Bard College Catalogue

Bard College Catalogue 2012-13

Anthropology

http://anthropology.bard.edu

Faculty

Overview

The Anthropology Program encompasses the ­subfields of sociocultural, linguistic, historical, archaeological, and applied anthropology. It seeks to understand the cultural dynamics in the formation of the nation-state; the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial; and the politics of identity, difference, and inequality in the contemporary world. The core of the program ­consists of courses that examine everyday experiences in relation to a range of societal issues, such as development and the environment, medicine and health, religion, lan­guage, kinship and reproductivity, sports, mass media, visual culture, and aesthetics. Anthropology offers a way to understand patterns and contradictions of ­cul­tural meaning within a trans­national and transcultural world. Areal strengths include West and Southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, Australasia, and the United States.

Requirements

Majors in anthropology can design a course of study in various topical, area, and theoretical orientations. Prior to Moderation, students must complete an introductory course and at least two 200-level courses in anthropology. In consultation with their Modera­tion board, students shape their plan of study in the Upper College to include at least three additional courses in anthropology, at least two of which should be 300-level courses, as well as the Senior Project. One of the 300-level courses required is a seminar on contemporary cultural theory that involves each member of the anthropology faculty. In addition, the program recommends that students take at least one course that involves field research and encourages fieldwork as part of the Senior Project. Stu­dents intending to pursue postgraduate study are required to take a 200-level course in field methods and are encouraged to study a foreign language to the 200-level. 

Recent Senior Projects in Anthropology

• “From Clinic to Support Group: Medical Expertise and Lyme Disease in Dutchess County, New York”
• “Global Guru: Constructing a Multicultural Movement around a Living God”
• “India Wiring Out: Transnational Call Centers and Their Relationship to the Indian Nation-State”
• “Tutus and Tuxedos: Boundary Maintenance and Transgression in Costuming, Clothing, and Gender Expressio”

Courses

Anthro­­pology courses approach seemingly “natural” ideas such as indigeneity, race, gender, sexuality, and class as cultural constructions that change over time. They critically examine, for instance, the international division of labor, the growth of the media, and the global commodification of culture. Many classes apply this anthropological perspective to a variety of sources, ranging from traditional ethnographies to novels, travel literature, music, films, and new forms of electronic media (the program has a film library, which includes ethnographic and experimental films). The program also administers a student research and travel fund, the Harry Turney-High Fund, to support work on Senior Projects.

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Anthropology 101A
cross-listed: gis, gss, human rights
This course explores the intellectual angles through which anthropologists have engaged culture as a central and yet often elusive concept in understanding how societies work. The course combines discussions, lectures, and films; topics include the transformative roles of ritual and symbol, witchcraft and sorcery in historical and contemporary contexts, and cultural constructions of gender and sexuality, among others.

Gender and Social Inequalities in Latin America
Anthropology 201
cross-listed: gis, gss, human rights, lais
Despite recent gains in democratization, contemporary Latin American societies continue to display dramatic inequalities. This course explores inequalities of gender and their interface with hierarchies of social class, ethnicity, and race through examination of ethnographic texts. It looks at historical sources of these inequalities in colonial structures and their expression in contemporary cultural practices. Students critically evaluate Latin American gender stereotypes and consider how gender is practiced and how gender identities are formed in particular local and global contexts. 

Cultural Politics of Empire
Anthropology 207
cross-listed: asian studies, gis, historical studies, victorian studies
An examination of contemporary theories of colonialism and the cultural categories that emerged and changed through the colonial experience. While the primary focus is on British rule in India, the course frames this case within broader perspectives of colonialism, including Edward Said’s analysis of Orientalism, critical responses to it, and the ideology of liberalism that underwrote the colonial project..

How the Victorians Put the “Others” in Their Place
Anthropology 208A
cross-listed: africana studies, victorian studies
The class examines how the Victorians sought to know the “other” through ethnographic, missionary, government, and travel encounters; the science of race; the objects of archaeology and museum collections; and photography. How the “other” was then related to the Europeans is studied within the framework of evolutionary and diffusionary theories.

American Anthropology 1850–1870
Anthropology 208B
cross-listed: american studies
Up until World War II, American anthropology had three central concerns: the description and understanding of Native American peoples based on participant observation through fieldwork; the defeat of scientific racism; and the placement of the concept of culture at the center of anthropological thought. Students examine these concerns along with the rise of sociological, psychological, and neo-Marxist evolutionist thought in American anthropology in this period. 

