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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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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. Staff. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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. Winter.
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. Spring.
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. Not
offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will
be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
212. Intensive Study of a Culture: The Brazilian Amazon. This course
deals with the Amazon and sustainable development. It focuses on international
and Brazilian policies for the Amazon and on the involvement of traditional
peoples in environmental issues. Special attention is given to extractive
reserves. M. Carneiro da Cunha. Autumn.
212. Intensive Study of a Culture: South Asia. R. Nicholas.
Winter.
212/321. Intensive Study of a Culture: Hindu (=SocSci 256). PQ:
Third-year standing. May be taken for either 100 or 200 units of credit.
India's peasants and natural philosophers (astrologers, physicians,
moralists) commonly assume that people are made of ether, air, fire, water, and
earth and that they therefore seek esoteric knowledge, advantage, attachment,
coherence, release, and the contraries of these. Students experiment with these
assumptions through a simulation game, testing its results against
ethnographies of actual Indian institutions and behavior, aiming to design a
Hindu social science capable of constructing such a world. 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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 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. Winter.
212/336. Intensive Study of a Culture: The Tswana, Past and Present (=AfAfAm
205). This course describes and analyzes the sociocultural order of an
African people during the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods.
J. Comaroff. Spring.
212/406. Intensive Study of a Culture: Yoruba (=AfAfAm 204). 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. Autumn.
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. Spring.
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. Autumn.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Winter.
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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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, R. Fogelson. Not
offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will
be offered 1997-98.
214/310. The Practice of Anthropology: Ethnography and Cultural Commodities in
Today's World. Class limited to twenty students. This course deals
with aspects of contemporary ethnography, particularly with problems raised by
dealing with "cultural property." It discusses some shifts in the
anthropological fields and fieldwork, the dimensions of culture as a product
and a commodity and the issue of intellectual property rights for indigenous
peoples. M. Carneiro da Cunha. 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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
214/383. The Practice of Anthropology: Celebrity and Science in
Paleoanthropology. A seminar to explore 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
Biruté Galdikas through films, taped interviews, autobiographies,
biographies, pop publications, instructor's anecdotes, and samples of their
scientific writings. R. Tuttle. Winter.
220/355. The Anthropology of Development (=EnvStd 220). This course applies
anthropological understanding to development programs in "underdeveloped"
societies through case studies of food production, nutrition, and health care
practices. We pay special attention to the role and impact of indigenous and
anthropological concepts in development projects. Topics include development
within the world system, the role of national and international development
agencies, 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 development. A. Kolata, J. Fernandez, R. Fernandez. Not offered
1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
228. Diasporas: Asian Migration in the Modern World (=Hist 267/367,
SoAsia 282). The United States is known as the land of immigrants. Yet
today immigration policy is a controversial issue as established immigrant
groups seek to limit who is entitled to citizenship and who is entitled to
work. This lecture/discussion course seeks to explore the thorny problems of
migration, citizenship and multiculturalism through the lens of Asians in the
new face of America. The focus is on the formation of subcultures and
subnationalities and on the discourses of freedom that connect India, South
Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. Materials for this course focus
both on the conditions of migration and its experience and include historical
writing, novels, film, and the popular media. C. Breckenridge.
Autumn.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be
offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will
be offered 1997-98.
251/451. Anthropology of the Body. 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. Spring.
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 an introduction 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 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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
260. Myths and Rituals of the Indo-Europeans. This course presents an
interdisciplinary philological-archaeological-linguistic-folkloric
reconstruction of the ritual-mythological system of the Indo-Europeans, viewed
through the prism of critical analysis of modern and current theories of myth
together with a historiographic exploration in previous studies in
Indo-European mythology. Readings of translations from Germanic, Greek, Latin,
Slavic, Iranian, Sanskrit, and Armenian texts are assigned concurrently with a
study of archaeological evidence and samples of prehistoric and ancient visual
art. G. Areshian. Summer.
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. Autumn.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Autumn.
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. Spring.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be
offered 1997-98.
266. Summer Prehistory Field School in Spain. PQ: Must be taken together
with Anthro 287 and 288 for a total of 300 units. Prior training not required.
Knowledge of Spanish helpful. Students participate in the excavation of an
important Paleolithic site, the Magdalenian Cave of El Juyo, located on Spain's
Cantabrian Coast. The field school provides students an overview of the present
state of knowledge about humanity's remote prehistoric past and introduces them
to the latest techniques for the recovery and analysis of the durable remains
of human behavior from the Old Stone Age. Theoretical classes and seminars are
combined with practical site experience. L. Freeman. Summer.
