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Courses in Cultural Anthropology (Division 319)

This page was created at 3:50 PM on Wed, Dec 13, 2000.

Fall Term, 2000 (September 6 – December 22)

Open courses in Cultural Anthropology

Wolverine Access Subject listing for ANTHRCUL

Take me to the Fall Term '00 Time Schedule for Cultural Anthropology.

To see what has been added to or changed in Cultural Anthropology this week go to What's New This Week.

Introductory Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Andrew Shryock (ashryock@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Primarily for first- and second-year students. (4). (SS). (R&E). Does not count toward anthropology concentration requirements.

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: https://coursetools.ummu.umich.edu/2000/fall/lsa/anthrcul/101/001.nsf

This introductory course explores the distinctive modes of anthropological inquiry and surveys the field's four subdisciplines (biological, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology). It provides a first glimpse of the field's overall context, history, present concerns, and importance. The principal aim of the course is to help students develop a coherent view of the essential concepts, structures, and intellectual methods that typify the discipline. It stresses unifying principles that link the subdisciplines and thereby create anthropology's comprehensive, holistic world view. It teaches students various ways of learning and thinking about the world's many cultures in time and space. It prepares them to integrate and interpret information, to evaluate conflicting claims about human nature and diversity, and to think critically.

Topics covered include: the nature of culture and ethnicity; human genetics, evolution, and the fossil record; the concept of race; primate (monkey and ape) behavior; language and culture; systems of marriage, kinship and family organization; gender roles and personality; economics, politics, religion, and the arts in global perspective; and the cultural dimension of economic development and contemporary social change. Required readings include an introductory text and two paperbacks. Lectures and section discussion. Two objective exams (multiple choice) cover the two halves of the course. The second exam is given on the last day of class. There is no final exam and no term paper. Section leaders require quizzes and perhaps a short paper.

Introductory Courses

Section 150.

Instructor(s): Rich Freeman (richfree@umich.edu), Holly Peters-Golden (hollypet@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Primarily for first- and second-year students. (4). (SS). (R&E). Does not count toward anthropology concentration requirements.

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This introductory course exposes and explores the structures of inquiry characteristic of anthropology and surveys the field's four subdisciplines (biological, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology), providing a first glimpse of the field's overall context, history, present status, and importance. The principal aim of the course is to help students develop a coherent view of the essential concepts, structures, and intellectual methods that typify the discipline. It stresses unifying principles that link the subdisciplines and thereby create anthropology's comprehensive, holistic world view. It teaches students various ways of learning and thinking about the world's many designs for living in time and space. It prepares them to integrate and interpret information, to evaluate conflicting claims about human nature and diversity, and to think critically.

Topics covered include: the nature of culture and ethnicity; human genetics, evolution, and the fossil record; the concept of race; primate (monkey and ape) behavior; language and culture; systems of marriage, kinship and family organization; sex and gender roles; economics, politics, and religion in global perspective; the cultural dimension of economic development and contemporary social change; and globalization. Required readings may include an introductory text and various paperbacks. Lectures and discussion/recitation. Two objective exams (multiple choice and true or false questions) cover the two halves of the course. The second exam is given on the last day of class. There is no final exam and no term paper. Section leaders require quizzes and perhaps a short paper.

Introductory Courses

Section 003 – Colonialism and Globalization.

Instructor(s): Fernando Coronil (coronil@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3). (SS). May not be included in an anthropology concentration.

First-Year Seminar

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

A small seminar which will introduce entering students to the discipline of anthropology and issues which are important in the field of anthropology. The student will engage with faculty and other students in a process of inquiry and discussion of anthropological topics presented in a setting which will enable students to begin to make the transition from personal interest in a topic to intellectual interest and inquiry. Topics may address kinship; institutional and alternative religions; imperialism and colonialism; popular culture and the mass media; tourism; shamanism; human diversity; language origins; sex and gender; etc...

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Jennifer Robertson (jennyrob@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (SS).

