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MOBILITY AND CULTURE ANTH 210.001: HONORS INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY MW, 2-3:15 PM LI-316 |
Samuel G. Collins
Li-318E, x3199
scollins@towson.edu
pages.towson.edu/scollins
Office Hours:
Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:30-1:30 pm
class description:
One hundred years ago, anthropologists considered other cultures as fundamentally isolated from one another. For example, in his 1922 Argonauts of the Western Pacific, the legendary anthropologist and fieldworker Bronislaw Malinowski urged his readers to “imagine yourself suddenly set down surrounded by all your gear, alone on a tropical beach close to a native village, while the launch or dinghy which has brought you sails away out of sight” (4).
The assumption there--that others cultures are (literally) remote islands that we visit in order to discover the inexplicably native other--is a fiction. The world's cultures were never so isolated and unconnected as anthropologists and ethnographers once thought. Today, this claim is even more suspect; it's clear that the changes wrought by processes of modernization have drawn us closer than ever before.
Today, anthropologists consider culture, societies and people as mobile, shifting and fungible--connecting across geographic space in powerful and occasionally surprising ways. With these conceptual changes have come new methods--new ways of doing anthropology. We no longer purport to grasp the whole of culture; instead, mobile (and motile) culture sets us on our own perambulations on the trail of the social and cultural connections people (including anthropologists) make.
But the same forces that stimulate new movements of people, ideas, and imaginaries for some at the very same time limit those for others, by, for example, enacting laws that fix people in a place or an identity, limiting access to information and communications by surveilling the public, or even by reducing whole populations to what Giorgio Agamben has called "bare life" (1998). But, at whatever place we occupy in this, we are all entangled in these open-ended processes of modernization.
Caught in their own movements and connections, anthropologists look to these contradictions to understand contemporary culture, and it is into these contrasts between movement and fixity to which we shall look. In this class, students will learn about cultural anthropology through the heuristics of mobile culture.
This is not only a thematic approach to the study of cultural anthropology, but a guiding metaphor for the class. We begin with an examination of some of the practices popularly associated with cultural anthropology--magic and religion. But these people--as much as anyone else--are utilizing these cultural forms in the context of movement and connection. Like us, people elsewhere attempt to make the most of opportunities to move: socially, culturally and economically.
They are simultaneously the victims of movement--flights of capital, resettlements, realignments, reterritorializations. At the same time people align themselves to connect to new forms of mobility and culture, other forces attempt to fix them in place. Whether we see this through the idiom of magic or through more familiar cultural practices, there are still similar practices afoot.
This becomes even more evident as we move from the putatively "exotic" to something more familiar--to the world of investment banking and hedge fund investment. Here, on the other end of the spectrum of privilege, we can observe many of the same practices--modernization by other means.
Finally, students will turn to their own lives and examine them using the same theories and methods. Making this circuit of "exotic" and "familiar," "other" and "self," students will have simultaneously sketched an arc of movement, one that implies a circuit of connectivity.
It is this kind of reflexivity that characterizes the anthropological project, one that is, as we shall find, not just ultimately about interpretation, but, like the people we study and their social and cultural practices, all about finding our own place in a world characterized by both dizzying freedom and terrible oppression.
In this class, we will consider all aspects of cultural anthropology, both historically (from the 18th century to the present) and synchronically, in the careful analysis of case studies and ethnographic films. Our goals are threefold: 1) to map the space of cultural anthropology as an academic discipline; 2) to make thematic and epistemological connections between anthropology and other academic disciplines; and 3) to understand the relevance of cultural anthropology for everyday, modern life.
Upon successful
completion of this course, engaged students should be able to:
·
Identify and explain key concepts,
theories and debates in contemporary, cultural anthropology.
·
Connect social and cultural practices to
larger contexts of politics, economics, and power.
·
Apply anthropological perspectives to
critique ethnocentric assumptions and to address contemporary, human problems.
·
Effectively communicate anthropological
findings learned in the course.
required readings:
The following texts are available in the campus bookstore:
Ho, Karen (2009). Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Lindquist, Galina (2006). Conjuring Hope: Healing and Magic in Contemporary Russia. NY: Berghahn Books.
