Department of Anthropology     Anthropology 300

Binghamton University-SUNY                                              History of Anthropological Thought
SPRING 2010                                                                                                    T & TH @ 1:15-2:40
Randy McGuire
Room: AP G15

I. Instructor and Contact Information:

Randy McGuire
Science 1, Rm. 228, 777-2906
Office hours:     T 9:30-10:30 am, W 1-2 pm & by appt.         
rmcguire@binghamton.edu

II. Course Description:

Anthropology 300 (History of Anthropological Thought) will introduce undergraduate students to the history of anthropology as a four-field discipline, and to the historical trends that have fashioned contemporary methods, theory and teaching in anthropology.  Since the end of the 19th century, anthropology in the United States has been loosely unified as a holistic, four-field discipline.  The four fields include: sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.  At the beginning of the 21th century, American anthropology has lost some of its cohesion, but it still retains a spirit of integration.  The current debates resurrect some of the basic questions in anthropology and help to define and revitalize the discipline in some ways and instances, and to fragment it in others.  In this seminar we seek to provide a historical context to the forces of integration and disintegration, fission and fusion, which make anthropology dynamic and volatile as an academic discipline, intellectual approach, and body and practice of knowledge.

Course content will focus on the development of anthropological ideas within a holistic anthropology in the United States, with some reference to ideas and influences that have arisen in Europe and beyond. While the historical framework will focus on the period between the mid-19th century and the penultimate decade of the 20th, class presentations and discussions will also engage both older influences and more recent trends, innovations and complementary and discordant approaches, both in the subdisciplines and in the overall field of anthropology, broadly conceived.

The class meets for two, 1.5-hour sessions per week.  Each class will begin with a 45 minute lecture followed by discussion. Students are expected to attend every class meeting and be prepared for discussion.  Requirements for the course are the following:

III. Course texts:

There are three books used as regular texts for this course.  These copies will be available in the bookstore and at Mando Books.  There will be a handful of additional article length readings and these will be available from the class blackboard site.

Required:

• Erickson, Paul A. and Liam D. Murphy, 2008 A History of Anthropological Theory. 3rd edition, North York: University of Toronto Press.

• Erickson, Paul A. and Liam D. Murphy, 2008 Readings for A History of Anthropological Theory. 2nd edition, North York: University of Toronto Press.

• Gould, Stephen J., 1996 The Mismeasure of Man. 2nd edition, New York: W.W. Norton.

NB. It is absolutely mandatory to complete the assigned reading in preparation for the class for which it is assigned. Failure to do the readings will seriously compromise your ability to follow classes, much less participate in them. Moreover, it will deprive you of the pleasure of mastery that being a well-informed, thoughtful member of the class can generate.

IV. Learning Objectives

History of Anthropological Thought is a foundational course for anthropology majors, particularly those who plan to pursue graduate studies in anthropology.  Students who complete this course will be able to:

• Identify theoretical positions and explain how they are supported in anthropological articles
• Compare and contrast different theoretical approaches to anthropology
• Define key anthropological concepts and apply them between and within cultures
• Use basic anthropological concepts to frame discussions and solve problems
• Discuss and critically assess the historical development of anthropological theory
• Communicate anthropological concepts in their writing
• Define and defend a thesis on the future of a four fields anthropology

V. Assessment:

Requirements for the course are the following:

• Annotations (40%): Over the semester you need to write annotations (see below) for 9 of the assigned readings. We will only count 8 toward the final grade, eliminating the lowest grade. Each annotation (minus the eliminated 9th) will contribute 5% for a total of 40% toward the final grade. Each annotation must be submitted at the class for which the reading is assigned. The very short excerpts (anything less than 5 pages) cannot be used for these annotations. You also cannot use the textbook A History of Anthropological Theory. [We will workshop a trial annotation in our second meeting in preparation for which you must do a trial annotation of a Boas article (available on Blackboard under Course Documents) that won’t be graded and that we will go over in class]
• Informed Participation (20%): Your preparation for class is essential, as is your active engagement in the class. Your informed participation will be assessed on the extent to which your participation gives evidence of your having completed the readings and taken the time to think about them with care, generating insightful questions and observations.
• Final (40%): A take-home final examination, with questions given in advance (4 questions, 3-4 double-spaced pages each question; to be assessed at 10% for each question for a total of 40% of the final grade).

Annotation Template: Each annotation should be 3-4 double-spaced pages in length.

• What three quotes capture the critical import of the text?
• What is the main argument of the text?
• Describe at least three ways that the main argument is supported.
• Describe the main literatures that the text draws on and contributes to.
• Describe at least three of the text’s themes or topics that are of significance to our understanding of the history of anthropology.
• Explain how the book or essay could inform your research (as you imagine it), and/or how it shifts your understanding of the analytic possibilities of the discipline.

Course Schedule: Required Readings, Lecture Schedule, and Discussion Themes:

JANUARY

26.  The Birth of Four-Field Anthropology.

28.  The Ancient History of Anthropology: A Brief Review.
Read:  A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 17-43.

