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

Office Hours:
Mondays, 3:15-4:15
Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15
Fridays, 1-3 p.m., or by appointment

class description:
Anthropology has been called Aa critique of common sense,@ a description that highlights anthropology=s critical role in a contemporary world riven with inequality and a studied lack of understanding: i.e., the Agadfly@ discipline.  By reflexively discomfiting Acommon sense@ social and cultural categories in the perception of difference, anthropology opens a Amiddle ground@ between Aself@ and AOther,@ Arationality@ and Aemotion,@ Apolitics@ and Aritual.@  That Amiddle ground@ is the locus of connections between discursive and geographic orders, potentially powerful sites allowing us to perceive the linkages between not only institutions and ways of knowing, but between places in the multiplying networks of global society.  In this course, we will strive for that Amiddle ground,@ using studies of the local in an Odyssean cycle of travel and return to critique our common sense notions and to suggest the possibility of mediated understandings of Astructure@ and Aagency@, Agroup@ and Aindividual@, Anature@ and Aculture.@

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.

I will be a guide of sorts as you enter the study of cultural anthropology, but much of the responsibility rests on you to participate in all aspects of this class, from attendance to class discussions, reading and assignments.

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

Gates, Hill.  Looking for Chengdu: A Woman=s Adventure in China.  Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999.

 
Hendry, Joy.  Other People=s Worlds: an Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology.  New York: NYU Press, 1999.

Roth, Joshua Hotaka.  Brokered Homeland: Japanese Brazilian Migrants in Japan.  Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002.

Graded assignments

attendance
Attendance in this course is required.  Here=s how it works: students begin
the course with an AA@ in attendance and participation but, for each class
missed, lose a Agrade step@ (e.g., A to A-, C+ to C).  However: each student
can miss two Agrace classes@ before being penalized.

homework At various times throughout the semester, I will assign homework based on class readings, films and discussions.  Students may complete the homework for
extra credit on the midterm and final exam.

essay  Students will choose a film and article from a selected list of sources and write a
journal in the style of Hill Gates Aimagining@ an anthropological encounter.

midterm exam The midterm exam will test both your reading knowledge and your understanding
of class discussions and activities through a battery of
short answer questions.

final exam Our final exam will ask you to apply the ideas you've culled from readings,
lectures, films and  discussions and apply them to new or novel
situations in an extended essay format.

class grading

Attendance: 20%
Homework: extra credit
Midterm Exam:30%
Essay:  30%
Final Exam: 20%

class schedule:
1st Week Introduction to the course and explanation of syllabus.
(1/27-1/31) What is cultural anthropology?
Assigned Reading: Hendry, Introduction

2nd Week Fundamental Concepts
(2/3-2/7) Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chapters 1-2
February 3: Last day to Add.
 
Last day to drop without a >W=

3rd Week Japan and Modernity
(2/10-2/14) Film: The Funeral (1985)
Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chp. 3
Roth, Chps. 1-2

4th Week Globalization and Multiple Modernities
(2/17-2/21) Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chps. 4, 7
Roth, Chapter 3

5th Week Conceptualizing Culture
(2/24-2/28) Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chp. 5
Roth, Chp. 4

6th Week Conceptualizing Culture redux
(3/3-3/7) Assigned Reading: Roth, Chps. 5-6

7th Week Culture Change and Acquisition
(3/10-3/14) Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chps. 8-9
 
8th Week Review for Midterm
(3/17-3/21) Assigned Reading: Roth, Chapter 7
March 19: Midterm Examination

9th Week SPRING BREAK
(3/24-3/28)

10th Week Politics and Power
(3/31-4/4) Film: Herders of Mongun-Taiga
Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chp. 10
Gates, Chps. 1-3
April 5: Last day to withdraw with a >W=

11th Week Towards an Anthropology of Capitalism
(4/7-4/11) Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chp. 12
Gates, Chps. 4-6

12th Week Film: Beijing Bicycle (2001)
(4/14-4/18) Assigned Reading: Gates, Chps. 5-7

13th Week
(4/21-4/25) Assigned Reading: Gates, Chps. 8-10

14th Week Kinship and Marriage
 
(4/28-5/2) Assigned Reading: Hendry, Chp. 11
Gates, Chps. 11-13
May 2: Essays Due

15th Week Anthropology and Modernity
(5/5-5/9) Assigned Reading: Gates, Chps. 14-16

16th Week Assigned Reading: Gates, Chps. 17-19
(5/12-5/16) May 12: Final Exam Review
May 19, 10:15 a.m.: FINAL EXAMINATION

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
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.
C-
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.