Anthropology: 2008-2009
Description
At Haverford we teach social and cultural anthropology. Social and cultural anthropologists study human beings and human communities. We are interested in social life and organization, modes of subsistence, exchange practices, the family, politics and power, ritual and religion, gender, and all forms of expressive culture. Traditionally anthropologists have studied small-scale indigenous communities (once called “primitive societies”) and rural populations, but now anthropologists also study state societies, urban communities, and the effects of globalization. Social and cultural anthropology has three central traits. First, we are comparative. This means that we compare social and cultural phenomena in one place to those in another, and that we explore the particular features of a specific people and place in relation to general theories about humans and human societies. This comparative method allows us to tease out what is unique and distinctive about the subject we are studying and what generally tends to be true about that sort of thing. Second, we are holistic. We try to get a sense of the context in which a particular incident or practice is occurring, as a way of developing a fuller understanding of that specific practice and of that place and those people and how things work there. Third, we engage in participant-observation fieldwork. Social and cultural anthropologists live in the communities they are studying for extended periods of time, in order to build a perspective that integrates an insider’s and an outsider’s points of view.
Faculty
Associate Professor Maris Boyd Gillette, Chair
Stinnes Professor of Global Studies Laurie Kain Hart (on leave Spring 2009)
Associate Professor Zolani Ngwane
Assistant Professor Jesse Weaver Shipley (on leave Spring 2009)
Visiting Assistant Professor Banu Nilgun Uygun
John R. Coleman Professor of Social Sciences Wyatt MacGaffey, Emeritus
Affiliated Faculty at Bryn Mawr College:
Professor of Growth and Structure of Cities Gary McDonogh
Faculty of the Department of Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College
Requirements
Students are required to take a total of 11 courses in the major, including five required courses within the department. Individual programs require the advisor’s approval.
- One 100-level introductory course, either: Anthropology 103a, Introduction to Anthropology (fall) or BMC Anthropology 102 (spring), Introduction to Anthropology; or Anthropology 110b, Anthropology of Food and Eating; or Anthropolgoy 155a, Themes in the Anthropology of Religion.
- Anthropology 210b, History and Theory of Anthropology.
- One area course, such as Anthropology 241, Mediterranean; Anthropology 245, Africa; Anthropology 243, East Asia; or a similar course on another campus.
- One other 200-level course in this department.
- One 300-level course in this department.
- Anthropology 450a and 450b Senior Thesis Seminars. The remaining courses may be courses offered in the department, in an anthropology department on another campus, or in approved related fields. Courses outside the department must be approved by the student’s advisor (Note: When required courses are not offered, equivalents will be designated). Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the use of e-mail, Blackboard, and the faculty server.
Minor Requirements
The minor in anthropology consists of six courses, including: an Introduction to Anthropology (this requirement may be satisfied by an Introduction to Anthropology at either campus, or by other introductory courses); ANTH 303b, History and Theory of Anthropology; an ethnographic area course; and three other courses at the 200 or 300 level, including one course at the 300 level. As a general rule, a minimum of three courses must be taken in the Haverford department.
(Note: When required courses are not offered, equivalents will be designated.) Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the use of e-mail, Blackboard, and the faculty server.
Requirements for Honors
Honors are decided at the discretion of the faculty in the department of Anthropology. They are based upon overall excellence in the major. “Excellence” is defined by three criteria: outstanding work in the senior thesis (final written work and oral presentation), strong cumulative performance in all anthropological coursework (typically a grade point average of 3.7 or higher), and a record of consistent intellectual commitment and participation in the department. High Honors will be awarded, upon occasion, for exceptional contributions in all areas.
Courses
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103 Introduction to Anthropology SO
Z.Ngwane
An introduction to the basic ideas and methods of social anthropology. Examines major theoretical and ethnographic concerns of the discipline from its origins to the present, such as family and kinship, production and reproduction, history and evolution, symbolism and representation, with particular attention to such issues as race and racism, gender and sexuality, class, and ethnicity. Prerequisite: Not open to students who have completed BMC ANTH 102. (Satisfies the social justice requirement.)