British Anthropology 1920–1990
Anthropology 208C
cross-listed: africana studies
A distinctly British social anthropology formed in the 20th century, largely shaped by research in Britain’s African colonies. This anthropology contributed to the construction of colonial relations with African peoples, constituted our knowledge of precolonial African cultures, and provided critiques of colonialism. Both the colonial system and the nationalist movements that destroyed that system were influenced by this anthropology. This course examines the central texts of this school, especially as they explore politics from colonial and postcolonial Africa.

Kinship: Identity and Difference
Anthropology 210
cross-listed: gis, gss 
The study of kinship within anthropology has a history as long as the discipline itself. Until recently it served as the primary lens for analyzing social, political, and economic organization in non-Western societies. This course examines the ways in which kinship analyses have contributed to historic and contemporary claims of identity and difference, and reviews the contribution this body of scholarship has made to colonial, anticolonial, and postcolonial constructions of self and other in Western and non-Western societies.

Historical Archaeology
Anthropology 212
cross-listed: eus 
Field trips on campus and in neighboring towns provide firsthand contact with the diverse groups that left their vestiges here: Native Americans, African Americans, and German and British settlers. The class works with artifacts in the lab and visits excavations after reading background material on their history, culture, and archaeological interpretation. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. 

Anthropology of Medicine
Anthropology 213
cross-listed: gss, human rights, sts
An exploration of medical knowledge and practice in a variety of healing systems, focusing on the human body as the site in which illness is experienced and upon which social meanings and political actions are inscribed. The course examines the way political economic systems, and the inequalities they engender, affect human well-being. Among the topics addressed are biomedical constructs, alternative medical systems, epidemic diseases, cosmetic medical interventions, and new medical technologies.

Archaeological Field School
Anthropology 214
In this summer session, students assist Christopher Lindner, Field School director, in researching the Palatine German settlers of 1710 and their descendants, many of whom still live near Bard. Excavation takes place at the 1743 Parsonage in Germantown, which housed German Reformed ministers, a Dutch American physician, and several generations of an African American family. Students learn basic techniques of excavation and mapping, read and discuss a variety of background materials and historical maps, and analyze artifact finds.

Africa: The Great Rift
Anthropology 218
cross-listed: africana studies
The Great Rift Valley runs from the Red Sea to Mozambique, dividing the African continent in two. The countries bordering the Rift embody many of the divisions and challenges that confront Africa as a whole. This course offers an introduction to the geography and political history of the Rift countries, using historical and anthropological research, documentary video, and written reportage to examine the diverse ways of being that endure in the region and the varieties of modernity emerging from war and demographic transformation.

Urban Ethnography and American Capitalism
Anthropology 229
cross-listed: american studies
The city has long symbolized the prospects and problems of American capitalism. This course examines a range of urban ethnographies in relation to the history of urban anthropology and in light of prevailing cultural, political, and economic circumstances affecting communities both here and abroad. Topics include globalization, neoliberalism, class conflict, the politics of urban space, ethnicity, poverty, religion, and the militarization of community life.

Problems in Human Rights
Anthropology 233 / Human Rights 233
See Human Rights 233 for a full course description.

African Diaspora Religions
Anthropology 243
cross-listed: africana studies, lais 
The many contemporary religions in Latin America and the Caribbean that draw upon African theology and practice testify to the vitality of the African heritage in the New World. The course examines these religions within their historical context as dimensions of the African diaspora and as they are currently practiced—Candomblé, Umbanda, and Batuque in Brazil; Santeria in Cuba and the Dominican Republic; Maria Lionza in Venezuela; Shango in Trinidad; and Vodoun in Haiti.

Race and Ethnicity in Brazil
Anthropology 256
cross-listed: africana studies, gis, human rights, jewish studies, lais
Brazil, in contrast to the United States, has been portrayed as a “racial democracy.” This course examines the debate over the “problem of race” in its early formulation, as shaped by scientific racism and eugenics, and on through the Brazilian policy of branqueamento (whitening) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the groups ­discussed are indigenous Brazilians, the Luso-Brazilians, Afro-Brazilians, Japanese Brazilians, Euro-ethnic Brazilians, and Brazilians of Arab and Jewish descent.

