introductory lectures are
followed by student presentations, the general aim being to ground theoretical
inquiry in ethnographic and historical materials. J. Comaroff. Not offered
1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
452. Problems in Exchange: The Kula Ring (Papua New Guinea). PQ: Open to
advanced anthropology concentrators with consent of instructor. An in-depth
examination of the classical anthropological problem of Kula exchange based on
recent research. Kula is used to consider selected topics in the study of
social exchange such as the symbolism of exchange objects, exchange and value,
and current anthropological discussions of "gifts" and "commodities." N.
Munn. Autumn.
454-1,-2. Sacred Kingship I, II. PQ: Consent of instructor. The
symbology, practice, and history of sacred kingship are considered, with
special emphasis on mythological and ritual aspects. Successorial and
matrimonial institutions are also discussed, as well as kingship's relationship
with functional classes. The second part is a seminar. V. Valeri. Not
offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
455. Seminar: Anthropology of Space and Time. A range of anthropological
literature on sociocultural space and time is explored. N. Munn. Not offered
1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
461. Archaeology and the Politics of the Past. PQ: Consent of
instructor. This seminar explores the use of the ancient past as a symbolic
resource by modern communities and the social situation and responsibilities of
archaeologists in this process. Case studies from a variety of contexts are
used to show how archaeology has been implicated in the politically charged
construction of ethnic and regional identities and nationalist and colonialist
mythologies in modern history. Current debates about the authority of competing
interpretations of archaeological evidence, the right to control public
representations of the past, and the contested ownership of archaeological
materials and sites are also discussed. M. Dietler. Winter.
466. Economic Archaeology. PQ: Consent of instructor. This course
provides a grounding in the methods, issues, and theoretical framework for the
analysis of ancient economic systems, as well as comparative perspective on the
role of economy in society and history. The relationship of economic
archaeology to the subfields of economic anthropology and economic history, its
special methodological and theoretical problems, and its potential contribution
are explored. M. Dietler. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
468. Ethnoarchaeology and Material Culture. PQ: Consent of
instructor. This seminar explores the research methods and theoretical
contributions of the subfield of anthropology that aids archaeological
interpretation by studying material culture in ethnographic contexts. Case
studies are used to demonstrate the social embeddedness and cultural
significance of the production, exchange, consumption, and discarding of
material culture; to develop an understanding of the relationship between
material and non-material dimensions of human life and the possibilities for
archaeological inference; and to critically assess techniques and strategies
for future fieldwork. M. Dietler. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
473. Historical Linguistics (=Ling 213/313). PQ: Anthro 373, 376, 377,
or consent of instructor. This course concerns linguistic change and
variation and the theory and practice of genetic comparison and reconstruction.
G. Gragg. Autumn.
475. Colonial Yucatec (=LngLin 374). PQ: Consent of instructor. This
course is an introduction to the structure of Yucatec Mayan as spoken during
the colonial period and includes a practicum in the translation of documents.
W. Hanks. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
486. Advanced Problems in Skeletal Biology. PQ: Consent of
instructor. Class limited to fifteen students. Advanced course work
in the analysis of human skeletal remains. Topics include paleodemography,
paleopathology, biological distance, mortuary practices, and paleonutrition.
J. Buikstra. Summer.
503. State Fetishism in Africa. PQ: Consent of instructor. Cultural
approaches to the state in Africa are discussed, focusing on the dialectics of
colonialism, nationalism, gender, and commoditization as constituted and
negotiated through bodily schema and practices. Various ethnographic readings
examine imperial ritual, etiquette, and gender relations; national boundaries
and the circulation of value; and "physiologies" of state power in postcolonial
regimes. A. Apter. Spring.
505. The Anthropological Study of the United States by Foreigners. PQ:
Third- or fourth-year standing. A consideration of how the United States is
treated as "the other" in both the travel literature and the ethnography by
Europeans and visitors and scholars from the Third World. J. Fernandez. Not
offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
509. Seminar: Man and Nature in the Amazon. This seminar concentrates on
two issues: styles and methods in ethnoscience and the discussion of
intellectual property rights for traditional societies. For example, one topic
is forest management in the Amazon. M. Carneiro da Cunha. Autumn.