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course explores the history and cultures of Japanese ethnic groups and minorities. Among the groups we will focus on are the ("aboriginal") Ainu, resident Koreans, migrant workers (of Japanese ancestry) from South America, children of mixed parentage, etc. Japanese expressions and ideologies of "race" and "ethnicity" are also analyzed comparatively. Anthropological readings are augmented by novels and short stories, comics, videos, and films.

Introductory Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Janet Hart (janeth@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Anthropologists have long been engaged in the tricky and important process of mapping and describing specific cultures as they take shape over time. Cultural studies, practiced by a mixed collection of sociologists, historians, scholars of English, comparative literature, and communications, as well as anthropologists, is a newer phenomenon (with an old antecedents), officially labeled by members of the so-called Birmingham School in the 1970s. According to Richard Johnson their intention, loosely, was to create "an alchemy for producing useful knowledge about the broad domain of human culture." In this class, we will focus on some of the strains that have given rise to something called "cultural studies" over the past 25 years. Particular emphasis will be given to the role of such dominant institutions as schools, families, the mass media, courts, political structures, and law enforcement in shaping people's attitudes, actions, and responses. Four main theoretical concepts will shape our reading and discussions: culture, ideology, practice (or more accurately, praxis) and identity. Among other things, we will want to think about how, during particular historical periods, these notions have not only formed the basis of a range of beliefs and behaviors, but also helped to frame the conversations of scholars and various other students of human expression.

Introductory Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): David Akin (dwakin@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course provides a wide-ranging introduction to the field of ecological anthropology, focusing on issues related to the management of common property. The main goal for the course is to help students acquire an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of competing approaches to the question of the relationship of ecology to the social world. On the natural science side, the major approaches to be considered are behavioral and systems ecology. From the social sciences, we will investigate the basic techniques of social anthropology, as well as evolutionary game theory. Why combine the social and natural sciences in a single course? Traditionally, social scientists study social systems, and natural scientists study ecosystems. But many of the most important problems in environmental studies only come into focus when we are able to combine both perspectives. This is particularly true of one of the most pressing issues of our time – the management of common property (resources that are held in common and utilized by a social group). Today, the oceans are our common property, and the recent collapse of many fisheries illustrates the dangers posed by over-exploitation, the so-called "tragedy of the commons." To investigate systems of common property, we need to know something about how they function as ecosystems, as well as how societies relate to them. In this course, we will explore systems of common property utilized by a wide range of societies, including Native American salmon fishermen, African nomads, and Asian rice farmers.

Museum, Honors, Reading, Research, and Field Courses

Section 001 – Culture & Medicine. (Honors).

Instructor(s): Holly Peters-Golden (hollypet@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Admission to the College Honors Program. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

In this seminar, we will examine the ways in which health and illness are both constructed out of, and interpreted within, cultural settings. Focusing on Western biomedicine, we will discuss a broad range of illness experiences – from schizophrenia to cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder to asthma, Tourette's to Alzheimer's, among others – to address a number of questions currently central to medical anthropology. Topics may include (but will not be limited to) the meaning and alteration of self and personhood in illness; the ways in which medical knowledge is produced and imagined, the culture of science and technology, immunity and risk, illness narrative, and social and historical views of the body. Classes will be largely discussion based, with students expected to prepare for active participation and leadership in discussion. By keeping enrollment small, I hope we will be able to include students' suggestions for additional topics to explore.

Museum, Honors, Reading, Research, and Field Courses

Section 002 – Anthropology of the Bible. (Honors). Meets with Humanities Institute 212.001.

