Course Description

What is cultural anthropology?  How does anthropology prepare us to live in a multi-cultural world in which people have unequal access to power and resources?  How does anthropology offer new lenses through which to understand and interpret “other” cultures?  How does anthropology relate to our pasts, everyday lives, and agendas for social change? 

This course introduces us to the field of cultural anthropology through ethnographies (books about cultures based on fieldwork) that explore border crossings of many kinds: undocumented immigrants living in California; modern plagues indiscriminately spreading across all national borders; Nigerian artists playing the global market for African art and culture; and African immigrants moving to New York for US dollars.  By border crossing, anthropologists mean the merging of two or more cultures, resulting in struggles for control over resources as well as exciting new cultural forms.  Key themes of this course include: power and culture; the ideas of progress and the nation-state; immigration and identity; race and gender; inequality and structural violence; transnational collaborations; globalization; and transformation.

By getting a chance to participate in a community-based service learning project throughout the semester, you will become familiar with a community organization of your choosing.  Over the course of the semester, you will spend 20-30 hours working within your community organization.  As you go, you will critically reflect upon your community service experience through class discussions and writings.  You will write two ethnographic papers based on your service learning experience.  Throughout your service learning project, you will practice and apply your anthropological skills—research methods; descriptive and reflexive writing; and cultural interpretation and analysis.

Course Learning Outcomes

Course Requirements

Class Participation (15%)

Attendance at all class meetings is required.  If you miss 4 classes, you will be dropped from the course.  The college policy on attendance is that students missing one more class hour than the unit value for that particular course may be dropped without possibility of credit.  Do not be late: lateness is disrespectful to the instructor and your classmates. 

All students are expected to read the assignments before each class and come prepared to participate in class discussions and exercises.  Be prepared to read between 40 to 80 pages a week!  Please read critically and take notes, making sure you understand the authors’ main points.  Also, I encourage you to keep a personal reading journal in which you write down your reflections and questions for class discussion. 

Quizzes & Response Papers (20% total)

 Several quizzes based on course readings and lectures will be given throughout the semester.  The instructor will usually let you know about quizzes in advance. Response papers based on specific readings or films will be assigned in advance.

A response paper is 1-2 pages, typed and double-spaced.  While it is a relatively open format, your response paper should deal with one or a few of the main points made by the author or film. I am interested in your critical thinking here: tell me what you think about the piece.  While some summary is fine, I do not want a summary paper.  For example, you might consider these questions before you write: Given what the author or film was trying to convey, do you agree or disagree?  Why or why not?  Do you have lingering questions about the material presented? Did you appreciate the piece?  Why or why not?

Midterm (30%)

 The Midterm consists of a take-home essay and a fieldwork paper.  Based on assigned readings, topics covered in class and videos, the essay will require synthetic and critical thinking. The fieldwork paper will give you the opportunity to begin the process of formally writing up your fieldwork experience, using ethnographic writing techniques of thick description and analysis.

Final Exam (15%)

 The final will be a take-home essay exam.  Based on assigned readings, topics covered in class and videos, questions will require synthetic and critical thinking.

Final Research Paper and Presentation (20%)

 Your 6-8 page final paper (typed and double-spaced) is due on the last day of class.  It will be based on the original ethnographic research that you conducted throughout the course.  In this paper, you will integrate description and an anthropological analysis of your topic.  Please choose from the topics listed at the end of the syllabus.  In the last weeks of class, you present your research findings in a creative and fun presentation.

Final Grades

YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL OF THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO PASS THE COURSE.  Your grade in the course will be based on: class participation (15%); quizzes & response papers (20%); midterm (30%); final (15%); and final research paper and presentation (20%). 

90%-100% = A; 80%-90%=B; 70%-80%=C; 60%-70%=D; below 60%=F

Important Notes

Students requiring special services or arrangements because of hearing, visual, or other disabilities should contact their instructor, counselor, or the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 848-4865.

Students are expected to exercise academic honesty and integrity.  Violations such as cheating and plagiarism will result in disciplinary action which may include recommendation for dismissal.

Classroom Etiquette

 It is a privilege to step into and participate in a college classroom, right?!  I aim to create and facilitate a productive, comfortable, and exciting learning environment for each student.  In order to do this, I need your cooperation and willingness to take this learning environment seriously.  How might we create this kind of experience?  Here are some of my rules:

Required Texts

Texts are available at the Gavilan College Bookstore and on reserve at the library.  All videos are also on reserve at the library. You are also required to collect and keep track of handouts distributed in class.

