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Drexel University |
Dr. Wesley Shumar, Assoc. Professor |
|
Anthropology 410 |
Office: PSA
Rm. 215 |
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Winter 2008-09 |
Phone: 895-2060 |
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T, TH 9:30-11AM |
wes@ drexel.edu |
|
MacAlister 4011 |
Office Hrs: T, Th 11-12 |
C U L T U R A
L T H E O R Y
Course Objectives: The course will introduce students to the development of theory within cultural anthropology from the evolutionist of the nineteenth century to the concerns with global cultural change and issues of identity of the late twentieth century. Students will become familiar with the major thinkers in each theoretical movement and with the underlying principles that distinguish one theoretical tradition from another. Through detailed readings students will develop their own theoretical interests and produce research on a major theorist or theoretical movement.
Required Readings:
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press, 2009.
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History, 4th Edition. NY, NY: McGraw Hill, 2008.
Schedule
|
Week
1 |
Nineteenth
Century Evolutionism |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 1-3)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.
|
Week
2 |
Foundations
of Social Theory |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 4-8)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.
|
Week
3 |
The
Boasian Tradition |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 9-12)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.
|
Week
4 |
Functionalism |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 13-15)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.
|
Week
5&6 |
Structuralism & Interpretive Anthropology |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 24-26, 35-37)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.
|
February 5 |
Midterm
Exam |
|
Week
7 |
Neoevolutionism and Cultural Ecology |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 18-23)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.|
Week
8 |
Materialism
and Political Economy |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 4, 23)
*Additional Reading to be assigned.
|
Week
9 |
Cognitive and Gender |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 27-29, 32-34)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.
|
Week
10 |
Postmodernism and Globalization |
McGee, R. Jon & Richard L. Warms Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. (Ch. 38-43)
Moore, Jerry D. Visions of Culture, 3rd Edition.
|
February
28 |
RESEARCH
PAPERS DUE |
F
I N A L E X A M
_________________________________________________
Details
1. You are expected to do all of the reading for this course.
2. It is expected that you will attend all classes, that you will participate in a study group.
3. All papers (Exams, projects, etc.) are due on the dates listed in the syllabus.
Assuming that the above expectations are met, each assignment will be weighted as follows:
1. Paper (40% of the final grade).
Students will pick a theorist, e.g. Ruth Benedict, Claude Levi-Strauss, or a theoretical movement, e.g., ethnoscience, structural-functionalism, and write a term paper focusing on the main theoretical ideas. Papers will be well researched using original sources as well as a secondary literature. Papers will be about 8 pages, double-spaced and due in the last week of class.
2. Midterm Examination (30% of the final grade).
The midterm exam is an in-class essay exam. The exam will be open book and cover the theorists that we have been able to go over in the first five weeks of class.
3. Final Examination (30% of the final grade).
The final for this course is an in-class essay exam. It will also be open book and will require that students synthesize the material from the last five weeks of class.