Instructor(s): Gillian Feeley-Harnik (gfharnik@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Admission to the College Honors Program. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course explores the Bible from the comparative perspective of anthropology. Since the late nineteenth century, anthropologists have done archaeological and ethnographic fieldwork, trying to recapture the ancient social worlds in which the biblical texts were first created. Anthropologists also study the historical and contemporary societies in which biblical books were and are read, showing how key themes are translated, reinterpreted, and relived in new cultural circumstances. This course will introduce students to the broad range of anthropological approaches to the Bible. In the process, students will become acquainted with anthropological methods of documentation and analysis used in cross-cultural research. Reading will include such books as Rogerson's, An Introduction to the Bible; Cohn's Noah's Flood : The Genesis Story in Western Thought; Delaney's Abraham on Trial : The Social Legacy of Biblical Myth; Dundes' Holy Write As Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore; Feeley-Harnik's The Lord's Table: The Meaning of Food in Early Judaism and Christianity; Niditch's Ancient Israelite Religion; Salamon's The Hyena People: Ethiopian Jews in Christian Ethiopia; Brown and Brightman's The Orders of the Dreamed (on Cree and Northern Ojibwa religion and missionization); and Toumey's God's Own Scientists: Creationists in a Secular World.

This is a small, seminar-style course in which students can expect lots of reading for discussion in class. Assignments will include: weekly discussion papers (1 p): two short research papers (5-7 pp) due in the 5th and 8th weeks; and one longer research paper (10-15 pp), due in the last week of class. Students (probably in groups of 2-3) will also be responsible for making oral presentations and leading one or two discussions of the reading during the academic term.

Grades: will be based on the assignments and on class participation.

Readings: The required books will be available at the Shaman Drum Bookstore (313 State Street), and on reserve in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. A course pack of articles will be available from the Accu-copy (402 Maynard Street).

Class Size: 20 students

Introductory Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): John O'Shea (joshea@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (SS).

Credits: (4; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course combines an introduction to the techniques, methods, and theories of modern archaeology with a general survey of world prehistory. Discussion of method and theory will cover field and laboratory techniques for acquiring information about past cultures, methods for using that information to test ideas about past cultural organization and evolution, and current theoretical developments in anthropological archaeology. The survey of world prehistory will focus on three major topics: (1) the emergence in Africa of the first proto-humans, between two and six million years ago; (2) the appearance of the first anatomically and behaviorally "modern" humans; (3) the origins of domesticated plants and animals, and the development of the first village farming communities. The course will be oriented as much toward students with a general curiosity and interest in the human past as toward students who will become eventual concentrators. There will be three one-hour lectures plus one discussion section per week. Requirements: two in-class hourly exams, plus 2-3 take-home exercises that give students firsthand experience with the analysis and interpretation of archaeological data. Required readings: Archaeology: Down to Earth, by David Hurst Thomas.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001 – Required Film Screening T, 5-7 p.m. Sections 002 and 003 may be elected to satisfy the upper-level writing requirement.

Instructor(s): Ruth Behar (rbehar@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (Excl).

Credits: (4; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course examines Cuban history, literature, and culture since the Revolution both on the island and in the United States Diaspora. In political and cultural essays, personal narratives, fiction, poetry, drama, visual art and film, we will seek a comprehensive and diverse view of how Cubans and Cuban-Americans understand their situation as people of the same nation divided for thirty-five years by the Cold War, revolution, and exile. Topics will include: discussions of race, ethnicity, and intolerance in the context of Cuba and the Diaspora, the meaning of diasporas in the twentieth century, Fidel Castro and the making of the Cuban Revolution, masculinity and gay sexuality in the Revolution and Cuban Diaspora, women's dreams, everyday life under communism, Afrocuban culture and religion, the Cuban arts movement, and construction and deconstruction of exile identity. We will read and discuss the writings of Fidel Castro, Oscar Hijuelos, Edmundo Desnoes, Reinaldo Arenas, Lourdes Casal, Senel Paz, Dolores Prida, and Carmelita Tropicana, among others, and view major Cuban feature and documentary films. Students are expected to participate actively in class discussions and do independent research for a final essay as well as write two short essays and maintain a film journal. Each student will sign up for an oral presentation for one week of the course and will lead the discussion for that day's reading. The class will meet for four hours per week, 3 hours lecture and 1 hour of discussion. There will be additional time (1 to 1-1/2 hours per week) to view documentary films. The intended audience is undergraduates of all levels.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): David Frye (dfrye@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (SS).

