ANTH 1105 MW3 Comparative Studies in Cultures and Transformation PDF

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BROOKLYN COLLEGE

COURSE 1105 MW3

Comparative Studies in Cultures and Transformation Instructor:

Faruk Seref

Email: [email protected] Class meets: Monday Wednesday 3:40PM - 4:55PM Room: James 2101 Office hours: Wednesdays 1:00 – 2:00pm Office: James 3301A Course Description: This course will be a thematic exploration of culture and transformation in two distinct non-US and non-European areas. We will discuss the meanings of culture and ways cultures are studied and portrayed. We will explore the major drivers for cultural change in the modern world such as colonization, modernization, development, and globalization. We will use two case studies to examine important themes related to cultural transformation such as gender, race and ethnic relations, religion, nationalism, power relations, cultural encounter, and constructions of tradition and modernity. Common General Education Learning Outcomes addressed by this Course: ● To gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources and points of view. ● Evaluation evidence and arguments critically and analytically. ● Produce well-reason written and oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions ● Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of a discipline or interdisciplinary field exploring human and cultural diversity, including but not limited to anthropology, communications, cultural studies, economics, history, political science, psychology, public affairs, sociology, and literature. ● Analyze and explain one or more major themes of history from more than one informed perspective. ● Evaluate how indigenous populations, slavery, or immigration have shaped the development of modern societies. ● Analyze and discuss common institutions or patterns of life in contemporary society and how they influence, or are influenced by, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, belief, or other forms of social difference. Course Texts: Ghannam, Farha. Live and die like a man: Gender dynamics in urban Egypt. Stanford University Press, 2013. De León, Jason. The land of open graves: Living and dying on the migrant trail. Vol. 36. Univ of California Press, 2015. Both books are available digitally online for free from the Brooklyn College Library, but I do prefer that you buy a hard copy if possible.

The readings are integral to developing an understanding of the material and you are required to come to class with the readings done. Aside from the books, all other readings are on Blackboard under the Course Documents folder. If you have any problems accessing an article, you must contact me immediately. Please bring the readings with you to class so that we can refer directly to the text during class discussions. Grades will be based on:

5 short writing assignments (10 % Each) 50% Participation/Attendance 15% Midterm Essay 15% Final take-home exam 20% Total: 100% All assignments are to be typed in 12 pt Times New Roman (or similar) font, double-spaced, and stapled. Please number your pages. Assignments are to be submitted at the start of class period they are due. Late assignments will be graded down 10% of the paper’s total grade per day (NOT class period). After three days assignments will not be accepted. No emailed assignments! Description of requirements: Short writing assignments (memos), 1-2 pages, (10% each). Memos will follow the layout above: 1-2 pages, in which you must draw on the readings of the day and elaborate on them. You will bring them to class to share with the class and turn in to me. Midterm Autobiographical Essay (3 - 5 double-spaced pages; 15%) October 28th Due in class This course privileges ethnography — as a process and product. As a textured anthropological form of empirical knowledge production and representation. Given the predictable tendencies toward ethnocentrism in U.S. academia, students are asked to write an Autobiographical Essay that candidly examines how their gender self-identification in the U.S. context has shaped their intellectual trajectories (e.g. ideas, ideologies, politics, perspectives). You are particularly encouraged to focus on gender aspect of your biography that most directly contributed to shaping a younger version of yourself and the adult you have become. In other words, this exercise asks you to be self – reflective about the gendered perspective and performances that have shaped your life in the context of the United States. It intends for students to be aware of their own historical, social, and political subjectivities as they analyze ethnographic texts that aim to portray how individuals and communities give meaning to their lives. In addition to the assigned readings, you may want to read Ruth Behar’s chapter “Biography in the Shadow” in her book Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza’s Story or Mary Romero’s “Intersection of Biography and History: My Intellectual Journey” in her 10th anniversary (2003) edition of Maid in the U.S.A. for a model on how gendered self-reflexivity may contribute to and influence ethnographic writing and knowledge production.