510. Seminar: Text and Image in Colonial Latin America. PQ: Consent of
instructor. Using a combination of anthropological and art-historical
methods, this course examines the emergence of written texts and images in
books during the colonial period in Latin America. Special focus is placed on
Andean and Mesoamerican regions and on issues of cultural ambivalence; the
making of truth through writing; and the contexts of production, distribution,
and reception of written works. W. Hanks, T. Cummins. Not offered 1995-96;
will be offered 1996-97.
513. Seminar: Culture and Psychoanalysis. PQ: Consent of instructor.
This course centers on the significance of Sigmund Freud's contribution to
general theories of culture. Freud's legacy to theories of culture is reviewed,
as well as contributions of his followers, apostates, and successors. Special
attention is paid to major developments in contemporary psychoanalytic
anthropology. R. Fogelson. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
517. Seminar: Paths and Maps for Memory. PQ: Consent of instructor.
Topics considered include memory and society (the Ecole Sociologique,
memory and identity), paths and maps for memory (pilgrimages, transforming
time into space, the art of memory, and memory and ritual), the politics of
memory, and the physiology of memory. M. Carneiro da Cunha. Spring.
520. Nationalism and Culture. The nation is that form of political
community whose special task it was to realize the aspirations of modernity.
But in the contemporary world this assumption is being contested in the name of
other forms of community--"ethnic" and "religious," for example. How has the
problem of the nation and nationalism been posed in recent theoretical and
historical discourse? What are the intersecting assumptions about modernity,
liberalism, and socialism? How has "ethnicity" emerged as a site of
contestation? What kind of theoretical understanding does this aspect of our
present urge upon us? D. Scott. Spring.
523. Seminar: The Craft of Anthropology--Methods and Ethics. PQ: Consent
of instructor. J. L. Comaroff. Winter.
527. Twentieth-Century Seminar: India as a Disciplinary Site (=SoAsia 412).
This seminar uses South Asian materials to view the archive of the twentieth
century as composed of complex disciplinary productions that have divided the
century into naturalized periods; to resituate works originally conceived as
analytic studies as sources for the study of the twentieth century; and to
reopen the various dates and ruptures (such as 1918, 1930, 1947, 1960, and
1980) that have created breaks between disciplinary territories and fostered
the illusion of natural chronologies. The course is as much a critique of the
disciplinary histories as of the processes by which histories of the present
are constructed by scholars and activists of different persuasions. A.
Appadurai. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
528: Seminar: Politics of Reproduction. PQ: Consent of instructor.
This course takes up the ways in which representations of the body, of human
sexuality, and of human reproduction are systematically intertwined, in
different places and times, with conceptualizations of the nature and powers of
the state, conceptualizations of "citizenship," the formulation of human
"rights," and the construction of national and individual identities. We
concern ourselves with the interactions of everyday local practice, state
policies, and public discourses about gender and reproduction, but also with
the nature and activities of international and nongovernmental agencies
concerned with population and environment. The course aims to construct
critiques of "democratic" and other political theories, as well as to build an
understanding of the workings of political power as it is linked to gender
inequality. S. Gal. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
529. Culture and Criticism. PQ: Consent of instructor. "Culture" has
been taken to be a concept that not only explains phenomena but enables
criticism. How, in our political-ethical present, are we to understand the
intersection between the problem of criticism and the concept of culture? To
find our feet in this matter, we not only inquire into those discourses that
deploy a concept of culture, but also inquire into the tasks and goals of
criticism. D. Scott. Winter.