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

In this course we will examine the cultures and societies of contemporary Latin America with an eye to appreciating the particularities of local cultures, while searching out the shared themes and histories that unify them to some degree. Some of the themes I would like to cover this year are: ecological movements, indigenous rights movements, religion, economic development, rural and urban life, and immigrant communities within Latin America. Students will be expected to keep up with the reading, which will be heavy at times; to participate actively in class discussions; and to do independent research for a final project on a particular theme or country, which will be presented to the class.

Ethnology-Theory/Method

Sections 001 through 007 meet the Upper-Level Writing requirement.

Instructor(s): Erik Mueggler (mueggler@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU).

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is an intensive, upper-division introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Cultural Studies. Concentrators and non-concentrators are welcome; the course is closed to Freshmen. The course introduces students to the closely interrelated concepts of "culture," "thought" and "meaning" as they are used in anthropology. Despite its centrality to the discipline of anthropology, "culture" has proved to be a highly inconsistent concept over time. This course traces the consequences of different concepts of culture from the early nineteenth century through the present and their relation to thought and meaning. It is organized around debates in anthropology about structure, interpretation, cognition, metaphor, practice, personhood, gender, the body, and place. Students have the opportunity to explore cultural difference by reading widely about other cultures, from the Trobriand Islands to the Caribbean, and to apply what they learn to their own cultural circumstances.

Ethnology-Theory/Method

Section 001 – Gift, Commodity & Money.

Instructor(s): Webb Keane (wkeane@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Sophomore standing. (4). (SS).

Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is designed to introduce core problems in social anthropology, centering on how the organization of societies affects the lives and experiences of those who live in them. The course concerns the role of material objects in social and subjective life under different economic systems, from the realm of gift exchange to that of commodities and money. We will explore intersections among social, symbolic, and economic meanings through the study of valuables, their possession, and their circulation. This course covers many of the same problems studied by economists and economic anthropologists, but with a focus on meanings and cultural variation. Open to students of all majors.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Maxwell Owusu (omk@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Sophomore standing. (3). (SS).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

The nature, function, and development of law. Law and society. Problems of social control: why is law obeyed in societies without courts and in societies with courts. Dispute settlement procedures and the judicial process; civil and criminal law; principles of liability for legal wrongs; women, class and community; the impact of Western law on customary, tribal, or aboriginal law. Case studies from Africa, Middle East, Asia, Europe, the Americas. A good introduction to comparative law from an anthropological perspective. Requirements: four 3-5 page papers, or three 6-8 page student papers. Lecture/discussion format.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 001 – Culture & Power in Latin America: "Civilization" & "Barbarism" in Historical Consciousness. Meets with History 393.004.

Instructor(s): Julie Skurski (skurski@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Anthro. 101. (3). (Excl). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course examines Latin American nationalism from a cultural and historical perspective. It asks how efforts to define national identity since independence have been based on concealed racial, gender and class hierarchies. It links nationalist projects and discourses to a colonial legacy that casts Latin America as a barbarous land awaiting redemption by European civilization. We will analyze this legacy and its contemporary impact. We will focus on the idea of mestizaje, or racial mixing, that has informed nationalist projects since the 19th century. Our materials will include texts by political leaders and literary figures, including Bolivar, Sarmiento, Marti, Vasconcelos, and Gallegos. We will use a variety of materials, including film and novels, and consider cases from several countries, including Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Students will write two papers and several commentaries. **This course meets with History 393.004 for Fall 2000 Term.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 002 – Gender and Sexuality in Russia/FSU.