Anthropology of Violence and Suffering
Anthropology 261
cross-listed: africana studies, gis
This course considers how acts of violence challenge and support modern ideas of humanity, raising questions about what it means to be human today. It reviews different forms of ­violence—e.g., ethnic and communal conflicts, torture, rituals of bodily pain—and examines violence as a means of producing and consolidating social and political power and exerting political control.

Refugees: The Politics of Forced Displacement
Anthropology 264
cross-listed: human rights
Is mass forced displacement unique to recent world history? What aspects of refugee experience are obscured by an approach that privileges the claims of the nation-state? This course explores these and other questions through an examination of historical, anthropological, and legal scholarship on the nation-state, national identity, human rights, migration, displacement, refugee populations, and refugee subjectivity. 

Race and Nature in Africa
Anthropology 265
cross-listed: africana studies, eus, gis, human rights
Western fantasies have historically represented Africa as the embodiment of a mythical, primordial wilderness. Within this imagery, nature is racialized, and Africans are constructed as existing in a state closer to nature. This course investigates the racialization of nature under imperial regimes, and considers the continuing legacies in postcolonial situations. Texts include ethnographic accounts, historical analyses, and works of fiction based in Africa.

Anthropology of Youth and Youth Politics
Anthropology 266
Since the 18th century, childhood and youth have been depicted as times of happiness, innocence, and closeness to nature distinct from adulthood. However, many writers, activists, and policy makers have witnessed young people in conditions of violence, toil, and poverty. This course examines young people’s experiences in a variety of historical and geographic contexts. A key point of emphasis is that young people are not merely the passive recipients of tradition or targets of policy, but active contributors to social and political change.

Middle Eastern Diasporas
Anthropology 267
cross-listed: human rights, jewish studies, mes
This course examines the past and present experiences of Arabs, Iranians, Turks, and Kurds who reside in Europe and North America, as well as Jews of diverse backgrounds who live in Israel and abroad. It also explores how and why these groups are commonly regarded as “diasporas,” and investigates not only the history of “diaspora” as a concept, but also the contemporary circumstances that have encouraged its recent prominence in public and scholarly discussions. 

War, Culture, and Politics in Contemporary Sudan
Anthropology 268
cross-listed: africana studies, human rights
Africa's largest and most diverse country embodies many of the challenges that confront the continent as a whole. These include civil war, mass killing, recurrent famine, radical Islam, oil politics, and indigenous cultural destruction. This course examines the current political and humanitarian crisis in Sudan from the perspectives of history, geography, anthropology, and political economy. Historical texts, contemporary reportage, ethnographic monographs, and video, music, and literature from Sudan help students understand the complexities of the country and its borderlands.

Ireland and the Anthropological Imagination
Anthropology 269
cross-listed: gis, ics
Ireland has long captured the anthropological imagination, and the field has provided classic depictions of kinship and community, controversial accounts of rural decline and disorder, and current work on the country’s shifting position in European and world politics. This course includes a range of ethnographic exploration in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It considers the multiple, contested meanings of Irish identity in contexts as varied as the increasingly diverse city of Dublin, Traveller communities, and politically divided Northern Ireland towns.

Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Anthropology
Anthropology 270
cross-listed: gss, human rights
This course examines the emergence and transformation of gender studies within anthro­pology since the 1970s. It reviews early texts that challenged anthropologists to recognize women’s lives as valid subjects of study as well as more recent work that encompasses constructions of both femininities and masculinities, exploring the division between and interrelation of biological and social factors in determining sex and gender. Critical interpretation of gender and sexuality in contemporary American popular culture is reviewed.

Anthropology of Mass Incarceration
Anthropology 273
cross-listed: human rights, sociology
The United States entered the era of “mass incarceration” during the last quarter of the 20th century, when the total national population grew by 30 percent and the incarcerated population by nearly 700 percent (from 340,000 to 2.3 million). This course explores the onset of mass incarceration holistically, by situating it within a sociohistoric context.

Post-Apartheid Imaginaries
Anthropology 275
cross-listed: africana studies, gis, human rights
As one of the few regions on the continent charted for permanent European settlement, southern Africa has been marked by histories of violence that far surpassed normative applications of colonialism. In the wake of such intense turmoil, nations struggled to reinvent themselves at the moment of independence, scripting new national mythologies and appeals for unity. This course explores these contests over nationhood in the post-apartheid era, focusing primarily on the experiences of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Japanimation and Culture in Postwar Japan
Anthropology 276
cross-listed: asian studies, gis, sts
Japanese animation, also known as anime, is one of the most dynamic forms of cultural production in contemporary Japan. This course traces the history of anime and its relationships to the nation’s social, political, and economic transformations over the past century. It covers the origins of Japanese animation, the different subgenres that began emerging in the 1960s (e.g., “Tokyo cyberpunk,” “cute young girl” anime), and the globalization of the genre in recent decades.