111 Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies SO (Cross-listed in Peace and Conflict Studies)
Staff
A broad overview of the study of conflict, peace and peace-building. Topics include: militarization, nuclearization, ethnic conflict, genocide, social movements, and non-violence, with special emphasis on understanding the historical and cultural contexts of conflicts and peacebuilding efforts. (Satisfies the social justice requirement.)
130 Themes in the Anthropology of Religion SO
Z.Ngwane
(Satisfies the freshman writing requirement.)
155 Themes in the Anthropology of Religion SO (Cross-listed in Religion and Writing Program and African and Africana Studies)
Z.Ngwane
(Satisfies the freshman writing requirement.)
202 Among Men: Construction of Masculinities SO
Z.Ngwane
A comparative exploration of the socio-cultural politics of gender, with particular reference to masculinity, the course combines an intellectual historical approach (i.e.) how the related notions of maleness, manhood and masculinity have featured in the history of social thought and a thematic focus on issues such as the men's movements, popular culture, queer movement, etc. While the course will be grounded on an anthropological notion of the social basis of power, culture and identity formation, the readings will nonetheless be interdisciplinary -- including historical narratives, literature and film ethnographies (from Africa and the United States) and critical work from fields such as queer, feminist and postcolonial studies. Typically offered in alternate years.
204 Anthropology of Gender SO (Cross-listed in Gender and Sexuality Studies)
B.Uygun
The cultural construction of gender and sexuality, kinship, inheritance, and marriage; the performative dimensions of sexual identity; the cultural politics of motherhood; myths of matriarchy; ideologies of masculinity and femininity. Not open to students who have completed ANTH 216b or ANTH 106 at Bryn Mawr. Offered occasionally.
205 Social Anthropology: Artisans in Global Context SO
M.Gillette
In this course we examine artisanal and artistic production, and how such productive systems intertwine with other aspects of social organization, such as kinship and gender, and are affected by large-scale forces, such as marketization and globalization. Students will conduct independent research on a small-scale producer in the Philadelphia area. Prerequisite: Anthropology 102 or 103. Offered occasionally.
206 Anthropology of Art SO
L.Hart
This course looks at the social and cultural foundations of a category of things referred to as "art." We examine the properties of these things and of the people who make, trade, exhibit, and look at art, and ask why they (we) do that. This involves a) understanding, and making theory about, the general development of the concept and uses of "art" in European civilization, as well how and why objects from "exotic" (that is, colonized) societies (in particular Africa, Native America, and Australia) have been identified and collected as a particular kind of art ("primitive art") and b) exploring the "power of images" in diverse societies and social contexts. These questions allow us to challenge our received conceptions of what art is and does and to broaden our understanding of human creativity beyond conventional notions of art, taste, and value, and power. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or consent of the instructor. Typically offered in alternate years.
207 Visual Anthropology SO
M.Gillette,J.Shipley
Examines the history and development of anthropology's relationship to the visual, focusing particularly on ethnographic film. Explores the relationship between ethnographic texts and visual ethnographic materials in socio-cultural anthropology. Visual ethnography investigated as a mode for representing culture and a site of cultural practice. Special attention paid to questions of collaboration and documentary for social change. Students produce ethnographic films in crews for final projects. Prerequisite: ANTH 103 at Haverford or 102 at Bryn Mawr. Typically offered in alternate years.
208 Museum Anthropology SO (Cross-listed in Comparative Literature)
M.Gillette
What kinds of uses, values, and meanings do people attribute to objects? Why do museums exist as special sites for housing objects? What do museums do to objects, how, and why? This course is a comparative and historical introduction to museums and objects, and an overview of the kinds of things anthropologists do in and around museums. Students conduct research on museums (museums as the object of research) and museum research (research as museum professionals). Offered occasionally.
209 Anthropology of Education: State of the Debate SO
Z.Ngwane
Education and schooling in anthropological literature. We will compare the concepts of ""socialization"" in British Social Anthropology with ""cultural transmission"" in American Cultural Anthropology to look for the different ways in which the role of education in social reproduction and transformation has been framed over time. In addition to basic works by thinkers such as Durkheim, Malinowski, Mead, Benedict and Boas, we will read a selection of ethnographies of schooling from the United States, Africa and Japan. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or Education. Offered occasionally.