Boas [1932] (1982) “The Aims of Anthropological Fieldwork.” Prepare a trial annotation of this to workshop in class.
           
                                                                     FEBRUARY

 2.  Marx and Marxism
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 43-48: In Reader: Ch - 1

4.  19th Century Cultural Evolution
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 48-62: In Reader: Chs - 2, 3, & 4

 9. Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution: Social and Biological Thinking.

Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 62-75: In Reader: Ch - 5

11. Movie – The Nuer
Read: The Mismeasure of Man Chs - 1 & 2

16. Theories of Society and the Mind

Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 75-92: In Reader: Chs - 6 & 7                                                                       

18.  Race, Nation, History, and Culture      

Read: The Mismeasure of Man Chs – 3 , 4 & 5

23.  The Mismeasure of Man
Read: The Mismeasure of Man Chs – 6, 7 & Epilogue

25. American Cultural Anthropology

Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 93-107: In Reader: pp. 89-98, Chs – 8, 9, & 10
 

MARCH

 2.  Psychological Anthropology
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 107-111: In Reader: Chs –11, & 12

 4.  British Social Anthropology
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 123-137: In Reader: Ch – 15, 16, 17, & 18

9.  French Structural Anthropology
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 111-123: In Reader: Ch – 13 & 14.

11.  Cognitive Anthropology
 Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 137-141: In Reader: pp. 225-246: Ch – 19.

16. Neo-Evolution, Adaptation, and Cultural Ecology
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 141-150: In Reader: Ch – 20, & 21

18. The New Archaeology
Read: Johnson (2010 Chs. 2 & 3), Flannery 1968

23.  New Physical Anthropology, and Issues of Race.
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 150-157: In Reader: Ch – 22: The Mismeasure of Man pp. 367-425.

25.  Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp.157-168: In Reader: Ch – 23 & 24

March 27 to April. 5 EASTER & PASSOVER BREAK

APRIL

6.  Feminism
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 168-173: In Reader: Ch – 25 & 26

8. Political Economy
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 173-180: In Reader: Ch – 27

13. Postmodernism

Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 180-189: In Reader: Ch – 28 & 29

15.  Neo Darwinism and Molecular Anthropology. [Andrew Merriweather]

Read: TBA

20. Anthropology as Critique

Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 189-191: In Reader: Ch – 30 & 31

22.  History
Read:  Sahlins (1985) (chapter 5, Structure and History), Gould (1989 ch. 5), Cobb 1998: In Reader: Ch 32

27.  Globalization and Transnationalism
Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 194-198: In Reader: Ch – 34

 29. Development Anthropology.

Read: A History of Anthropological Theory pp. 191-194, 198-204: In Reader: Ch – 33

MAY

 4. The Anthropological Subject

Read: Deloria (1969 chapter 4) “Anthropologists and Other Friends”, Deloria (1997), A History of Anthropological Theory pp.205-216.

7. Anthropology and Politics
Read: Marks (2003), Wolf (2001 chapter 5, Anthropology Among the Powers), Gassoit et al 2008.

TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAMINATION DUE MAY 12, 4:00 PM IN SC1-228

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boas, Franz [1932] (1982) “The Aims of AnthropologicalResearch,” in Language, Race, and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pp. 243-259.  [GN8 .B68 1966]

Cobb, Charles R. (1998) Social Reproduction of the Long Durée in the Prehistory of the Midcontinental United States. In Reader in Archaeological Theory, ed. by D.S. Whitley, pp. 199-218, Routledge, London. [CC72 .R4 1998]

Deloria, Vine Jr. 1969 Custer Died for Your Sins. MacMillan, New York. [E93 .D4]

Deloria, Vine Jr. 1997  Conclusion: Anthros, Indians and Planetary Reality. In Indians and Anthropologists. Ed. By Thomas Biolsi and L. J. Zimmerman, pp. 209-222, University of Arizona Press, Tucson. [E76.6 .I53 1997]

Flannery, Kent 1968 Archaeological systems theory and early Mesoamerica.  In Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas, B.J. Meggers (ed.), pp. 67-87.  Washington, D.C.: Anthropological Society of Washington. [E61 .A6]

Gassiot, Ermengol, Jorde Estevez, Juan Oltra, Elena Sintes and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. 2008. Archaeology of the Spanish Civil War: Rescue of the Memory and Historic Justice. In Archaeology and Capitalism: From Ethics to Politics. Chapter 13, Y. Hamilakis and P. Duke, eds. Left Coast Press. [BF431 .G68 1996]

Gould, S.J. (1989) Wonderful Life. WW Norton, New York. [QE770 .G67 1989]

Johnson, Matthew
2010  Archaeological Theory: An Introduction. Basil Blackwell, Oxford.

Marks, Jonathan, (2003)  Human Genome Diversity Project: Impact on Indigenous Communities. In: Encyclopedia of the Human Genome.  London: Macmillan.

Sahlins, Marshall (1985) Islands of History. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. [DU28.3 .S24 1985]

Wolf, Eric R. (2001) Pathways of Power. University of California Press, Berkeley. [GN345.W643 2001]