Introduction to American Anthropology and Ethnology 4219-SH0020

This course will equip students with the basic knowledge of theories developed by ethnology and cultural anthropology. The aim of the course is to give students new tools for a better analysis and understanding of American culture. The literature for the course is divided into four main thematic blocks: theories of family, gender and kinship; the Other and their role; myth, symbol, storytelling and spirituality; power and political life. The students will also get acquainted with the role of American anthropologists as public intellectuals and some aspects of anthropologists’ influence on American thought in social studies and humanities.

Type of course

elective courses

Prerequisites (description)

Students should be interested in learning about anthropology, ethnology, acquiring tools from social sciences for understanding cultural phenomena. Students should be interested in understanding the role of anthropologists in the development of American culture and public life.

Course coordinators

Agata Chełstowska

Learning outcomes

Knowledge:
• Student ha a basic knowledge of main figures in American ethnology and anthropology
• Student can identify and apply basic anthropological concepts to the understanding of American culture
• Student knows main anthropological theories pertaining to family and kinship
• Student knows main anthropological theories pertaining to myth, symbol and storytelling
• Student knows main anthropological theories pertaining to power and political life
• Students know the role of key anthropologists in American public life and in development of reflection on American culture

Skills:
• Student knows how to take part in teamwork and present its results
• Student can take part in a moderated discussion and voice their observations
• Student can perceive their culture or American culture as an object of scientific study
Competence:
• Student can apply basic anthropological theories to the analysis of phenomena in American culture
• Student can problematize the concept of family and understands it varies depending on the culture
• Student can observe elements of myth, symbol, aspects of spiritual life in phenomena of American culture today

Assessment criteria

Assessment methods and assessment criteria:
1. Final test results (80%)
2. Class activity (20%)
Grading scale: Oceny: 100-88/5; 87-73/4; 72-57/3; 56-0/2

Bibliography

Jane Collier, Michelle Rosaldo, Sylvia Yanagisako: Is There a Family? New Anthropological Views, in: Gender and Sexuality Reader, ed. R Lancaster, M. di Leonardo, Routledge 1997
"Kinship Terminology", Laurent Dousset, in: The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Edited by Hilary Callan, 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
"Gender and Kinship", Laurent Dousset, in: The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Edited by Hilary Callan, 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Suzanne A. Brenner (2001) Why women rule the roost: rethinking Javanese ideologies of gender and self-control, [in:] Bewitching Women, Pious Men: Gender an Body Politics in Southeast Asia, (ed.) Aihwa Ong, Michael G. Peletz, p. 19-50.
Evan B. Towle, Lynn M. Morgan: Romancing the Transgender Native. Rethinking the Use of the "Third Gender" Concept, in: The Transgender Studies Reader, Routledge, 2006.
Ruth Benedict, “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture, Houghton Mifflin, 1946.
Lila Abu-Lughod: Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others, American Anthropologist, 2002, 104(3), 783-790.
Horace Miner: Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, American Anthropologist, 1956, 58(3),503-507.
Joseph Campbell “The Hero’s Journey”, 1949, Princeton.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 4219-SH0020 in USOSweb