Samuel G. Collins
Li-318A, x3199
scollins@towson.edu
www.towson.edu/~scollins

Office Hours:
Mondays, 2-4 p.m.
Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m.
Fridays, 1-2 p.m.
 

class description: In this class, we will study contemporary life in the U.S. from an anthropological perspective highlighting connections and discontinuities in race, gender, class and culture as they unfold historically from the 19th century to an imagined future in the 21st.  Our synecdoche for the U.S. during this challenging period will be the city, for it is there, in the tradition of John Winthrop's "Citty upon a Hill," that the inequalities and injustices of U.S. society are thrown into bold relief.  But we won't stop there: cities are "networked" to countless other sites through media, migration and politics to other places, other identities and other realities.  One of our goals, therefore, will be to follow the "U.S." into its international peregrinations as "global culture" and "network society."  Even people living far afield from the (territorial) U.S. may know a good deal more of this country than they bargained for: McDonald's, Hollywood and the U.S. military are ubiquitous reminders that we cannot consider the U.S. out of a global context of power and history.

The penumbra for this critical analysis of the "Citty" will be the future, a favorite trope of politicians and advertising agencies everywhere, to be sure, but vital to our understanding of a 21st century U.S. when future imaginaries condition the present in ways both horribly confining and (occasionally) liberating.  By comparing and critically examining these frequently disingenuous constructions of future spaces and identities, we can begin to understand the present as fundamentally contested.
We enter into this discussion through the eyes of immigrants amidst the dystopian spaces of Los Angeles in the wake of the 1992 riots.  From their experiences of race and inequality--tragically concretized in the 1992 uprising--we will learn something of the U.S. city as a site of continuing, institutional inequality and, in many ways, a scapegoat for the racism still at the core of contemporary life in the United States.  From there, we swing to the utopian spaces of science and information society through an ethnography of "artificial life."  Do these new forms of being offer a way out of the dilemmas of 21st century society, or do they compound them, imbricating possible futures?  Finally, we turn to the city as an imagined space combining all of those hopes and fears.  By examining an SF novel--Snowcrash--and by engaging in a simulation of city building--SimCity--we may be able to sketch the interpenetrating boundaries of identity, space and technology that condition 21st century life in the United States.  It is my hope that we can transform these visions of a dystopian and bounded future into some ideas of what a just, peaceful and interesting 21st century might look like.
 
In a class on culture and society in the U.S., everyone is a potential expert.  I therefore expect the highest level of participation from all of you as we attempt to come to grips with these manifold issues.

required readings:
The following texts are available in the campus bookstore:

Abelmann, Nancy and John Lie.
1995 Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots.  Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.

Helmreich, Stefan.
1998 Silicon Second Nature: Culturing Artificial Life in a Digital World.
Berkeley: University of California Press.

Stephenson, Neal.
1992 Snowcrash.  New York: Bantam Books.

required software:

SimCity, SimCity 2000 or SimCity 3000.  Maxis.

recommended readings:
The following text is available in the campus bookstore:

Marx, Leo.
2000 The Machine in the Garden. New York: Oxford University Press.
          [1964]

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 a "grade
step" (e.g., A to A-, A- to B+).  However: each student can miss two "grace
classes" before being penalized.

homework
At various moments throughout the semester, I will assign homework based on
class readings, films or special discussions.  Students may complete the homework
for credit on the midterm or final examination.

midterm exam
The midterm exam will test both your knowledge and understanding with a
battery of multiple choice, "True-False" and short answer questions.

final exam The final exam will test your intellectual probity through an in-class essay.

 
final project and report: SimCity and digital worlds
(2 pages) Students will run the urban planning simulation for at least 6 hours
and report on 1) the shape of their >city= and 2) the biases inherent in the
SimCity simulation.

class grading:

Attendance: 20%
Homework: credit on examinations
Midterm Exam:25%
Final Project: 30%
Final Exam:  25%

class schedule:

1st Week Introduction to the course and explanation of syllabus.
(8/29-8/31) What is Anthropology?
Assigned Reading: Abelmann and Lie, viii-Chp. 1

2nd Week Anthropology and the U.S.
(9/3-9/7) Assigned Reading: Abelmann and Lie, Chps. 2-3
September 3: LABOR DAY

3rd Week Race, Inequality and Diversity
(9/10-9/14) Assigned Reading: Abelmann and Lie, Chps. 4-5
Film: Lone Star

4th Week Race, Inequality and Diversity (Con.)
(9/17-9/21) Assigned Reading: Abelmann and Lie, Chps. 6-Conclusion

5th Week The New Immigration
(9/24-9/28) Assigned Reading: Helmreich, Introduction

6th Week Globalization, Nationalism
(10/1-10/5) Movie: TBA
Assigned Reading: Helmreich, Chps. 1-2

7th Week Information Society
(10/8-10/12) OCTOBER 12: Midterm Examination
Assigned Reading: Helmreich, Chp. 3

8th Week Information Society (Con.)
(10/15-10/19) Assigned Reading: Helmreich, Chp. 4

9th Week American Technological Sublime
 
(10/22-10/26) Assigned Reading: Helmreich, Chp. 5, Coda

10th Week Global Culture/ Mass Culture
(10/29-11/2) Assigned Reading: Stephenson, pp. 1-112

11th Week U.S. and the Future
(11/5-11/9) November 7: LAST DAY TO DROP A COURSE
Assigned Reading: Stephenson, pp. 113-249

12th Week  Digital Worlds: New Machines in the Garden
(11/12-11/16) Assigned Reading: Stepheson, pp. 250-440
Film: TBA

13th Week November 21-25: THANKSGIVING
(11/19-11/23) Digital Worlds (con.)

14th Week Postmodernism, Advanced Capitalism and the City
(11/26-11/30) November 30: SimCity Reports Due

15th Week Reports: the SimCity Project
(12/3-12/7)

16th Week Review for Final Exam
(12/10-12/14) December 12: Last Day of Classes
December 13: Final Examination, 10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

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. Each student is required to sign a contract indicating his/her understanding of the University=s rules regarding cheating and plagiarism (Towson University Undergraduate Catalog, Appendix F).  Neither will be tolerated in my class and will result in a flunking grade.

3. Students with learning disabilities should register at the Disability Support Services Office.
 

explanation of grading
Following department policy, students will be assigned a letter grade without a qualifying A+@ or A-@.

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.

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.

C: Satisfactory work meeting all basic requirements of the assignment.

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.