216 Women and Power in Comparative Perspective SO (Cross-listed in Gender and Sexuality Studies)
M.Gillette
This course explores issues of power and its operation through examining women and women's experience. Course readings combine theoretical materials on power and women's empowerment with ethnographic studies that allow us to investigate theoretical questions in specific contexts. We consider the nature of power, the sources of social inequality, and the potential for powerful action on individual and collective levels. (Satisfies the social justice requirement.) Offered occasionally.
218 Culture in the Global Economy SO
B.Uygun
Exploration of the impact of globalization on everyday life from an anthropological perspective. In this course, we will investigate the relationship between local cultures and global forces in particular settings and in the lives of actors, incuding consumers, workers, migrants, and tourists. In addition to reading selected examples of writing on globalization in other social sciences and the popular press, we will focus upon anthropological approaches to global phenomena such as consumption, labor, and social movements and the challenges they pose to theories of "culture." Prerequisite: ANTH 102 or 103, or consent. Offered occasionally.
234 Violence, Terror, and Trauma SO (Cross-listed in Peace and Conflict Studies)
L.Dwyer
Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or Peace and Conflict Studies (Satisfies the social justice requirement.)
235 Social Practice of Media SO
J.Shipley
This course will examine cross-culturally how the mass media print and electronic, old and new have become critical to the constitution of subjectivities, collectivities, and histories in the contemporary world and are the primary means for the circulation of symbolic forms across space and time. Attention is paid to how the production, reception, and circulation of media forms and technologies are integrated into social practice at the local, national, and transnational levels. Offered occasionally.
241 Anthropology of the Mediterranean SO (Cross-listed in Comparative Literature and Latin American and Iberian Studies)
L.Hart
This course focuses on pluralism and cultural interaction in circum-Mediterranean societies. It includes such topics as: orientalism and the problematics and politics of ethnographic production in and on "peripheral" societies; the use and abuse of concepts of cultural continuity; ethno-religious interaction in rural and urban settings; imperial legacies and nation-state ideologies in 21st century cultural politics; local and transnational economic systems; migration patterns, conflicts, and contemporary social transformations. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or Global History. Typically offered in alternate years.
244 Anthropology of China SO (Cross-listed in East Asian Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies)
M.Gillette
This course is a basic introduction to the anthropology of China. We investigate family, religion, and politics, paying particular attention to "the problem of women," as anthropologists and the Chinese Communist Party have termed the study of gender relations and gendered representations. The scope of our inquiry is about one century: we begin with traditional China and end with the present. Our primary site is the Chinese mainland (rather than Taiwan, Hong Kong, or the Chinese diaspora). Our goals include learning specific information about China, Chinese society, and Chinese culture; examining a range of diverse anthropological approaches to the study of human beings; and exploring the political dimensions of representation. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or East Asian Studies. Typically offered in alternate years.
247 Anthropology and Literature: Ethnography of Black South African Writing 1888-2008 SO (Cross-listed in African and Africana Studies)
Z.Ngwane
Through analysis of the development of writing in colonial and apartheid South Africa this course examines the "crisis of representation" of the past two decades in literature and anthropology. We will consider debates about the textual status of ehtnographic monographs and the more general problems of writing and social power. Specifically, we will look at how such writing contributed to the construction and transformation of black subjectivity. Course material will include 19th and 20th century texts by black South Africans including life narratives, particularly collaborated autobiographies by women in the 1980's. Prerequisite: one course in literature or Anthropology. Typically offered in alternate years.
256 Political Anthropology SO
Staff
This course considers politics as what groups of people do to affect their social conditions, and examines how their ability to affect those conditions is organized and controlled. Through the reading of ethnography and anthropological theory, we will raise questions about how "leaderless" societies organize social action, about the interrelations of gender, bodies, and politics, and about the ways in which power is exercised and contested in different societies. We will discuss how modern states arose and what impact they have had on the peoples they incorporate and on options for political action in contemporary complex global political systems. Prerequisite: One other course in Anthropology or Peace Studies, or consent of the instructor. (Satisfies the social justice requirement.) Offered occasionally.