531. Seminar: Problems in Indigenous South American Societies. PQ:
Consent of instructor. This seminar focuses on contemporary,
ethnohistorical, and archaeological data on Amazonian and Andean societies,
compared to Central American cases. Topics include the development of complex
societies and states, including political-economic dynamics and contradictions
at both local community and state levels; systems of social production; moiety,
triadic, and quadripartite structures; cosmological systems; and the problems
of development. A. Kolata, T. Turner. Autumn.
535. Seminar: History and Myth. PQ: Consent of instructor. Different
ways of accounting for the past narratively are discussed. The uses of the past
correlated with these representational and epistemological practices, and thus
issues of knowledge and power, are also treated. Theoretical discussion is
combined with analyses of concrete cases. Particular attention is paid to
comparison of the history of one area of Indonesia (Central Moluccas) given by
Europeans on the basis of European records with the account given by the oral
traditions of one of the peoples inhabiting this area. V. Valeri. Not
offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
536. Seminar: Critical Studies of Sexuality (=Hist 628). PQ: Consent of
instructor. Class limited to fifteen students. This course critically
interrogates how lesbian-gay-bisexual identity politics have come to be so
crucial to American formations of same-sex desire and practices and, more
generally, how sexual politics have come to be so crucial to American culture
and politics. To do so, it examines the emergence of "sexuality" as a sphere of
personal definition and of heterosexuality and homosexuality as categories of
experience and identity in the United States; how sexual desires and practices
are invested with meaning in other cultural fields; and the articulation of
sexuality with other social identities of race, gender, class, kinship, and
age. E. Povinelli, G. Chauncey. Spring.
537. Seminar: Sex, Gender, and Power in the History of Religions. B.
Lincoln. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
542. Seminar: Postcolonial Criticism. PQ: Consent of instructor.
Since the publication of Edward Said's Orientalism, a "postcolonial"
criticism has emerged which is concerned with rethinking the discursive
relation between Europe and its "others." What is the scope and target of this
postcolonial criticism? What is its relation to "postmodern" critical
strategies? Is there, or should there be, an intersection between the themes
and modes of postcolonial criticism and other salient features of our
present--the demise of Communism; the rise of a new, aggressive liberalism; and
the changes in the capitalist world economy? This course explores the cognitive
and political space of postcolonial criticism, seeking its yield and limits.
D. Scott. Spring.
549. Seminar: Gifts and Commodities, Sacrifices and Tributes. PQ:
Consent of instructor. Different forms of give and take in human society
are considered through recent studies. V. Valeri. Not offered 1995-96; will
be offered 1996-97.
550. Seminar: Praxis and Culture. PQ: Anthro 341 or 447 and consent of
instructor. This seminar deals with the relevance of concepts of action,
activity, and praxis for anthropological concepts of culture, the individual,
and society. Readings are from Marx, hermeneutics, phenomenology, psychology,
linguistics, sociology, and philosophy. Topics include applications to
anthropological problems such as value, the body, the symbolic mediation of
social interaction; the structural properties of cultural constructs such as
classification, tropes, prototypes, and schemas; narrative; ritual; ideology;
social organization; and political issues such as cultural and ethnic autonomy
and human rights. T. Turner. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered
1996-97.
551. Seminar: Issues in Contemporary Social/Cultural Theory. PQ: Consent
of instructor. Topics include the critique of modernism and postmodernism;
the concepts of "late capitalism," transnationalism, and changes in the role of
the state as they relate to ethnicity, nationalism, multiculturalism, hegemony,
xenophobia, and cultural fundamentalism; "interpretation," "discourse," and
dialogism," comprising neohermeneutic, poststructuralist, and Bakhtinian
Marxist perspectives; representation, "the other," and the critique of
ethnography; "practice theory," "habitus," and "structuration"; and issues
arising from anthropological engagement in advocacy and development. T.
Turner. Autumn.
552. The Anthropology of Modernity. PQ: Consent of instructor. This
course explores such topics as mass media, migration, ethnic movements, and
consumerism to deparochialize existing models of modernity and to provide an
ethnographic approach to transnational, intercultural problems of
communication, mobilization, and action. A. Appadurai. Winter.