267/464. Prehistoric Art. This course covers data, techniques of analysis,
and interpretive theories. L. Freeman. Winter.
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.
Autumn.
269/469. Archaeological Data Analysis. This course introduces the use of
statistical procedures and the computer in the analysis of archaeological data.
L. Freeman. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. A. Dahlstrom, Autumn; R. Janda,
Winter; K. Kazazis, Spring. 270/370-1: A. Dahlstrom, Summer.
271. Sociolinguistic Perspectives on American English (=GS Hum 223, Ling 268).
This course explores the emergence of the American English linguistic
community within the context of North American and more global English-centered
speech communities. Topics include American culture and the American culture of
language, as well as the dynamic intersections of institutional forces that
have shaped, and are currently shaping, American English discursive practices
and, thence, linguistic structure. M. Silverstein. 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 elements of a
practice approach. W. Hanks. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not
offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
287. Field Methods in Paleolithic Prehistory. PQ: Must be taken together
with Anthro 266 and 288 for a total of 300 units. Part of the Summer Field
School in Spanish Prehistory: modern techniques of excavation, data recovery,
and recording in the field. L. Freeman. Summer.
288. Management and Analysis of Archaeological Data. PQ: Must be taken
together with Anthro 266 and 287 for a total of 300 units. Part of the
Summer Field School in Spanish Prehistory: theory and practice of manipulation
of archeological data, including the management of inventory through
computerized data bases and quantitative and graphic methods of analysis. L.
Freeman. Summer.
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.
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
quarter focuses on religion, ritual, and colonial authority. The spring 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. J. L. Comaroff, Autumn; A. Apter,
Winter; R. Austen, Spring.
307-1,-2,-3. Introduction to Latin American Civilization I, II, III (=Hist
161-162-163, LatAm 345-346-347, SocSci 261-262-263). This sequence
fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilizational studies. 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 200-201-202; Anthro 308-3=PolSci 260). PQ: Must be
taken in sequence. Students who register for the third quarter of the
sequence as PolSci 260 do not have to meet the prerequisites. 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 a discussion of what is involved in the
study of pre-modern history and in the idea of a "civilization"; the world
views of early Vedic brahmanism, Buddhism, and a reformulated "Hinduism"; the
problem of "kingship and its discontents"; and the spread of South Asian
culture across Southeast Asia. The winter quarter examines elements of Hindu
mythology, the role of the temple as ritual center and focus of political and
economic exchange, Hindu devotionalism, South Asian Muslim identity, Muslim
social and cultural institutions in South Asia, and Muslim-Hindu interactions
in South Asia. The spring quarter focuses on Mughal state, society, and
culture; British constructions of Indian "tradition"; the culture and politics
of religious and caste identities; and issues affecting the lives of women and
environment in South Asia. S. Collins, Autumn; N. Cutler, Winter; S. H.
Rudolph, Spring.
311. Global Issues in Health and Environment (=EnvStd 255, Hist 293/393, SoAsia
311). The twenty-first century will inherit global threats of infection,
disease, and environmental degradation. In this course, we examine issues on
health and the environment. How might minority rights and democratic forms
conflict with the interests of the state and transnational corporations? How
might debates on health address the environmental reach of global capital? When
does environmental criticism affect matters of race, sexuality, and gender?
What constitutes "public" regulation of health and community in the era of
globalization? How do environmental and health activists press us to
reconstitute categories for understanding justice, agency, and power? We seek
to understand global changes in historical as well as contemporary
perspectives. C. Breckenridge. Spring.
312. Imperial Culture of India and Africa. PQ: Third- or fourth-year
standing. Consent of instructor. Examining the historical relations between
the British metropole and its imperial possessions in India and Africa, the
course focuses on the politics of ritual, spectacle, and the colonial sciences.
Students are expected to analyze primary documents in light of theoretical
issues raised in class. A. Apter, B. Cohn. Autumn.
313-3. The African Diaspora: 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. Staff. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
313. The African Diaspora: 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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
323. Ethnopsychology: Hindu. PQ: Anthro 212/321 or consent of
instructor; may be taken concurrently with 321. Students construct
psychological concepts from the realities constructed, assumed, perceived, and
acted upon by South Asians. They apply their concepts to analyze specimens of
experience and behavior from recent ethnographies, biographies, and works of
fiction dealing with interpersonal relations, especially those of 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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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 rural family structures and folklore,
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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97;
will be offered 1997-98.
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." J. Fernandez. Not offered 1996-97;
will be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Autumn, Winter.
357-1,-2. Introduction to Homeric Greek: Language and Culture (=SocTh 421).