Islam and Europe
Anthropology 279
cross-listed: gis, human rights, mes
This course examines Islam’s complex relationships with Europe as a geographic territory, sociopolitical entity, and discursive category. Given its long-standing presence in Europe, why is Islam commonly conceived as a moral and cultural formation external to Europe, European history, and European identities? Why are Muslims regarded as in Europe but not of it, and how does this exclusion shape the everyday practices and perceptions of European Muslims? Such questions are considered through readings, films, and other materials.

Evangelicalism and the Myths of Secularization
Anthropology 282
cross-listed: religion
This course explores the conflicted dynamics of evangelical Protestantism and secularization in contemporary cultural forms and social movements, from early U.S. revivalism to the rise of global televangelism, Christian popular media, and the politics of the Christian Right. Students assess how the historical polarizations of religion and science, faith and reason, and fundamentalism and secular humanism have shaped and influenced how evangelical religiosity is practiced and disseminated in modern societies.

Anthropologies of Diaspora
Anthropology 283
cross-listed: asian studies With the increased dispersion of peoples around the globe, “the diaspora” has become an important lens through which to examine changing ideas about nationalism and global citizenship. This course begins with the premise that the perception of being part of a diaspora is enabled by new communication technologies that connect national/ethnic communities around the globe. Ethnographies focus on South Asian diasporas, including, for instance, Sikhs in North America and Pakistanis in London.

Cultural Technologies of Memory
Anthropology 332
cross-listed: human rights
This course considers several practices and technologies that produce collective and personal memory, and questions the distinction commonly made between “memory” and “history.” Students review techniques and technologies of public memory (e.g., historical writing, oral narrative), and examine how radio and photography are used to produce national and familial representations of the past. The course focuses on how the particular medium of remembering shapes the content of what is remembered, and addresses the link between the production of particular memories and their political uses.

Cultural Politics of Animals
Anthropology 337
cross-listed: africana studies, eus, human rights
Human ideas about animals have metamorphosed throughout history, giving rise to a wide spectrum of attitudes across cultures. Some of the questions this course raises include how, and by whom, is the line between humans and animals drawn? What are the politics of taxonomy and classification? Do animals exercise agency? Students explore these shifting terrains through the angle of “animal geography,” a new field that focuses on how animals have been socially defined, labeled, and ordered in cultural worldviews. 

Global Flows
Anthropology 338
cross-listed: human rights
Globalization is commonly presented as a phenomenon of the late 20th century, made possible by the spread of capitalism and new forms of telecommunications technology. It is predicated, however, upon a sharp disjuncture between the homogeneity of identity and experience within immobile national pasts and the multiplicity and plasticity of identity and experience enabled by the ease of transnational mobility. This course addresses this dichotomy by examining anthropological scholarship on capitalism, colonialism, nationalism, and diasporas.

Oral Accounts: Theory, Methodology, and Ethics in Fieldwork
Anthropology 339
Students examine the specific characteristics and possible uses of oral history interviews as a means of conducting fieldwork-based research, and learn to apply research methods developed within these disciplines to individual projects in the social sciences and the humanities.

Middle Eastern Modernities
Anthropology 343
cross-listed: gis, human rights, mes
What does it mean to be “modern” in the Middle East in the aftermath of colonialism and in the face of continuing Euro-American efforts to reform the region’s social, economic, and political life? Does modernity require the abandonment of tribal affiliations, cousin marriages, and other putatively traditional social forms and practices? Or does it involve more complex, creative negotiations of existing constraints and available resources? This course examines these and other questions through analysis of recent anthropological literature, popular cultural artifacts, and films. 

Anthropology of the Body
Anthropology 360
cross-listed: gss, human rights
Recent anthropological interest has centered on the individual body as a locus of situated knowledge: it has become a target for the production of consumer desires and a site of commodification and political control. This course explores a range of different issues raised by these perspectives through readings that theorize the body, supplemented by comparative ethnographic studies of bodily knowledge and practice.