Available at the Book Store:
McGee and Warms [eds], Anthropological Theory [referred to as MW on the reading schedule] 

    Available at the HighTechCopyCenter:
A booklet of additional readings [selections from this booklet are marked * on the schedule below]. 

2) Attendance:You will be expected to attend every class period and to be prepared to discuss the material assigned for that day.Class attendance will definitely help in writing assignments and examinations.There is virtually no chance of doing well without consistent exposure to what happens in class.A record of attendance will be kept.To facilitate that, you will be asked to sit in the same place every class period.If you expect to miss class, please notify me first, or as soon afterward as possible.If you miss more than 3 classes [unless excused] you should not expect to earn an A or A-; if you miss more classes than that please see me about the terms of continuing in the course. 

3) Class participation.  You will be expected to participate in discussions of the required material.  There will be a number of lectures, but the success of the course will depend heavily on your participation.In class sessions Iplan to ask questions about the assigned readings in order to elicit comments from you.Your responses are important to me because they will help me track what you are actually getting out of the assigned readings. 

4) Examinations and papers.There will be several short in-class exams, weighted more or less equally, and a short paper at the end of the course.There will be no comprehensive examination.The readings and my lectures will focus on one unit or topic at a time, and when I have finished each unit I will ask you to write a exam on that unit.The lectures and class discussions should help you grasp the assigned readings and prepare you to write the necessaryexercise.Evaluative exercises [exams or papers] are indicated on the schedule that follows.
There are circumstances under which I have sometimes allowed students to rewrite papers (exams).But I reserve the right to refuse to accept a rewrite if I feel the first effort revealed little serious attempt.I will grade the rewritten paper more stringently, since you will have had the benefit of a critique of your earlier paper.A paper that shows no significant improvement will be graded down.Normally the highest grade likely in a rewritten paper is B+, so as to preserve the recognition given to those who do a nice job the first time around. 
 

1/19/05 W  Syllabus, Introduction.  Importance of cultural theory for anthropological interpretation generally. 

 Unit I:  Pre-professional and early professional anthropology

1/21/05 F Pre-professional period: Age of Discovery; Enlightenment, Counter Enlightenment
 Reading assignment: MW 5-10 “Nineteenth Century Evolutionism”
 Lecture:  Age of Discovery; Hobbes; modernity concept [modo]; Voltaire; Enlightenment / Counter Enlightenment

1/24/05 M Nineteenth Century materialism and mechanism: Marx 
 Reading assignment: MW [53-66]: Marx-Engels, "Feuerbach: Opposition of the Materialist and Idealist Outlook"
 Lecture: Marx: dialectical materialism; evolution

1/26/05 W Beginning of the professional period: Civilization and Evolution in the Nineteenth Century: Morgan 
 Reading assignment: MW3 [41-52]: Morgan: "Ethnical Periods." 
 Lecture: Morgan: Kinship; Stages of evolution.

1/28/05 F Beginning of the professional period:  Civilization and Evolution in the Nineteenth Century:  Spencer and Tylor 
 Reading Assignment: MW[5-11] Nineteenth Century Evolutionism; MW [11-27] Spencer. MW [27-41] Tylor: Science of culture. 
 Lecture: Tylor and nineteenth century evolutionary thought. 

1/32/05 M Classic formulations: Functionalism: Durkheim 
 Reading assignment:  MW [84-86] "Foundations of Sociological Thought"; MW 6 [87-93]: Durkheim: "Social Facts"; MW 7 [94-104]: "Totemism and Class".
 Lecture:  Durkheim

2/2/05 W Summary:  preprofessional and early professional anthropology 

 Unit II:  American cultural determinism before WWII

2/4/05 F Classic formulations: Boas, Historical Particularism and Cultural Determinism 
 Reading assignment:  MW [128-130]: "Historical Particularism"; *Stocking [195-233]: "Franz Boas and the Concept of Culture," pp. 195-233] in Race, Culture and Evolution [UChic 0226774945] 
 Lecture: Boas and the concept of culture

2/7/05 M Classic formulations:  Boas, Culture against Race 
 Reading Assignment: *Derek Freeman [34 - 61]: Ch 3, "The Launching of Cultural Determinism"; Ch 4, "Boas Proposes an Intractable Problem," in Margaret Mead and Samoa. 
 Lecture: Boas, Mead (Coming of Age in Samoa, 1927), and the nature/nurture controversy

2/9/05 W Classic formulations: Culture and Personality: Benedict 
 Reading assignment: MW[205-208] "Culture and Personality"; MW16 [209-218]: Benedict: "Psychological Types." 
 Lecture:  C and P:  Benedict (Patterns of Culture, 1934), Sapir,

2/11/05 F Classic formulations:  Culture and Personality:  Margaret Mead
 Reading Assignment:  Bennett, Classic Anthropology pp. 219-256, "Psychology and Anthropology: Modes of Interface ..." 
 Lecture:  Other conceptions of Personality and Culture.  G. H. Mead; G. Bateson

2/14/05 M Culture in a regional context 
 Reading assignment:  *Redfield, “Preface,” “Table of Contents,” and [pp 1-18]: "The Peninsula of Yucatan," from Folk Cultures of Yucatan. 
 Lecture:  Peasants: Redfield's folk-urban continuum; Kroeber's part-societies.

