Anthropology II

Christie LAM (Graduate School of Human Sciences)

Cource Objective
   This course is designed for students who intend to undertake higher levels of study in the field of anthropology. The course aims to provide an in-depth study of anthropological knowledge by critically examining the ethnographic texts and anthropological theories that underlie them. The course will begin with ethnography - the major basis in which social and cultural anthropological research is presented. Students will learn how to read and analyze ethnographic texts. In the second part, we will investigate anthropological ways of knowing, understanding and exploring humankind. By doing so, we will examine how different anthropological theorists attempt to answer some fundamental questions: What is culture? What are the relationships between individual and the social world? Can humans make choices free from power and structure? These theoretical models are critical to both classic and contemporary ethnographic analysis. By discussing these theories in chronological order, students will be able to understand how anthropological theories reflect particular macro/ micro socio-political contexts and also be changed and refuted continuously over the time. By the end of the course, students will have a solid knowledge in the discipline of anthropology and be able to apply this knowledge to their future research.
   By the end of this course students should be able to:

• Display an understanding of what is ethnography and its importance in the field of anthropology
• Read and analyze ethnographic texts with an appropriate degree of critical awareness
• Demonstrate a proficiency in the major problems, concepts and ideas in anthropological and social theory, from the late 19th century to the present
• Recognize how theoretical concerns are taken up in and inform ethnographic writing and analysis
• Demonstrate an understanding of the application of anthropological theory in research

Requirement / Prerequisite
   Students who have taken Anthropology I or equivalent course in Anthropology.

Course Content
   Week 1 Introduction: What is ethnography? What is theory?
   Week 2 Reading and writing ethnography I
   Week 3 Reading and writing ethnography II
   Week 4 Marx, history, and materialism: Political economy
   Week 5 Emile Durkheim and the collective conscience
   Week 6 Weber, rationalization and modernity
   Week 7 The emergence of British anthropology
   Week 8 Structural functionalism
   Week 9 The early American School: Historicism and diffusion
   Week 10 Culture and personality
   Week 11 Individual, process and interaction
   Week 12 Structure, symbols and meaning
   Week 13 Negotiating agency and structure in practice
   Week 14 Power, subjectivity and cultural critique
   Week 15 Review

Textbooks

• Erickson, P. Murphy, L.D. eds. (2006). Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory. Peterborough: Broadview Press.
• Gay y Blasco, Paloma and Wardle, Huon. (2007). How to Read Ethnography. London: Routledge.

Grading Policy

• Discussion leadership and participation (40%)
• Discussion papers (30%)
• Critical review on selected ethnography (30%)