Instructor(s): Alaina Lemon (amlemon@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Anthro. 101. (3). (Excl). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

"Feminism" in Russia does not mean what it does in the United States. This truism is one that many otherwise well-meaning Western observers of Russia have explained as arising from a supposed lack of consciousness about gender equality. In this course, however, we will explore gendered practices and categories in Russia without assuming that all roads lead to American-style feminism. We will investigate the ways sexuality and gender are culturally configured in Russia and the former USSR, the ways men and women there understand sexuality and gendered practices in daily life, and the ways they have articulated with or been affected by broader politics and institutions. Moreover, we will explore the ways in which gender and sexuality intersect other ideologies, identities, and practices. We will ask, for instance, when is gender also "about" nationalism; Soviet internationalism; memories of World War Two; critiques of socialist practices; pan-European hierarchies of civilizedness; or consumption? In this course, we will read current scholarship on gender in Russia alongside literary and filmic representations of gendered persons. For analytic comparison, we will also read key works in gender theory from anthropology and other disciplines. Prerequisites: One or more courses in REES, Anthropology, or Women's Studies at or above the 200 level.

Linguistic Anthropology

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Robin Queen (rqueen@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Ling. 210 recommended. (3). (SS). (R&E).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rqueen/TEACHING/370

See Linguistics 370.001.

Archaeology

Section 001 – Meets with Afroamerican and African Studies 358.005.

Instructor(s): Augustin Holl

Prerequisites & Distribution: Anthro. 101, 282, or junior standing. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

A functional and evolutionary examination of extinct cultural systems of Africa from the first appearance of cultural remains until the rise of African empires. Sub-Saharan Africa is emphasized.

Archaeology

Section 001.

Instructor(s): John Speth (jdspeth@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Sophomore standing. (3). (SS).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course introduces students to the many exciting new discoveries in the archaeology of our earliest human ancestors, tracing what we know of human cultural and biological evolution from the first appearance of upright, small-brained, tool-making humans, 2.0 to 2.5 million years ago, to the appearance of fully modern humans in the last 30,000 to 40,000 years. The course is divided into two segments. The first briefly surveys the techniques and methods used by archaeologists to find ancient archaeological sites, and how they go about studying the fossil human remains, animal bones, and stone tools from these sites to learn about ancient lifeways. This section also looks at how studies of living primates in the wild, such as chimpanzees, as well as modern hunter-gatherers, such as the Bushmen and Australian Aborigines, can help us to interpret the distant past. The second segment of the course turns to the actual archaeological record, looking at some of the most important finds from Africa, Asia, and Europe. In this segment, the course follows the accelerating developmental trajectory of our ancestors from the simplest tool-makers, who lacked any sign of art or religion, to humans much like ourselves, who began to bury their dead with clear displays of ritual and who adorned the walls of their caves and their own bodies with art. The course is oriented as much toward students with a general curiosity and interest in the human past as toward students who will become eventual concentrators in anthropology. Requirements include three in-class hourly exams. Required readings: a text and course pack with articles supplementing the lectures.

Archaeology

Section 001 – Intellectual History of American Archaeology. Meets with Anthropology 398.002.

Instructor(s): Lisa Young (lcyoung@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Anthro. 282 and concentration in anthropology. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

The Undergraduate Seminar in Archeaology discusses the intellectural history of American archeaology and examines methodological issues of how archaeologists use and interpret archaeological evidence. The students will read primary source material, learn about leading pioneers of modern archaeology, and discuss issues that have shaped the direction of contemporary archaeology. Students will prepare several short papers and a term paper. Grades are based on participation in the seminar discussions and the papers.

NOTE: This class meets with Anthro. 319.398.002 "Honors in Archaeology." The Honors seminar for archaeologists will meet with undergraduate seminar in archaeology (Anthro 319.394.001) and will discuss similar materials. Honors students wil prepare a proposal summarizing their thesis research for their final paper.

Museum, Honors, Reading, Research, and Field Courses

Section 001 – Honors Ethnology.