2/16/05 W Examination on Units I and II

 Unit III.  British Social Anthropology

2/18/05 F British functionalism:  Malinowski.  MW ch 13 [161-176]: Malinowski: "Essentials of the Kula" (from Argonauts of the Western Pacific 1922). 
 Lecture:  Malinowski's participant observation; potential shift in his views.  Later views: function; instrumental behavior; myth and function.

2/21/05 M British functionalism:  Radcliffe-Brown 
 Reading assignment:  MW[157-160] "Functionalism"; *Stocking, “Anarchy Brown” in: After Tylor, pp 304-338 [UWis 0299145840]. 
 Lecture: R-B: function: selections from his Andaman Islanders on "order" in the society

2/23/05 W British functionalism:  Radcliffe-Brown
 Reading Assignment:  MW 173-184:  “Mother’s Brother in South Africa.”

2/25/05 F More on BSA:  Evans-Pritchard, And Margaret Mead

2/28/05 M British functionalism: Evans-Pritchard's segmentary lineage. 
 Reading assignment:  MW15: Evans-Pritchard “The Nuer” [183-202]: 
 Lecture:  E-P: The segmentary lineage; Fortes: Dynamics of Clanship

3/2/05 W British functionalism:  Critique by Edmund Leach.
 Reading Assignment:  Leach:  “Introduction,” Political Systems of Highland Burma.

3/4/05 F British funtionalism:  Critique by Fredrik Barth
 Reading Assignment:  "Segmentary Oppostion and the Theory of Games," pp 5-21. 

3/7-12/05 M-F Spring Break

3/14/05 M Ethnicity and plural societies.
 Reading assignment: *Barth [9-18], "Introduction," from Ethnic Groups and Boundaries; [Cohen, "Introduction," from Custom and Politics in Urban Africa.] 
 Lecture: Barth: ethnicity: A. Cohen: ethnicity and custom and politics

 Unit IV:  American Materialism

3/16/05 W Neo-evolutionism I: White 
 Reading assignment: MW [225-227]: Cultural ecology and neo-evolutionary thought; MW [243-262]: White: "Energy and the Evolution of Culture". 
 Lecture:  White:  Energy and evolution; 

3/18/05 F Neo-evolutionism II a :  Steward’s patrilineal band.
 Reading assignment:  MW [228-243]: Steward: "Patrilineal Band";

3/21/05 M Neo-evolutionism  IIb:  Steward’s multilineal evolution, cultural ecology, cultural core and adaptation 
 Reading assignment: *Steward, selections from Theory of Culture Change [pp 18-29, 36-42]; *Service, selections from Primitive Social Organization. 
 Lecture: Steward: cultural core; Adaptation; Lattimore, “The Steppes of Mongolia...” from Inner Asian Frontiers of China.

3/23/05 W A Philosophically Explicit Cultural materialism:  Harris 
 Reading assignment: *Harris, "Theoretical Principles of Cultural Materialism," pp 46-60, in Cultural Materialism [Random H 0394412400];*Harris, "Introduction", from The Rise of Anthropological Theory. 
 Lecture: Murdock: a failed project [MW20: statistical correlations]; Marx; Harris: Cultural materialism; Rise of Anthropological Theory 

3/25/05 F Neo-civilizational studies: Peasants and cultural brokers:  Wolf 
 Reading assignment: *Wolf: "Aspects of group relations in a complex society." 
 Lecture: Wolf on peasants, history, and civilizations: Cultural brokers: “Two types ...”, “Virgin of Guadalupe ...”, “Closed corporate peasant communities”, Sons of the Shaking Earth. 

3/28/05 M Marxism and World Systems: Wolf, Wallerstein. 
 Reading assignment:*Wolf, "Introduction" [pp1-23] and selections from Ch 3 from Europe and the People without History [UCalif 0520048989]. 
 Lecture: Wallerstein: World Systems.

3/30/05 W Examination on Units III and  IV

 Unit V:  Reactions to Materialism

4/1/05 F Revival of Boas and Durkheim:  Structuralism:  Levi-Strauss 
 Reading assignment: MW[330-332]  Structuralism; MW 24 [332-347]: Levi-Srauss, "Structural Analysis in Linguistics and Anthropology"; [optional]*Crick:"The Structuralism of Claude Levi-Strauss," from Explorations in Language and Meaning. 
 Lecture Levi-Strauss and linguistic models for cultural analysis.

4/4/05 M Anti-materialist reactions: Interpretivism Ia: Geertz 
 Reading assignment: MW 524-5, “Symbolic and interpretive anthropology”; MW 553-574, Geertz, "Deep Play".
 Lecture:  Geertz 

4/6/05 W Anti-materialist reactions: Interpretivism Ib: Geertz Reading assignment:  *Geertz:  “Thick description”, in The Interpretation of Culture. 
 Lecture:  Geertz’s challenge to materialism.
 

