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ANTH 1002: Anthropology in the world

Semester 2, 2022

Anthropology is the study of what it means to be human. It begins with the assumption that diversity is the defining characteristic of humanity, and more specifically by the capacity to acquire a specific way of life and set of roles in a system. Hence, anthropologists conclude (1) there is no right, correct, or normal way for people to live or to create a community for itself, and (2) b y looking at humanity in a global frame, each person can also gain critical insight into their own life. If there are so many ways of life that people have created and continue to create for them selves, then anthropologists say we each must ask why do I have to be this way? and isn’t there some alternative way people can adopt? This class introduces the tools of anthropology with the aim of equipping students to question their own existence and the authority of dominant ideas.

Coordinator: Ryan Schram

Weekly plan of lectures and topics

Week Date Topic Main reading Other reading
1 Anthropology as “ruthless criticism” Marx ([1843] 1978)
Aug 01 1. Why do we need anthropology?
Aug 03 2. Anthropology as critique
2 Society as a system of total services Eriksen (2015b) Mauss ([1925] 1990)
Aug 08 1. Society as a total system
Aug 10 2. The obligations of the gift
3 A world of commodities West (2012) Marx ([1867] 1972)
Aug 15 1. Commodities, capitalism, and private property
Aug 17 2. Global capitalism and its contradictions
4 Spheres of exchange & The efflorescence of exchange Sharp (2013) Bohannan (1959); Bohannan (1955); Sahlins (1992)
Aug 22 1. Spheres of exchange in historical perspective
Aug 24 2. The efflorescence of exchange
5 Family matters Eriksen (2015c) Carsten (1995)
Aug 29 1. Kinship is culture, not nature
Aug 31 2. Kinship as social action
6 Global gifts and body shopping Zharkevich (2019) Krause and Bressan (2018); Leinaweaver (2010); Vora (2009)
Sep 05 1. Global gifts
Sep 07 2. The commodification of kin
7 Care as capital after the Fordist social contract Mazelis (2015); Nelson (2000)
Sep 12 1. Rules as resources
Sep 14 2. Informal economies of care
8 Ethnicity and cultural diversity Eriksen (2015a) Eriksen (1994)
Sep 19 1. Monday lecture
Sep 21 2. Wednesday lecture
B Mandatory school closure for seasonal celebrations. No class
Sep 26 1. Monday lecture
Sep 28 2. Wednesday lecture
9 Managing diversity in plural societies Gowricharn (2015); Eriksen (1997) Couacaud (2016)
Oct 03 1. Monday lecture
Oct 05 2. Wednesday lecture
10 Migration and multiculturalism in Western societies Vertovec (2007) Rex (1996); Taussig (1991)
Oct 10 1. Monday lecture
Oct 12 2. Wednesday lecture
11 Indigenous creations in cultural institutions Clifford (1988) Thomas (1991); Morphy (2001); Rubin (1984)
Oct 17 1. Monday lecture
Oct 19 2. Wednesday lecture
12 Decolonising cultural institutions Andrews (2021) Riley (2021); Eldridge (1996); Jones and Birdsall-Jones (2014); Leatherdale (2022)
Oct 24 1. Monday lecture
Oct 26 2. Wednesday lecture
13 Community collections Massola (n.d.) Berk (2022); University of Sydney Library and Sentance (2021)
Oct 31 1. Monday lecture
Nov 02 2. Wednesday lecture
14 Reading week
15 Final exams period
playground/playground.txt · Last modified: 2022/07/18 23:12 by Ryan Schram (admin)