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

Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m.
Fridays, 1-3 p.m., or by appointment

class description:
Anthropology has been called “a 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 “gadfly” discipline.  By reflexively discomfiting “common sense” social
and cultural categories in the perception of difference, anthropology opens a “middle ground”
between “self” and “Other,” “rationality” and “emotion,” “politics” and “ritual.”  That “middle
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 “middle 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
“structure” and “agency”, “group” and “individual”, “nature” and “culture.”

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:

Monaghan, John and Peter Just.  Social & Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Nelson, Laura.  Measured Excess. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.

Redfield, Peter.  Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana.  Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2000.
 
graded assignments

attendance
  Attendance in this course is required.  Here’s how it works: students begin
  the course with an “A” in attendance and participation but, for each class
  missed, lose a “grade step” (e.g., A to A-, C+ to C).  However: each student
  can miss two “grace 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 research a group of people not covered in class readings and write an
                    imaginary journal recounting fieldwork among those people along with
          descriptions of social and cultural behavior, interviews, etc.
  Students will receive a style sheet with acceptable sources and textual examples.

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.
               (1/28-1/30)    What is cultural anthropology?
  Assigned Reading: Monaghan and Just, pp. 1-12.

          2nd Week  Fundamental Concepts
          (2/4-2/8) Assigned Reading: Monaghan and Just, 14-33
  February 4: Change of Schedule Period Ends

          3rd Week  Historicizing Anthropology
               (2/11-2/15)    Film: Juyuso Seubkyeok Sakeon (Attack the Gas Station) (2000)
  Assigned Reading: Monaghan and Just, 34-52
  Nelson, vii-30

          4th Week  Conceptualizing Culture
               (2/18-2/22)    Assigned Reading: Monaghan and Just, pp. 53-74
  Nelson, 33-69

                                        5th Week  Conceptualizing Culture redux
               (2/25-3/1)     Assigned Reading: Monaghan and Just, pp. 107-130
  Nelson, 71-104

          6th Week  Globalization and Multiple Modernities
(3/4-3/8) Assigned Reading: Nelson, 107-137

          7th Week  Culture Change and Acquisition
               (3/11-3/15)    Assigned Reading: Monaghan and Just, pp. 120-146
 
          8th Week  Review for Midterm
               (3/18-3/22)    Assigned Reading: Nelson, 139-173
  March 20: Midterm Examination

          9th Week  Spring Break
               (3/25-3/29)

          10th Week Politics and Power
          (4/1-4/5) Film: Herders of Mongun-Taiga
  Assigned Reading: Monaghan and Just, pp. 75-88
  Redfield, pp. 1-48
  April 5: Last Day to Withdraw with a Grade of “W”
 
          11th Week Towards an Anthropology of Capitalism
               (4/8-4/12)     Assigned Reading: Redfield, pp. 49-110

          12th Week Science and Technology Studies in Anthropology
(4/15-4/19) Assigned Reading: Redfield, pp. 111-148
 
          13th Week Assigned Reading: Redfield, pp. 149-184
               (4/22-4/26)    Essays Due April 26

          14th Week Kinship and Marriage
               (4/29-5/3)     Assigned Reading: Redfield, pp. 185-214.
  Film: TBA

          15th Week Anthropology and Modernity
               (5/6-5/10)     Assigned Reading: Redfield, pp. 215-261.

          16th Week Semester Review
          (5/13)    May 13: Last Day of Classes
  May 20: 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
Following department policy, students will be assigned a letter grade without a qualifying “+” or
“-”.
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.