257 Ethnic Conflict SO
L.Hart
The comparative study of ethnic identity and collective violence. Ideological systems of classification and differentiation, such as kinship, race, class, ethnicity and nationality. Case studies of contemporary struggles and conflicts, informed by classic and recent anthropological theory. Prerequisite: One other course in Anthropology or Peace and Conflict Studies or permission of the instructor. (Satisfies the social justice requirement.) Typically offered in alternate years.
258 Politics of Culture and Identity SO (Cross-listed in Peace and Conflict Studies)
L.Dwyer
This course will examine how "culture" and "identity" have become increasingly important frameworks through which claims to resources, rights, and power are articulted. Drawing on a diverse set of case studies, we will ask how we can approach politics of culture and identity ethnographically, and what role anthropology might have to play in such struggles. Offered occasionally.
259 Ethnography of Islam SO
M.Gillette
Comparative ethnographies of Muslim societies. Islam as a field of anthropological inquiry and theorizing. Ethnographic representation and the construction of ethnographic authority. Islam in the western imagination. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or consent of the instructor. Offered occasionally.
261 Memory, History, Anthropology SO
M.Gillette
The social aspects of memory. Collective representations and memorial genres. Institutional memory and the effects of institutions on individual memory. Memory in oral and literate societies. Memory as a political act and a tool of political legitimacy. Mourning and trauma. Role of narrative in memory and the relationship between non-narrative forms and memory. How memory relates to the present and to the past. The course will examine a number of influential theoretical texts on memory and look at selected case studies. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or consent. Offered occasionally.
263 Anthropology of Space and Architecture SO
L.Hart
Space, place and architecture in anthropological theory; the contributions of anthropology to our understanding of the built and imagined environment in diverse cultures. Topics include: the body and its orientation in space; the house, kinship and cosmology; architecture as a communicative/semiotic system; space and sociopolitical segregation and integration; space and commodity culture. May be taken for Bryn Mawr Cities credit. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or Growth and Structure of Cities. Offered occasionally.
270 Psychoanalysis and Anthropology SO
L.Hart
This course will trace areas of convergence of anthropology and psychoanalysis from the beginnings of the discipline of anthropology to the present through selected topics, including: kinship, society and the self: sexual difference; the interpretation of dreams; anthropological hermeneutics, ethnographic fieldwork and clinical practice (listening, transference, countertransference), magic and fetishism, individual and collective violence. Prerequisite: Anthropology 102 or 103. (Satisfies the social justice requirement.) Offered occasionally.
303 History and Theory of Anthropology SO
Staff
The development of anthropological thought in the West. Enlightenment theories of society and the human subject, the study of social organization in 19th and early 20th centuries (including Marx and Durkheim), social anthropology and cultural anthropology . Structuralism, Marxist anthropology, postmodernism and the crisis of representation in the 1980s and 1990s. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology, excluding BMC ANTH 303. Typically offered every Spring.
322 Ethnographic Methods SO
M.Gillette
Qualitative research methods, with a focus on participant-observation. Theoretical debates, ethical questions, and practical issues concerning the craft of ethnographic field work will both be addressed. Students will conduct several small-scale field exercises and design and implement a larger ethnographic project. Prerequisite: ANTH 102 or 103. Preference to ANTH majors/minors and PEAC concentrators. Typically offered every Fall.
327 Ritual, Performance and Symbolic Practice SO (Cross-listed in African and Africana Studies)
J.Shipley
This course examines theories of performance and practice as a way for understanding how specific events and actions relate to social structure, history, and memory. We will explore how bodies become produced and contested in the performance of political and personal productive and sensuous activity. The course's central thematic explores the tension between theories of performance and theories of practice which highlight key philosophical issues within anthropology and social thought more generally: power and its enactment, the relationship between personal experience and macro-sociological processes, the nature of consciousness, structure versus agency, and stasis versus change. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology or consent.