Robbins, Richard.  2008.  Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach.

Chavez, Leo.  1998.  Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Immigrants in American Society.

Stoller, Paull.  1999.  Jaguar: A Story of Africans in America.

Recommended (not required): Farmer, Paul.  1999.  Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues.

*Please note: Lecture notes are in Powerpoint format. If you do not have Microsoft Powerpoint you can still access the notes by using Powerpoint Viewer downloadable at the Microsoft Office Download Center)

Service Learning & Fieldwork Assignments

Service Learning Placements for Fall 2008

I.  Personal History & Service Learning Narrative (due SEPT 10)

Please answer the following questions (2-3 pages, typed, double-spaced):

II.  Fieldwork Description Paper (due as part of take-home midterm OCT 17)

Directions:  Choose one of the following topics to research throughout the semester.  You will write two papers about your topic.  The first is your fieldwork “description” paper, comprising part of your midterm.  This paper will be based on your first two hours (round 1) of fieldwork.  Your final paper is a “description and analysis” paper and builds on your first paper.  This final paper is based on your second two hours of research (round 2) and builds on round 1 of your research.  The final paper is due on the last day of class.  Your first paper is mainly descriptive, while your final paper is a thesis-driven, analytical paper.  Both papers will be evaluated on the quality of your original research.

1.  What can a life history tell you about people’s cultural identity/identities?

Interview one or a few people from your service learning organization about his or her culture.  Ask for permission to tape the interview so you can study it.  Make sure you can interview the person at least twice, so that s/he can fill in the gaps you missed the first time.  Try to let the person you interview guide the discussion.  Ask the person about his or her culture.  How does she describe her culture?  How has her culture made a difference in her life?  How has her sense of culture changed over time?  Let the person talk about what is interesting to him or her.  Encourage the person to tell stories.

Come up with about ten questions before your interview.  Here are some ideas:

2.  How do rituals and ceremonies build a culturally specific sense of community?

Attend a ceremony.  For example, you might attend a church service, rite of passage (e.g. barmitzvah, wedding, funeral, etc.), an AA meeting, or a political demonstration.  Take lots of notes on everything you observe.  Talk to at least three of the participants about their purposes and experiences.  Do research on the kind of ceremony you attended, and if possible, attend another similar ceremony after you know something about this kind of event.

3.  What kinds of beliefs do people living in the United States have about gender roles, and how do they make their beliefs work in their lives?

Either conduct two long interviews or several short ones on the subject of ideas about gender.  Pick a particular topic around which to conduct your interviews.  For example, you might interview a parent about his or her gender expectations for the children.  You might interview a working person about the gendered divisions of her or his job, and the kinds of hurdles s/he has had to overcome in relation to gender on the job.  You might interview an older person about gender roles in retirement, or about how gender roles have changed over her or his lifetime.  You might interview a child about her or his ideas about gender.  In your interviews, pay attention not only to the person’s ideas about gender but also how s/he uses these ideas in her or his life.

4.  How do people create social change through their life’s work or personal goals?

Interview one or a few people from your service learning organization about creating change.  To understand multiple perspectives, you may want to choose someone who works at the organization and someone whom the organization serves.  Talk with your co-workers about their work—how they started, what they actually do, and their visions for the future.  Talk with those who use the organization’s services about their lives and how the organization makes a difference in their lives.  You might also consider asking some of the questions above.

5.  How can ethnography make a “familiar” cultural event/scene seem “strange” in order to clarify its cultural specificity?

Observe and describe a set of familiar cultural practices, highlighting its culturally distinctive features.  For models, please refer to the Miner article, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” as well as the film, Babakiueria.  Like Miner, you may use a parodic style, but be accurate in your description.  Make sure you actually observe the practices you describe; don’t just rely on your memory or other people’s stereotypes.  Follow your description with a discussion on the usefulness and/or limitations of the kind of ethnographic portrayal you have written.  Reflect on how the mode of representation you have chosen clarifies, distorts, or reinterprets your object of study.

III.  Fieldwork Description & Analysis Paper (final paper due DEC 14)

This paper builds on your midterm fieldwork paper. Conduct one or two follow-up interviews with the same or different people. In addition toreflexive and descriptive writing, you will create and support a thesis for this paper.  By the end of the semester, you will be able to contextualize your service learning organization within broader cultural, political, and economic histories.  Through data interpretation and social contextualization, you will produce an ethnographic paper based on your service learning experience.