Instructor(s): Erik Mueggler (mueggler@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor. (3). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for a total of six credits with permission of concentration advisor.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This Honors course sequence in cultural anthropology is designed for undergraduate anthropology concentrators who are specializing in cultural anthropology and have applied for senior Honors in the Department of Anthropology. This course is divided into two parts. In the Fall Term, the students will meet once a week in seminar to read and discuss a selection of significant monographs and papers in ethnology, and a selection of writings on fieldwork methods and research strategies in ethnology. This seminar provides background for the students to define their own senior Honors thesis project. By the end of the term, the students will have decided on a project, and begun preliminary work on it. In consultation with the Honors advisor the student may request any member of the Anthropology Department to serve as a main thesis advisor or second reader. In the Winter Term, the students will convene periodically in seminar with the Honors advisor to discuss their research projects and get feedback from the group, as well as staying in contact with the Honors advisor and second reader. By the end of the term, each student should have completed the research and write-up for their thesis so that they can make a formal summary.

Museum, Honors, Reading, Research, and Field Courses

Section 002 – Intellectual History of American Archaeology. Meets with Anthropology 394.001.

Instructor(s): Lisa Young (lcyoung@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor. (3). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for a total of six credits with permission of concentration advisor.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

See Cultural Anthropology 394.001.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Maxwell Owusu (omk@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Junior standing. AAS 202 recommended. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course provides an introduction to the peoples and cultures of the Caribbean. Topics covered include: the historical origins of the social structure and social organization of contemporary Caribbean states; family and kinship; religion, race, class, ethnicity, and national identity; Caribbean immigration; politics and policies of socioeconomic change. The course is open to both anthropology concentrators and non-concentrators. Films and videos on the Caribbean will be shown when available. Requirements: four 3-5 page typewritten papers, which ask students to synthesize reading and lecture materials; participation in class discussions; regular class attendance.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Bruce Mannheim (mannheim@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Concentration in Anthropology. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is about the cultures, societies, languages, and histories of the Andean region of south America from the time of the Inkas until today. The Inkas and other Andean peoples developed civilizations of extraordinary complexity and cultural richness, with a modern legacy that is equally rich and culturally diverse. Who were the Inkas and how are they related to modern Andean peoples? What kind of evidence can we use to understand them? How do the lives of modern Andean peoples draw on similar cultural resources in changed circumstances. We consider historical and ethnographic evidence to understand narrative, ritual, social organization, exchange, control of land and water resources, ethnicity, music, and language.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Rebecca Scott (rjscott@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (SS).

Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

See History 476.001.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Rebecca Upton (rupton@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Two courses in anthropology. (4). (Excl).

Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Anthropology 420 will address contemporary issues in American social life, including but not limited to, the meaning of the family and kinship, the concept of American "culture", religion and state, meanings and constructions of race and ethnic identity, class structure and the role of the body in everyday life. We will take as central the concept and construction of gender as a defining aspect for individuals in the U.S. and will use various media sources to explore and highlight these issues. Students will be expected to be able to apply advanced concepts in anthropological discourse to these issues and two previous courses in Anthropology are required. Graduate students may take the course for Rackham credit. Also this course is approved for Social Science Distribution.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Raymond Kelly (rck@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: One course in anthropology. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course explores the origins of war and the early evolutionary development of war alliance and peace-making. It examines the conditions under which warfare is initiated in sociocultural contexts where it did not previously exist and elucidates the origin of war in that sense. The course begins with a delineation of the distinctive characteristics of peaceful (or warless) societies that represent both a prior sociocultural disposition and the context in which primal warfare arises and takes shape. Consideration of peaceful societies illuminates certain key features of the transition from warlessness to warfare and provides a basis for identifying transitional cases. These sociocultural systems exemplify the causes, conduct, and consequences of nascent and early warfare. The subsequent co-evolution of war and pre-state societies is traced, including the development of alliance and peacemaking. Format: lecture and discussion. Requirements: substantial term paper and presentation.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Norman Yoffee (nyoffee@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Junior standing. (4). (HU).

Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nyoffee/syllancient%20mesop-2000.htm

See Ancient Civilizations and Biblical Studies 413.001.

Ethnology-Theory/Method

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Melvin Williams (mddoublu@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Two courses in the social sciences. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course examines the possible origins of culture to understand the unique behavior and historical development of Homo sapiens and traces the salient features of human history and contemporary modernity to discuss and explain the nature of humans. The understanding of the nature of humans and their development will enable the students to comprehend, explain and resolve racism, part of a pan-human phenomenon. Is racism fundamental to the character of human culture? The course will suggest that many of our modern social problems have a common generation – the nature of human culture. That would suggest that the solutions will require a social transformation in the character of human culture. These examinations of human culture will require us to return to the discussions of Leslie White (culture is autonomous) and Alfred Kroeber (culture is superorganic) to determine the possibilities of social transformations that contemporary society may require.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Melvin Williams (mddoublu@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: One introductory course in the social sciences. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course will examine the nature of religion in the lives of humans, within the framework of culture, and as a pervasive social institution. It will focus on the special case of the intensive and involved character of religion in the history and the lives of African-Americans. These special uses of religion create special problems. We will analyze those problems. The course objectives are to:

• introduce the subject of religion as a social institution, as a pervasive component of culture, and as a contemporary adjustment and adaptation to peculiar social problems;
• demonstrate how an anthropological analysis can be used to understand religion in contemporary society;
• develop skills in critical thinking and analysis;
• present the relationship between culture, institutions, religion, subculture, and the nature of man (humans); and
• enable students to understand the religious institutions of humans generally and African-Americans specifically.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 001 – Language, Culture, & Society in Africa. Meets with Afroamerican and African Studies 458.005.

Instructor(s): Judith Irvine (jti@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor. (3). (Excl). May be repeated once for a total of six credits.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course explores African languages in relation to the cultural background, historical circumstances, and social settings of their speakers. A first set of topics concerns African language families and population history: How have languages been grouped together in families, and what problems are there in doing this? Does the geographical distribution of languages shed light on African population history, and does it match up with what we know about African history from other sources? What are African languages like, structurally? A second set of topics concerns local cultural systems: How are local ways of life, conventions of social interaction, religious and political traditions, and social hierarchies reflected in linguistic practices? How do aesthetic genres such as oral poetry, epic narrative, "drum languages," etc., get produced and performed, and what is their role in social life? A third set of topics concerns language in the context of postcolonial states: What's the relationship between indigenous languages, religious languages, and European languages in African nations' public policy? In literacy, education, law, the media? Assignments include active class participation; two papers (one 5-page, one 10-page); and two 1-hour tests.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 002 – Political Violence and Memory.

Instructor(s): Julie Skurski (skurski@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor. (3). (Excl). May be repeated once for a total of six credits.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course examines the relationship between political violence, historical memory and social transformation. It focuses on conflicts involving the state in colonial societies and independent nations, and links instances of exceptional violence to existing structural relations and political discourses. It considers how violence both produces and destroys cultural meanings and how the concept of violence is itself shaped by social theories and cultural beliefs. We will analyze acts of repression and forms of resistance as they relate to the construction or denial of contending versions of the past. Topics to be considered include: the racialization and gendering of violence; riots and massacres; trauma and memory; monuments and commemorative acts. Students will write brief commentaries, a midterm and a research paper.

Archaeology

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Robert Whallon (whallon@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: One course in statistics. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

An introduction to the major methods of statistical analysis used in archaeological research.

Museum, Honors, Reading, Research, and Field Courses

Instructor(s):

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor. (1-3). (Excl). A maximum of three credits of independent reading may be included in a concentration plan in anthropology. (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

Credits: (1-3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Independent reading and research under the direction of a faculty member. Ordinarily available only to students with background in anthropology.

Ethnology-Regional Courses

Section 001 –

Instructor(s): Sumathi Ramaswami

Prerequisites & Distribution: (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

See History 509.001.

