This was the homepage for my Cultural Anthropology 2016 course, which was the last time I was able to use Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s book Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World in a classroom setting. This cultural anthropology course would ideally occur after a four field Introduction to Anthropology.
My more recent cultural anthropology course, Cultural Anthropology 2020, significantly revamped the readings. For 2021, see the reflections on Is anthropology more important than ever? and this YouTube playlist:
There were five required books for Cultural Anthropology 2016:
- Robert Welsch and Luis Vivanco, Cultural Anthropology: A Concise Introduction, 2016
- Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture, 1934.
- Elenore Smith Bowen [Laura Bohannan], Return to Laughter: An Anthropological Novel, 1954.
- Elizabeth Chin, Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture, 2001
- Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World, 2003.
Part 1 – The beautiful idea of culture
1. Trouillot, “Introduction” (1-5); [see the 2013 blog-post Purpose of Anthropology for reflections on these introductory pages.]
- Trouillot, “Anthropology and the Savage Slot” (7-28)
- Welsch & Vivanco, “Anthropology: Asking Questions about Humanity” (1-21)
4. Benedict, 130-172
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 2, “Culture: Giving Meaning to Human Lives” (22-40)
6. Benedict, 223-278
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 4, “Ethnography: Studying Culture” (61-79)
Film: Divorce, Iranian Style
Part 2 – Beautiful Idea, Beautifully Naïve: Culture in the Field
7. Trouillot, “North Atlantic Fictions” (29-46)
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 8, “Power: Politics and Social Control” (143-164)
8. Bowen, 1-115
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 3, “Linguistic Anthropology” (41-60)
9. Bowen, 116-155
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 10, “Kinship, Marriage, and the Family” (184-201)
10. Bowen, 156-221
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 9, “Gender, Sex, and Sexuality” (165-183)
Film: Strange Beliefs
11. Bowen, 222-297
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 11, “Religion: Ritual and Belief” (202-220)
12. Trouillot, “Adieu, Culture” (97-116)
Film: Advertising Missionaries
Part 3 – The Culture Problem
13. Trouillot, “A Fragmented Globality” (47-78)
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 5, “Globalization and Culture” (80-100)
14. Chin, 1-61
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 7, “Economics: Working, Sharing & Buying” (124-144)
15. Chin, 63-115
16. Chin, 117-141
Welsch & Vivanco, chapter 13, “The Arts” (242-259)
17. Chin, 143-205
18. Welsch & Vivanco, “The Body: Biocultural Perspectives on Health & Illness” (221-241)
Third Paper Due
Film: Race: The House We Live In
Cultural Anthropology at the End of the World
19. Trouillot, “The Anthropology of the State” (79-96)
Welsch & Vivanco, ch. 6, “Sustainability: Environment & Foodways” (101-123)