350 Social and Cultural Theory: Contemporary Ethnography SO
L.Hart
This class is an intensive, advanced reading seminar on contemporary ethnography with an emphasis on how the craft of anthropology draws on its disciplinary resources to address the predicaments of social marginalization in the contemporary 'globalizing' world. We will test the fate of key 20th century theoretical movements in anthropology (structural functionalism, culture and personality, structuralism, neo-Marxism, literary post-modernism, etc.) through their application in ethnography. Seminars will be organized through student presentations and responses.
355 Anthropology and the New Faces of Modernity SO
Z.Ngwane
An examination of recent trends in reflection on modernity in the human and social sciences. This course addresses questions about social subjectivity, globalization and the endurance of modernity through a number of ethnographic snapshots from different parts of the world. Prerequisite: One 200-level course in Anthropology or by consent of the instructor. Typically offered in alternate years.
358 Anthropology of Capitalisms SO
M.Gillette
This course explores capitalism from an anthropological perspective. We combine study of theoretical work on capitalist processes and the nature of capitalism with ethnographic studies of how capitalism operates in particular places at particular times. Our work includes examining and producing materials in multiple media, including written texts, film, and oral presentations. Students will conduct ethnographic studies of capitalisms over the course of the semester, and will work together in crews to make films about capitalisms. Each crew will produce at least two short films. Prerequisite: Anthropology 207 or 303 or consent. Typically offered in alternate years.
361 Advanced Topics in Ethnographic Area Studies: Modern Turkey SO
B.Uygun
Prerequisite: One course in an appropriate ethnographic area or consent. Offered occasionally.415 Research Seminar in the Material Culture of China: Producers and Collectors of Chinese Ceramics SO (Cross-listed in East Asian Studies)
M.Gillette
This course focuses on the production and collecting practices of Chinese porcelain. It provides a basic introduction to research on material culture, Chinese high-fired ceramics, and the practices of collectors and porcelain producers. Students who complete this class will gain a good basic understanding of the technical and social aspects of Chinese ceramic production, forms and decoration of Chinese ceramics, the porcelain center of Jingdezhen, and the political and cultural aspects of Chinese porcelain consumption. In addition to engaging with course materials, each student will design and complete a major independent research project related to ceramics or an aspect of Chinese material culture. Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology, East Asian Studies, or permission. Offered occasionally.
450 Senior Seminar: Research and Writing SO
M.Gillette
Students research and complete a thesis in socio-cultural anthropology over the course of two semesters. The seminar includes course meetings and individual consultations. Prerequisite: Senior standing in Anthropology at Haverford. Typically offered every Fall.
451 Senior Seminar: Supervised Research and Writing SO
M.Gillette,Z.Ngwane,B.Uygun
Supervised Research and Writing, is the second in the two-course sequence for seniors in Anthropology. Students will complete a thesis using primary sources and/or fieldwork and will participate in a thesis writing workshop. Prerequisite: Senior standing in Anthropology at Haverford. Typically offered every Spring.
460 Teaching Assistant SO
Staff
Discussion leader and course assistant in Anthropology 103, Anthropology 110, or other selected anthropology courses; includes responsibility for selected tutorials. Final Paper. Typically offered every semester.
480 Independent Study SO
Staff
Offered occasionally.
COURSES OFFERED AT BRYN MAWR COLLEGE
ANTHROPOLOGY
101-102 Introduction to Anthropology
203 Human Ecology
204 North American Archaeology
209 Human Evolution
210 Medical Anthropology
232 Nutritional Anthropology
243 Cultures of Technology: Aesthetics, Senses and the Body
253 Childhood in the African Experience
261 Palestine and Israeli Society
281 Language in Social Context
286 Social Construction of Irish Identity
303 History of Anthropological Theory
312 Anthropology of Reproduction
342 Middle Eastern Diasporas
354 Identity, Ritual and Cultural Practices in Contemporary Vietnam
GROWTH AND STRUCTURE OF CITIES
185 Urban Culture and Society
190 Form of the City
209 Medical Anthropology
335 Mass Media and the City
360 Topics in Urban Culture and Society