Ethnology-Theory/Method

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Jennifer Robertson (jennyrob@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Graduate students, qualified seniors with permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

"Ethnography" contains two distinct senses: fieldwork and writing. It is as a category of anthropological writing that we will explore current discourses on ethnography, and the place of archival research and fieldwork (and especially field notes) therein. In reading ethnographies published from the turn of the century to the present, we will investigate the articulation of: form and content, figure and ground, and theory and practice, and analyze narrative styles and structure, the relationship between field notes and published texts, and uses of illustrations and photographs, foreign languages, acknowledgments, bibliographies, and various other political (and politicized) ethnographic forms and practices. An author's professional and social position and identity will be included as grist for our analytical mill, and we will situate each ethnography within its historical and academic context. By the same token, each text will serve as a point of departure for an exploration of historically situated ethnographic methods, including archival work, and anthropological theories. The formation and revision of anthropological canons, and coevality of theoretical approaches is a part of this exploration.

Ethnology-Topical Courses

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Ruth Behar (rbehar@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: 400-level coursework in Anthropology. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Where does the story of the observer end and the story of the observed begin? Autobiography, ethnography, and fiction share a concern with constructing meaningful representations of the self and of the other in narrative form. This course will focus on the history, politics, and possibilities of interconnecting autobiography, ethnography, and fiction. We will read widely in a variety of ethnographic, fictional, and autobiographic genres, including literary journalism, autobiographic ethnography, feminist ethnography, fieldwork accounts, the memoir, autobiographical criticism, family stories, and fiction that uses first-person voices. Our theoretical aim will be to gain an understanding of our current historical moment as one in which writers both inside and outside of the academy are pursuing intersecting trajectories in their use of the personal voice to explore the social world. We will consider the recent "memoir boom" and its impact on the academy as well as the academy's impact on its flourishing. We will also consider gender differences in the use of the personal voice, exploring the fine line that distinguishes "reflexive" (often coded as "male") and "confessional" (often coded as "female") writing within anthropology. And we will ask what anthropology, as a personal act of witnessing scripted in diverse genres, means at the end of the century. Our practical aim will be to gain expertise in the analysis and use of a range of textual strategies, including monologue, dialogue, first person narrative, third person narrative, flashback, different methods of quoting or paraphrasing "informants," and descriptive accounts of other places, times, and subjectivities.

Linguistic Anthropology

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Bruce Mannheim (mannheim@umich.edu), Judith Irvine (jti@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Two courses in anthropology or biology. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is an intensive introduction to theoretical issues in linguistics of special relevance to anthropologists, most of whose primary interests are outside of language. Think of language as a special kind of semiotic or cultural system. Our subject matter, then, consists of ways of approaching its formal description and the general issues (for the most part, about the nature of culture) that are raised by those approaches. Several such issues will continually crop up:

1. The nature of cultural patterning, its representation by members of a culture, and the means we use to describe it; is it possible to understand cultural patterning from the outside? How does our point of view change in the course of analysis?
2. The possibility of cross-cultural comparison and typology using culturally-meaningful (or "emic") patterns as a basis; can general "laws of structure" of cultural form be constructed from descriptions of particular cultural systems?
3. Are there true universals of culture? If universals do exist, what is their basis? Are they biologically determined, determined by the nature of the cultural code, or some combination of the two? What evidence is required to make sense of the question?
4. What does it mean for individuals to share a culture? Does "sharing a culture" require collective representations? Are there any?

Archaeology

Section 001.

Instructor(s): John O'Shea (joshea@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Senior concentrators, graduates, with permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is designed principally for graduate students in anthropology. It examines the epistemological basis for archaeology, major theoretical frameworks for reconstructing past human organization and studying its change, and methodological approaches appropriate for such investigations. The course is designed as a seminar, with strong emphasis on active student participation. There are no exams, but a paper is required at the end of the term. Prerequisites include graduate standing in anthropology, or permission of the instructor.

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