Urry, John (2008). Mobilities. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
recommended readings:
Collins, Samuel Gerald (2009). Library of Walls: the Library of Congress and the Contradictions of Information Society. St. Paul, MN: Litwin Books.
required software:
Egonet. http://sourceforge.net/projects/egonet/
graded assignments
attendance Attendance in this course is required. Here's how it works: students begin the course with an "A" in attendance but, for each class missed, lose two points. However: each student can miss two "grace classes" before being penalized. 30 pts.
Assignments (deadlines announced) Utilizing readings, media from class, open-source software and their own ethnographic investigations, students will reflect on society and culture in the context of mobility. During the semester, students will produce four (4) two-page reflections. A style sheet for each assignment will be posted. 60 pts.
midterm exam The first exam will test both your knowledge and understanding with a battery of multiple choice, "True-False" and “fill-in-the-blank” questions. 60 pts
final exam The final examination will ask you to synthesize themes from the course and compare the experiences and ironies of modernization and mobility in our two ethnographies and films with those in your own life. 50 pts
class grading
Your final grade will be computed by adding together the following point values for graded assignments and examinations:
Attendance: 30 pts.
Assignments: 60 pts.
Midterm Exam: 60 pts.
Final Exam: 50 pts.
_____
200 pts.
A 186+
A- 180-185
B+ 174-179
B 166-173
B- 160-165
C+ 154-159
C 140-153
D+ 134-139
D 120-133
F <120
class schedule:
1st Week Introduction to the course and explanation of syllabus.
(8/31-9/2) What is anthropology?
Assigned Reading: Urry, pp. 44-60
2nd Week Fundamental Concepts: Culture, Mobility, Connection
(9/7-9/9) Assigned Reading: Urry, 63-89.
Lindquist, pp. ix-xx, 1-22
September 7: Labor Day.
September 9: Change of schedule period ends.
3rd Week Globalization and Multiple Modernities
(9/14-9/16) Film: Ruoma de shi qi sui (2004)
Assigned Reading: Urry, pp. 90-111
Lindquist, pp. 23-52
4th Week Ritual Life
(9/21-9/23) Film: A State of Mind (2005)
Assigned Reading: Urry, pp. 112-134
Lindquist, pp. 53-80
5th Week Magic and Religion
(9/28-9/30) Film: The Split Horn (2001)
Assigned Reading: Urry, pp. 135-156
Lindquist, pp. 81-112
6th Week Midterm Examination
(10/5-10/7)
7th Week Ethnographic Methods
(10/12-10/14) Assigned Reading: Urry, pp. 157-210
Lindquist, pp. 113-136
8th Week Family and Kinship
(10/19-10/21) Assigned Readings: Urry, pp. 211-252
Lindquist, pp. 137-169
Ho, pp. 1-38
9th Week Ideology and Cultural Acquisition, Part I
(10/26-10/28)
Assigned Reading: Urry, pp. 253-270
10th Week Ideology and Cultural Acquisition, Part II
(11/2-11/4) Film: My Name is Kim Sam-soon (2004)
Assigned Reading: Urry, pp. 271-290
Lindquist, pp. 199-227
Ho, pp. 73-121
11th Week Media and Society of the Spectacle
(11/9-11/11) Film: TBA
Assigned Reading:
Ho, pp. 122-168
November 11: Last day to withdraw.
12th Week: Work and Life
(11/16-11/18)
Assigned Reading:
Ho, pp. 169-212
13th Week Anthropologies of Science
(11/23-11/25) Film: TBA
Assigned Reading:
Ho, pp. 213-248
14th Week
Thanksgiving
(11/30-12/2)
Assigned Reading:
Ho, pp. 249-293
15th Week Cultural Critique
(12/7-12/9)
Assigned Reading:
Ho, pp. 294-324
notes
1. Although exams and graded work will remain as stated above, I may have to change different
readings or films on the syllabus throughout the semester. I will, in any case, try to give you
ample warning of any syllabus changes.
2. Cheating and Plagiarism policy: Our department has the following policy on academic dishonesty:
The faculty of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology
& Criminal Justice take a strong stand against Academic Dishonesty of
all forms. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in any class.
