Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
Ethnography is at the foundation of all theoretical developments in the discipline of anthropology. As such, it is a powerful tool through which to understand contemporary historical issues and developments. Ethnographic theory is intertwined with the method of participant observation, which illuminates historical processes and theoretical concepts through deep descriptions of lived experiences. In this class we will review the development of key epistemological frameworks to understand ethnography as a particular way of knowing about the world. Ethnography is also a way of being in the world. Reflexive and aware, the ethnographer engages with lived experiences to document what people say about what they do, what they actually do, and the political, economic, and environmental outcomes of particular sets of actions. Through this interaction of ways of knowing and ways of being, the practice of ethnography offers insights into the human condition and human systems from multiple subject positions—those of the theorist or historian, those of studied community, and those of the ethnographer. In this course we will learn about the various theories of ethnography from a historical perspective, but we will do this with a critical eye with the objective of transforming rather than reproducing current knowledge. By the end of the course, students will have a solid grasp on the ways that theories, methods, and reflection combine through ethnographic writing toward critical analytical insights. Ethnography teaches us about ourselves and others, providing important knowledge about the development and transformations of cultures.
“In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” Eric Hoffer
能力項目說明
Learning Outcomes:
Students will have a strong grasp of the intellectual and political history of ethnographic investigations, as well as an understanding of the foundational and current theories of ethnography.
Critical analysis is key to this course and students will be able to apply it to all kinds of documents using the Elements of Critical Assessment and Analysis (ACE-FA).
| 教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
|---|---|---|
Week 1: Introduction
Read:
Nader; Laura. 2011. “Ethnography as Theory.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1(1):211. (http://www.haujournal.org/index.php/hau/article/view/hau1.1.008).
Lederman, Rena and Rena Lederman. 2017. “Remapping ‘Magic’: Extending the Terrain of an Already Capacious Category.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 7(3):373–375. (https://www.haujournal.org/index.php/hau/article/view/1275).
Jones, Graham M. 2017. “Magic, an Appreciation.” Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 7(3):399–407. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.14318/hau7.3.026).
Introduce individual research projects and student/instructor interests
Course Objectives; ACE-FA reading;
Week 2: Cultural Relativism, Function, and Structure
Beyond Phenology
Boas, Franz. 1938. The Mind of Primitive Man. Preface and Introduction (Read)
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1939. “The Group and the Individual in Functional Analysis.” American Journal of Sociology 44(6):938–64.
Further reading
Boas, Franz. 1974. “On Alternating Sounds.” Pp. 72–77 in A Franz Boas Reader. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Boas, Franz. 1940. “The Ethnological Significance of Esoteric Doctrines.” in Race, Language and Culture. New York: The Macmillan Co.
Week 3: Symbols and Interpretations
Beyond Structure and Function
Geertz, Clifford. Interpretation of Cultures. The Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man; Thick Description
Significant Symbols
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger. Introduction, Chapter 1, Religious Uncleanness, Chapter 2, Secular Defilement.
Csordas, Thomas J. 2013. “Morality as a Cultural System?” Current Anthropology 54(5):523–46.
Week 4: Ritual and Habitus
Ritual:
Bell; C. M. 1992. Ritual Theory; Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press
Magic:
Taussig, Micheal. 2003. “Viscerality, Faith, and Skepticism: Another Theory of Magic.” in Magic and Modernity: Interfaces of Revelation and Concealment, edited by B.Meyer andP.Pels. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Habitus
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge. U.K.: New York: Cambridge University Press. Section 2. Structures and the Habitus; Section 4. Structures, Habitus, Power: Basis for a Theory of Symbolic Power
Week 5: Myths and Frames
Symbols and Structures
Lévi-Strauss, C. 1963. The Structural Study of Myth. In Structural Anthropology. New York, London: Basic Books.
Levi-Strauss, C. (1973). Structuralism and ecology. Social Science Information, 12(1), 7–23.
Frame Analysis
Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. New York: Harper & Row. Introduction and Chapter 7: Out-of-Frame.
Week 6: Anti-Structure and Post-Structural
Liminality and Anti-Structure
Turner, Victor Witter. 2008. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. New Brunswick, N.J: Aldine Transaction.