Final take-home exam (5-6 double-spaced pages; 20%). Dec 18th. This will be a brief essay comparing and contrasting the different case studies as well as a short ethnographic project we will discuss further in class. Attendance and participation (15%): Class attendance is mandatory and active participation is a part of your grade. I will take attendance and note participation. Your grade will be a percentage of your attendance/participation. Participation means not only attending class and being on time, but also reading what was assigned for that day, contributing your thoughts and ideas in class, and paying attention to the contributions of others in the class, including myself. I may occasionally call on people whose hands are not raised. After 3 absences, your grade will be adversely affected and you are in jeopardy of failing. Latecomers will be marked absent if they are more than 15 minutes late or leave early. Attending class means arriving on time and staying throughout the entire class. Participation means you have prepared by reading and thinking about the materials we will be covering and are able to participate in a meaningful discussion, ask thoughtful questions and relate the readings to the themes and issues we are working on. We are going to be covering a lot of material in a short time, so please keep on top of things. You will only be excused from class with a documented medical or family emergency. University's policy on Academic Integrity: The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at this site: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation. For Students with Disabilities: In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services please provide your professor with the course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with him/her. Religious Observance and Bereavement: Please see the Brooklyn College Undergraduate Bulletin in reference to the state law regarding non-attendance because of religious beliefs: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/off_registrar/2017-2018_Undergraduate_Bulletin.pdf http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/initiatives/policies/bereavement.php Important Dates Weekday classes begin: Jan 25th Friday Last day to add a course: Jan 31st Thursday Last day to file for elective course Pass/Fail Feb 4th Last day to drop a course without a grade Feb 22nd Last day to withdraw from course with a W (non-penalty) grade Apr 1st

The full academic calendar, including many other important dates, and the undergraduate final exam “grid” are available on the Office of the Registrar’s website.

Course Schedule 1. Aug 28th: Introduction and course mechanics Sep 2nd No class scheduled – College closed 2. Sep 4th: What is culture? Lassiter, Luke Eric 2006 Excerpt from Invitation to Anthropology, 2nd ed. Altamira, pp. 39-61. 3. Sep 5th: How do cultures change? Park, Michael Alan 2006 Excerpt from Introducing Anthropology, 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, pp. 339351. 4. Sep 9th: Can we understand other cultures? Geertz, Clifford. "Deep play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight." Daedalus 134, no. 4 (2005): 5686. 5. Sep 11th: Social construction of Gender – Lorber, J., 1994. Night to his Day. Race, class, and gender in the United States. Gutterman, David S., “Postmodernism and the Interrogation of Masculinity”, in Brod, Harry, and Michael Kaufman, eds. Theorizing masculinities. Vol. 5. Sage, 1994. pp. 219-238.

6. Sep 16th: Muslim Women, Embodiment and the Docile Agent Mahmood, Saba. 2001. “Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival” Abu – Lughod, Lila. 2002. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?: Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” 7. Sep 18th: In class documentary: Edward Said on Orientalism (1998) 8. Sep 23th: Live and Die Like a Man– Introduction & Chapter 1 9. Sep 25th: Live and Die Like a Man – Chapter 2 Sep 30th - No class scheduled 10. Oct 2nd: Live and Die Like a Man – Chapter 3 11. Oct 7th: Live and Die Like a Man – Chapter 4 – Oct 9th - No class scheduled Oct 14th - No class scheduled

12. Oct 16th: Live and Die Like a Man – Chapter 5 – Conclusion 13. Oct 21st: In class film: The Square (2013) 14. Oct 23th: The Square continued – Hafez, S., 2012. No longer a bargain: Women, masculinity, and the Egyptian uprising. American Ethnologist, 39(1), pp.37-42. 15. Oct 28th: Migration Striffler, S., 2007. Neither here nor there: Mexican immigrant workers and the search for home. American Ethnologist, 34(4), pp.674-688. Gardner, A., 2012. Why do they keep coming? Labor migrants in the Gulf states. 16. Oct 30th: Land of Open Graves - Intro 17. Nov 4th: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 1-2 18. Nov 6nd: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 3 19. Nov 11th: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 4 20. Nov 13th: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 5 21. Nov 18th: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 6 22. Nov 20th: In Class Film 23. Nov 25th: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 7 24. Nov 27th: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 8-9 25. Dec 2nd: Land of Open Graves – Chapter 10 26. Dec 4th: Land of Open Graves – Chapter – 11 – 12 27. Dec 9th: In Class Film: Murder at America's Border: The Story of an Anti-Immigration Vigilante or, Mexico's Immigrant Oasis: Last Stop Before the Border 28. Dec 11th: Review, Final thoughts and Wrap up...