4/8/05 F Anti-materialist reactions: Interpretivism II:  Turner
 Reading assignment:  MW36 [478-495]:Turner, "Symbols in Ndembu Ritual"
 Lecture:  Turner

4/11/05 M Anti-materialist reactions: Interpretivism II:  Turner
 Reading assignment:  MW36 [478-495]:Turner, "Symbols in Ndembu Ritual"
 Lecture:  Turner

4/13/05 W A Boasian/structuralist anti-materialist reaction. 
 Reading assignment:*Sahlins, Ch 1: "Marxism and Two Structuralisms," pp 1-23....from Culture and Practical Reason. 
 Lecture: Sahlins and the cultural determinist reaction.

4/15/05 F Summary and review of reactions to materialism

 Unit VI.  Recent issues

4/18/05 M Revised reflections on Marx:  Gramscian notions of hegemony.
 Reading assignment:  Raymond Williams, “Selections from Marxism and Literature”, pp. 585-608 from Culture/Power/History, edited by Dirks, Eley, and Ortner. 

4/20/05 W Practice theory:  Bourdieu. 
 Reading assignment: *Bourdieu, selections [pp 1-9, 72-87, 171-174], from Outline of a Theory of Practice. 
 Lecture: Practice theory [Bourdieu, Ortner, Sahlins]

4/22/05 F The post-modernist critique 
 Reading assignment: *Harvey, [pp 44-53, 356-359] From The Condition of Post-modernism [Blackwell 0631162941]; *Clifford, James. "Introduction," [pp 2-11] from Writing Culture [UCalif 0520057295].

4/25/05 M The post-modernist critique 
 Reading assignment:  MW 535-550: Crapanzano, "Hermes dilemma..." 
 Lecture: Post-modernism [Clifford]

4/27/05 W Responses to the post-modernists. 
 Reading assignment: Harvey, pp. 356-369; MW 551-568: D'Andrade “Moral Models in Anthropology” 

4/29/05 F Review

5/2/05 M Last class
 Final Paper will be on Units V and VI
 

*Philip P. Wiener.  1973.  “Enlightenment”, “Counter-Enlightenment”.  In: Dictionary of the History of Ideas.  New York:  Scribner.
*George Stocking [195-233]:"Franz Boas and the Concept of Culture," pp. 195-233] inRace, Culture and Evolution [UChic 0226774945]
*Derek Freeman, [pp 34-61] Ch 3, "The Lauching of Cultural Determinism"; Ch 4 "Boas Proposes and Intractable Problem," Margaret Mead and Samoa. [HarvISBN 0-674-54830-2]
*John W. Bennett, [pp. 219-256], "Psychology and Anthropology:Modes of Interface ..." in ClassicAnthropoology[Transaction Press 1-56000-333-2]
*John W. Bennett, [pp. 167-198] :"Early and Late Functional Analysis:... Malinowski, and Kluckhohn." Classic Anthropology. [Transaction Press 1-56000-333-2]
*GeorgeStocking, [pp. 304 -338] "Anarchy Brown in the Andamans and Australia ...; etc.", in After Tylor.[UWis 0299145840]
*Raymond Firth [pp. 30-40]:Selections from "The meaning of social anthropology," in Elements of Social Organization.
*Robert Redfield [pp. ix-xxi; 1-18] "Preface", "Table of Contents", "The Peninsula of Yucatan," in Folk Cultures of Yucatan.
*Julian Steward, Selections [pp. 18-29, 36-42] from Theory of Culture Change.
*Elman Service, Selections from Primitive Social Organization.
*Marvin Harris, "Theoretical Principles of Cultural Materialism," from Cultural Materialism;
*Marvin Harris, "Introduction", from Rise of Anthropological Theory.
*Eric R. Wolf:"Aspects of group relations in a complex society."
*Fredrik Barth [9-18], "Introduction," fromEthnic Groups and Boundaries;
*Malcomb Crick:"The Structuralism of Claude Levi-Strauss," from Explorations in Language and Meaning.
*Edmund Leach,"Introduction," Political Systems of HighlandBurma.
*Clifford Geertz, Selection [pp 87-125] from "Religion as a cultural system," The Interpretation of Culture.
*Marshall Sahlins, [pp vii - ix, 1-23] Preface; Ch 1:"Marxism and Two Structuralisms," in Culture and Practical Reason.
*Eric R. Wolf, "Introduction" and selections from Ch 3, Europe and the People without History. [UCalif 0520048989]
*Benedict Anderson [37-46]: "Origins of National Consciousness," Imagined Communities. [Verso 0860915468].
*Pierre Bourdieu, Selections [pp 1-9, 72-87, 171-174], from Outline of a Theory of Practice.
*David Harvey,Selections [pp 44-53, 356-359] from The Condition of Post-modernism [Blackwell 0631162941]
*James Clifford,"Introduction:Partial Truths."WritingCulture[pp 2-11] [UCalif 0520057295]