Chapter 3: Liminality and Communitas; Chapter 4: Model and Process
Post-Structural
Foucault, M. 1977. Discipline and Punish: the birth of the prison. New York: Pantheon Books.
Week 7: Gender and Ontologies
Gender
Strathern, M. (1988). The Gender of the Gift. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Introduction (pp. 1-40).
Ontologies
Descola, Philippe. 2013. Beyond Nature and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Introduction, Chapters 1- 3 (p.1-88)
Week 8: Midterm Examination- No Class
Take-home exam; Open book; Short Essay answers
Week 9: Economic Anthropology
Read
Graeber, D. (2011). Debt: the first 5,000 years. Melville House.
Chapts 1, 2, and 7
Week 10: Medical Ethnography
Read
Karchmer, Eric I. "Prescriptions for Virtuosity: The postcolonial struggle of Chinese Medicine." In Prescriptions for Virtuosity. Fordham University Press.
Week 11: Feminist Ethnography
Read:
Mahmood, Saba (2005). Politics of Piety: The Islamic revival and the feminist subject. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Yueh,
Week 12: Ethnography of Place
Read:
Dell’Orto, Alessandro. 2002. Place and Spirit in Taiwan: Tudi Gong in the stories, strategies, and memories of everyday life. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Introduction, Chapter 1, 2, 4, 6.
Week 13: Urban Ethnography
Read:
Fassin, Didier. 2013. Enforcing Order: An Ethnography of Urban Policing. Malden, MA: Polity Press. Prologue, Chapter 1-3,5,7.
Yonucu, Deniz. 2022. Police, Provocation, Politics: Counterinsurgency in Istanbul. Cornell University Press.
Week 14: Networks and Multi-Species
Read:
Tsing; Anna Lowenhaupt. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Read Part I: What’s Left?, and Part II: After Progress: Salvage Accumulation
Week 15: Networks and Multi-Species
Read
Tsing; Anna Lowenhaupt. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Read Part III: Disturbed Beginnings: Unintentional Design and Part IV: In the Middle of Things.
Week 16: Final Exam – No class
Take Home, Open Book
Due 5pm on the last day of finals week
Course Requirements
Class Participation 25%
Mid-term short essay exam 25%
Final short essay exam 25%
Weekly Reading Summary 25%
Course Time commitment
This will be a difficult course for most students and will require the maximun number of hours per credit. Plan to spend 9 hours per week attending class, doing the readings, and writing short (max 2-page) essays each week outlining the main points of the week's readings. Hopefully, you will enjoy the work.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will have a strong grasp of the intellectual and political history of ethnographic investigations, as well as an understanding of the foundational and current theories of ethnography.
Critical analysis is key to this course and students will be able to apply it to all kinds of documents using the Elements of Critical Assessment and Analysis (ACE-A).
Exams:
Exams are designed for learning, not testing. Take-home, open-book exams will consist of 4-6 short essay questions. Exams will be evaluated according to the student's ability to demonstrate understanding of relevant theoretical approaches and concepts, and how they work together.
Policy on Absence and Lateness:
Students are expected to attend all classes and to arrive on time. If a class is missed, the student is responsible for making up missed work, for turning in assignments on time, and for getting class lecture notes from other classmates.
Academic Integrity
All students are expected to write their own papers. Please read [university policy] and be aware of issues concerning plagiarism.
Bell, Catherine M. 1992. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press. (optional)
Dell’Orto, Alessandro. 2002. Place and Spirit in Taiwan: Tudi Gong in the stories, strategies, and memories of everyday life. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Fassin, Didier. 2013. Enforcing Order: An Ethnography of Urban Policing. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Mahmood, Saba (2005). Politics of piety: the Islamic revival and the feminist subject. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Karchmer, Eric I. "Prescriptions for Virtuosity: The postcolonial struggle of Chinese Medicine." In Prescriptions for Virtuosity. Fordham University Press.
Mauss, Marcel. 1967. [1950] The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies. New York: Norton.
Tsing; Anna Lowenhaupt. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press.