It includes, but is not limited to, any form of cheating or unapproved help on
an exam or academic exercise, copying someone else’s written work without
citation, presenting fabricated information as legitimate, any unauthorized
collaboration among students, or assisting someone to cheat in any way. All
students have the ethical responsibility for doing their own work. A
student who is uncertain about whether or not something constitutes academic
dishonesty in a particular class has the obligation to see their instructor for
clarification. Consistent with university policy, the minimum penalty for
academic dishonesty in any form is determined by the individual faculty member
in each class, and may consist of “a reduced grade (including
“F” or zero) for the assignment; a reduced grade (including
“F”) for the entire course,” or other options as stipulated
in Appendix F of the Undergraduate Catalog. Students who are charged with
academic dishonesty must remain enrolled in the course and cannot
withdraw. Instructors who make the determination that academic dishonesty
has occurred will notify the student in writing of the finding, the penalty,
and the process for appeal. The same written notice will be forwarded to
the Office of Judicial Affairs on campus, the Dean of the
In addition, Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the University’s policy:
http://wwwnew.towson.edu/provost/resources/studentacademic.asp
At a minimum, students who plagiarize in this class will receive an “F” for the assignment.
3. Students who have, or suspect that they may have, a disability
should seek services through
Disability Support Services.
Students must be registered with DSS and receive written authorization
to obtain disability-related accommodations. If you need accommodation due to a
disability, please visit DSS for guidance.
The office is located at 7720 York Road, AD 232, Ph: 4-2638 or 3475.
4. Students may not repeat this
course more than once (make a third attempt at this course) without the prior
approval of the Academic Standards Committee. Please call 4-4351 or visit ES 235 for
more information.
5. Late assignments: Late assignments will be accepted at ½ credit (1-2 days late) or ¼ credit (3-4 days late). After 4 days, late assignments will no longer be accepted.
6. Make-up Work: Under extraordinary circumstances, documented by physicians, police, etc., students may be allowed to make-up missed work.
7. Students who are disruptive may be dismissed from class.
8.
Emergency Statement
(TU Office of the Provost)
In the event of a University-wide emergency, including the impact of the H1N1
flu pandemic, course requirements, classes, deadlines and grading schemes are
subject to changes that may include alternative delivery methods, alternative
methods of interaction with the instructor, class materials, and/or classmates,
a revised attendance policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading
scheme. In the case of a
University-wide emergency,
I will attempt to
communicate with you via e-mail and/or the Blackboard site.
For up-to-date information on the H1N1 flu, see the Dowell Health Center website
at:
http://www.towson.edu/dowellhealthcenter/ and click on the “Flu Facts” link.
For more general information about any emergency situation, please refer to the
following:
Web Site: www.towson.edu
Telephone Number: 410-704-2000
TU Text Alert System Sign-up at:
http://www.towson.edu/adminfinance/facilities/police/campusemergency/). This
is a service designed to alert the Towson University community via text messages
to cell phones when situations arise on campus that affect the ability of the
campus - students, faculty and staff - to function normally.
H1N1 Influenza Policy Statement
(TU Office of the Provost):
“Students should not attend classes or other university events from the onset of
flu-like symptoms until at least 24 hours after the fever subsides without the
use of fever reducing medications. Such absences will be considered excused
absences; however, students are responsible for the material covered during the
period of their absence.”
explanation of grading
explanation of grading
Consistent with University policy, the following grades will be assigned according to the designated criteria:
A: A superior performance surpassing assigned work in unique and novel ways and
integrating diverse ideas from a wide range of sources in addition to those discussed in class.
A-
B+
B: Excellent work surpassing the expectations of the assignment and demonstrating initiative
and a willingness to move beyond the basic requirements of the assigned work.
B-
C+
C: Satisfactory work meeting all basic requirements of the assignment.
D+
D: Work in some way less than satisfactory. Although conforming to basic requirements in
some way, the completed work is nevertheless not a coherent response to the
assignment.
F: A profoundly unsatisfactory performance which doesn't meet
the intent of the assignment at any level.