Comments on: My History of Anthropology Syllabus /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/ Mon, 29 Jan 2018 23:48:25 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 By: Rex /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-164 Mon, 29 Jan 2018 23:48:25 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-164 Probably my ignorance of these traditions is the stumbling block here. Who and what, concretely, would you recommend?

]]> By: Rajesh /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-154 Sun, 28 Jan 2018 14:52:33 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-154 Hello,

As an aspiring anthro student, I was wondering why there were so few works from the Global South in the list that you have used. You mention the exclusionary nature of ‘canon’ (so to speak) and I believe that there are some wonderful works from Indian anthropologists for example that would definitely enrich the list. Would love to know what you think about this.

]]> By: Karen Sykes /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-144 Fri, 26 Jan 2018 11:51:17 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-144 Okay, oops, I found your course list. So much to do, so little time.
Yes, you’ve grappled with the fact that its always hard to second guess what historical points of reference matter to your students. Sometimes they think by analogy and find comparable relevance with the present situation. Sometimes they don’t, even when you suggest they might.
This might be an interesting read, if you don’t already know it.
Max Gluckman and the Critique of Segregation in South African Anthropology, 1921-1940
Paul Cocks
Journal of Southern African Studies
Vol. 27, No. 4 (Dec., 2001), pp. 739-756

You can use it as background reading to ‘the Bridge’, and then look at why might Gluckman have bristled so in his retort to Leach’s dismissal of the case study method as atheoretical. Gluckman writes that he believes “it is fatal to become, like Leach, bored with ethnographic fact. ”
Gluckman, M.
“Ethnographic Data in British Social Anthropology”.
Volume: 9 issue: 1, page(s): 5-17
Issue published: March 1, 1961
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.1961.tb01082.x

]]> By: Karen Sykes /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-142 Fri, 26 Jan 2018 11:30:26 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-142 Just curious, how did you handle the work of Claude Levi Strauss?

]]> By: Rex /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-57 Thu, 04 Jan 2018 20:21:40 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-57 Harry: In general anthropology has been around so briefly that I don’t think there are chronological periods in its thought which can be deconstructed the way ‘the medieval period’ or ‘the enlightenment’ can be. Mostly I tried to contextualize the discipline in the history of the 20th century. I think one thing about the 20th century is that with the wars etc. it falls into some pretty clearly definable periods. I guess I didn’t really question those, though.

DS: That’s a good question — what are the foundations of the discipline? I’d be interested in hearing what you think. One thing I did in this class was to define anthropology very strictly in terms of its institutionalization as an academic discipline. This involves paying attention to anthropology’s interlocutors in the field (that’s why I included Hunt), as well as the role that unis in the empire played — Khartoum, Sydney, S. Africa. I ultimately didn’t cover people like Manuel Gamio or Fei Xiaotong, unfortunately. But I tried to focus on a history of anthropology as a discipline with a specific intellectual thrust and political economy, not a general impulse in human history to think about humanity.

]]> By: DS /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-56 Thu, 04 Jan 2018 17:08:38 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-56 “Its 2017, and reaching back this far just doesn’t make sense.” This is just awful. What are the foundations of the discipline?
Also, move beyond the term “western tradition.” People made important contributions. What does it matter of they were “Western”, or lived before Anthropology departments formally existed? You should have a better understanding of history to teach such a course.

]]> By: Harry East /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Thu, 04 Jan 2018 03:44:54 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-54 I was just wondering if you discussed the alternative chronologies/ancestries at all in your course? I’m not an anthropologist and haven’t read anything on your list but some of those titles in the last section (as well as the section title) seem like maybe they do that.

I remember I took a medieval history course once and in the last week we discussed whether or not there is such a thing as the “medieval period”. This included a generalised discussion on periodisation in the first place but also different start and end dates used by different scholars. It seems to me that this sort of exercise is valuable particularly for the way in which it offers a springboard for thinking about the course on a wider scale, which largely explains my curiosity as to whether or not you’re already doing this or something similar.

]]> By: Pei-yi /2017/12/22/my-history-of-anthropology-syllabus/comment-page-1/#comment-41 Thu, 28 Dec 2017 01:34:30 +0000 https://anthrodendum.org/?p=284#comment-41 You have two Aug. Where is September? 🙂

]]>