Introduction to Homeric Greek grammar and poetics with attendant discussion of
cultural patterns. P. Friedrich, J. Redfield. Autumn, Winter.
358-1,-2,-3. Anthropology, Poetics, Character: Homer's Odyssey I,
II, III (=SocTh 304). PQ: Knowledge of Greek helpful but not
required. 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. P.
Friedrich. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Staff. 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 the
Sound Pattern of English theory, with brief discussion of more recent
autosegmental and metrical models. Staff. 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. Staff.
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, 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.
Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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.
Autumn.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will
be offered 1997-98.
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. Spring.
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
1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 principal theories, from Vico to
contemporary anthropologists, are reviewed. J. Fernandez. Autumn.
416. Anthropology and Liberalism. PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing.
This course explores ways of providing a deeper understanding of the
contemporary debate about multiculturalism. One of the curious and fascinating
aspects of the debate is the way culture and the politics of liberalism--both
claiming the virtues of difference, of pluralism, and of expressive
tolerance--intersect. Surely this is not simply a recent phenomenon. The course
focuses on three moments in twentieth-century U.S. history that reveal this
intersection of the concepts of culture and liberalism: Franz Boas and Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Margaret Mead and John Dewey, and Clifford Geertz and Richard
Rorty. D. Scott. Summer.
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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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
1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
437. The Problem of Emancipation. PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing.
This course seeks to examine the formation of post-emancipation society in
the Caribbean--to look not merely at what ex-slaves did but rather to enter
into the cultural and moral problem of "freedom" and in this context to revisit
a number of classical problems in the cultural history of slave plantation
societies--as an approach to a revised understanding of "freedom," which is one
of the crucial cultural-political questions of our time. D. Scott. Not
offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. 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.
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. Spring.
455. Seminar: Anthropology of Space and Time. A range of anthropological
literature on sociocultural space and time is explored. N. Munn.
Spring.
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. Not offered 1996-97;
will be offered 1998-99.
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 a 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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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.
K. Kazazis. 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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
481. Advanced Problems in Paleoanthropology (=EvBiol 481). 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.
485. Advanced Problems in Primate Locomotion and Comparative Morphology
(=EvBiol 485). 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.
502. French Africanist Ethnography. PQ: Consent of instructor; reading
knowledge of French. This seminar examines the French "tradition" of
Africanist ethnographic research and writing, beginning with nineteenth-century
military ethnographies, moving on the Griaule School (including its
detractors), and concluding with close reading of Michel Leiris and Jean Rouch.
Ethnographic concerns with secrecy, language, and cosmology are located in the
context of surrealism, primitivism, modernism, and the Négritude
movement in Paris. A. Apter. Winter.
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. 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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
506. Seminar: Christian Saints as Myths. PQ: Consent of instructor.
This seminar studies Catholic hagiography in the late Middle Ages and Early
Renaissance, using in parallel texts (particularly the Golden Legend)
and paintings. The attempt is to single out the structural patterns in the
construction of the lives of the saints. M. Carneiro da Cunha.
Spring.
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. Not offered
1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97;
will be offered 1997-98.
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. Spring.
514. Seminar: Images, Idols, and Icons--On Christian Iconography. PQ:
Consent of instructor. This seminar deals with problems in representation.
We discuss the status of images in classical antiquity and in early
Christianity, as well as the ethical and aesthetical aspects of religious
images. It concludes by concentrating on Catholic iconography from the trecento
and quattrocento. M. Carneiro da Cunha. Autumn.
517. Seminar: Paths and Maps for Memory. PQ: Consent of instructor.
Topics considered include memory and society, 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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
523. Seminar: The Craft of Anthropology--Methods and Ethics. PQ: Consent
of instructor. A critical introduction to the methods of anthropology,
paying special attention to the ethics of fieldwork, the politics of knowledge
involved in ethnography, the problems of "writing" culture, the so-called
crisis of representation in the social sciences, and the varieties of
techniques and methods conventionally used by anthropologists. 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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. 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 1996-97;
will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
536. Seminar: Critical Studies of Sexuality (=Hist 628). PQ: Consent of
instructor. Class limited to fifteen students. This course critically
examines 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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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, and 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 1996-97; will be offered
1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97;
will be offered 1997-98.
553. Seminar: Reading Legal Discourse. PQ: Consent of instructor.
This course examines recent trends in critical legal studies/critical race
theory (CLS/CRT) 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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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, M. Carneiro da Cunha. Not
offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97;
will be offered 1997-98.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered
1998-99.
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. Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1997-98.
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 1996-97; will be offered 1998-99.
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.
Not offered 1996-97; will be offered 1999-2000.
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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.