553. Seminar: Reading Legal Discourse. PQ: Consent of instructor.
This course examines recent trends in Critical Legal Studies/Critical Race
Theory and their importance to the anthropology of law in multicultural and
transnational contexts. It begins by situating CLS/CRT among anthropological
interests in law and society. Readings and discussions focus on how to analyze
the values and hierarchies embedded in legal decisions and on the relationship
between law, narrative, and social dominance. The course ends with a practicum
that has students analyze specific court cases. E. Povinelli.
Winter.
556. Seminar: Commodity Fetishism. PQ: Consent of instructor. Few
arguments in social theory have attracted as much attention as Marx's mock
revelation of "the fetishism of the commodity and its secret." Much debate
about capitalism, and about the relation between political economy and culture,
has involved rereadings and rewritings of Marx's argument. This seminar
reconsiders commodities in theory and reality. It seeks not only the secrets of
the commodity, but also the limits that scholarly fetishism of the commodity
has placed on our studies of the culture and history of capital. The course
focuses on the interest in the cultural logic of capitalist societies. J.
Kelly. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
558. Seminar: Culture and History. PQ: Consent of instructor. Class
limited to twenty students. This course features the role of cultural order
in historical change, with analytic examples from diverse ethnographic sites in
the early modern and modern periods. M. Sahlins. Spring.
560. The Preindustrial City. PQ: Consent of instructor. The origins
and structure of the preindustrial city are examined. The seminar is broadly
comparative in perspective and considers the nature of the archaic city in a
variety of regional and temporal contexts. A. Kolata. Winter.
565. The Archaeology of Colonial Encounters. PQ: Consent of
instructor. This seminar compares archaeological approaches to the process
of colonial interaction. It uses temporally and geographically diverse case
studies from the archaeological and historical literature, within a critical
discussion of anthropological theory on the topic. The course evaluates
archaeology's potential to provide a unique window of access to precapitalist
forms of colonial interaction and to augment historical studies of the
expansion of the European world-system, as well as its methodological problems
and limitations. M. Dietler. Autumn.
577. Seminar on Current Research Topics: Language and Power. PQ: Consent
of instructor. This graduate seminar takes up ways in which language and
political power have been conceptualized in current research. We consider
language ideologies, literacy, and standardization; ideological sources of
language differentiation; and nation building and linguistic difference. S.
Gal. Autumn.
578-1,-2,-3. Classical Nahuatl I, II, III (=LngLin 387-1,-2,-3).
Introduction to the spoken language with tapes and transcriptions, grammatical
notes and exercises, aural comprehension, and oral practice. N. McQuown. Not
offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.
579-1,-2,-3. Maya Glyphic Writing I, II, III (=LngLin 579-1,-2,-3).
Introduction to Maya glyphs with practice in analysis; alphabetic
transcription; and translation into Maya, Spanish, and English. N. McQuown.
Autumn, Winter, Spring.
581. Advanced Problems in Paleoanthropology (=EvBiol 581). This course
includes tutorial museum, laboratory, and field studies on the hominoid fossil
record and contextual information relevant to its interpretation. R. Tuttle.
Autumn, Winter, Spring.
585. Advanced Problems in Primate Locomotion and Comparative Morphology
(=EvBiol 585). This course is a seminar and/or laboratory study of the
morphological and behavioral adaptations of selected primates and implications
for primate phylogeny. R. Tuttle. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
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Anthropology Courses
The courses listed below include those on the 200-level, which are
specifically intended for undergraduates, and on the 300-level, which are for
advanced undergraduates and for graduates. Many of the department's other
offerings at the 400- and 500-levels are also listed below and open to
qualified undergraduates with consent of the instructor. Information about many
course offerings was not available at the time this publication went to press.
For more current information, students should consult the time schedule and
course descriptions on the departmental bulletin board outside H 119, the
quarterly Time Schedules, or the program chairman.
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