Anthropology 401: History of Anthropological Theory

Anthropology 401: History of Anthropological Theory

M/W: Noon – 1:15

Clare M. Wilkinson-Weber

VMMC 102W

Office hours: before class and by appointment

Aim of the course

This class is required for anthropology majors, who must gain some understanding of the major theoretical debates within anthropology in order to fully grasp our discipline. The course, though, is aimed equally at turning student attention to broader questions of how we can make sense of human behavior and experience, and how anthropological questions have always been tied up with philosophical (and sometimes political) questions of the moment. By the end of the class, I hope you will have greater insight not just into one of the key social science disciplines, but into the shifting attitudes to human life and society that have accompanied it.

Requirements

Students are reminded that this is a 400 level course, with an ‘M’ designation. You will be expected to do a lot of reading, thinking, discussing and writing in this class. Your grade will come from: Three reflective essays (three pages each) on a theme to be introduced in the first class (15 pts each; 45 pts total); two midterm exams (15 pts each; 30 points total); reading notes on five articles of your choice from the reader (20 pts); and class participation and attendance (5 pts).

All writing will be graded according the following criteria: internal logic and narrative flow; appropriate use of writing conventions; and citation of relevant theories/theorists.

Be warned that I will not tolerate academic dishonesty of any kind. Critically, this means that you absolutely must not plagiarize any sources you use for your paper. Do not import sentences and paragraphs from the textbooks, or from the internet, without proper citation and attribution. You should be aware that while use of someone else’s writing without attribution is rank dishonesty, cutting and pasting extensive passages and putting quotation marks around them is not acceptable either, and still constitutes a form of cheating. If you are in any doubt of what plagiarism is, then check with me, or with the writing center, which will be happy to advise you.

I routinely scan papers for plagiarism, checking with the course textbook, as well as other textbooks on theory, putting sentences into google searches, and “inside the book” searches on amazon.com. The penalties for plagiarism are severe and irrevocable; you will fail the class automatically, and your academic record will note your dishonesty. For these reasons, if not for the sake of your conscience, DON’T DO IT.

Reading

Erickson and Murphy, A History of Anthropological Theory

Erickson and Murphy, Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory

Some web resources on theory:

http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/theory.htm

http://www.mrs.umn.edu/academic/anthropology/chollett/theory/links.html

Schedule

WEEK

DATE

TOPIC

READING (History = A History of Anthropological Theory; Reader = Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory

PART ONE: Preliminaries

1	Aug 22/24	Introduction	History: 17-46; Reader: xi-xxii; Marx and Engels, Freud, Darwin
2	Aug 29/31	Early social thinkers	History: 47-60; Reader: 3 -14; Morgan, Durkheim, Tylor

PART TWO: Foundations

Sep 5

Sep 7

LABOR DAY

Early anthropologists

Film on Boas

FIRST PAPER DUE

History: 73-76

Reader: 109-120; Boas, Kroeber

Sep 12/14

Cultural functionalism

Film on Mead

History: 76-88

Reader: Mead, Benedict, Sapir (Freeman if there’s time)

Sep 19/21

Structural-functionalism

Film on Malinowski

History: 100-104

Reader: Radcliffe-Brown, Malinowski

Sep 26/28

British social anthropology

Film on Evans-Pritchard

History: 105-112

Reader: 57-270, Fortes and Evans-Pritchard, Gluckman

Oct 3/5

Structuralism

FIRST MIDTERM

History: 89-99

Reader: Levi-Strauss, Leach

PART THREE: Major schools/trends

8	Oct 10/12	The science of anthropology	History: 115-130 Reader: White, Harris, Sahlins
9	Oct 17/19	Symbolism	History: 131-142 Reader: Geertz, Turner
10	Oct 24/26	New models/paradigms SECOND PAPER	History: 143-154 Reader: 427-440; Wolf, Taussig, Mintz and Wolf
11	Oct 31/Nov 2	Postmodernism	History: 155-172 Reader: Foucault, Ortner, Bourdieu
12	Nov 7/9	Problems and dilemmas SECOND MIDTERM	History: 173-180 Reader: Marcus and Fischer, Clifford
13	Nov 14/16	Debate of paper themes
14	Nov 21/23	THANKSGIVING
15	Nov 28/30	Wrap-up
16	Dec 5/7	FINAL PAPER DUE

PAPER ASSIGNMENT

You will write three papers, each approximately five pages long, double-spaced, 12 pt font, on a single theme, each one reflecting the development of your understanding of the theme as you read and discuss the material in the class. Please choose one from the following:

1. It is more important in anthropology to study what people do than what people think.

2. It is more important in anthropology to study what makes people similar than what makes people different.

The first paper will be based on your answer to the question as you enter the class, and begin considering the broader philosophical questions that anthropology addresses. Your second and third papers will incorporate insights from the readings, lectures and discussion. It is critical that you do relate your discussion to class material, as opposed to simply spinning out your own reflections independently of them. You are being evaluated on how well you use what you are exposed to in this class to mold your opinions, specifically how you convert opinions into arguments (supported by data and evidence).

READING NOTES

Please choose five of the articles from the reader, and turn in a sheet of notes in response to that article. You must have completed five by the end of the semester. Each and every reading note you submit must be turned in the first meeting of the week on which the reading is assigned. No late notes are accepted. The notes must address three questions: 1. What was most striking or significant point made in this reading? 2. What questions do you have? (If you have lots of questions, figure out which is the most important one to you) 3. How do you feel this reading relates to other material in the class so far?