This course provides an introduction to anthropology, a discipline that has historically produced knowledge of "other" cultures on the basis of fieldwork. In recent decades, a critical anthropology has come to question both the concept of culture and the task of cultural representation. At the same time, the geographical, theoretical, methodological, and thematic scope of anthropological research has expanded. In this course, various anthropological theories and methods will be discussed in light of these recent debates with readings on different parts of the world, including Turkey. For their final project, the students will have the option of writing a paper based on anthropological research.
Anthropology as Cultural Critique (ANTH 214)
Programs\Type | Required | Core Elective | Area Elective |
Cultural Studies | * | ||
Cultural Studies | * |
CONTENT
OBJECTIVE
The course aims to introduce students to anthropological theories and research practices. The readings cover a wide range of issues and geographic locations.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Demonstrate familiarity with the key concepts and range of theoretical positions and debates in contemporary anthropology,
- Identify the different ways in which the concept of culture has been discussed in anthropological debates.
- Discuss the ways in which the task of cultural representation has been questioned and rethought within anthropology.
PROGRAMME OUTCOMES
1. Understand the world, their country, their society, as well as themselves and have awareness of ethical problems, social rights, values and responsibility to the self and to others. 5
2. Understand different disciplines from natural and social sciences to mathematics and art, and develop interdisciplinary approaches in thinking and practice. 5
3. Think critically, follow innovations and developments in science and technology, demonstrate personal and organizational entrepreneurship and engage in life-long learning in various subjects; have the ability to continue to educate him/herself. 4
4. Communicate effectively in Turkish and English by oral, written, graphical and technological means. 5
5. Take individual and team responsibility, function effectively and respectively as an individual and a member or a leader of a team; and have the skills to work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams. 5
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the multiple methodologies and interpret different approaches, concepts, and theoretical legacies in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies. 5
2. Identify interconnections of knowledge within and across the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, literature, visual studies, philosophy, and geography. 5
3. Cultivate a critical approach to the study of culture, articulating the relations between culture, power, and history; exploring cultural diversity and socio-cultural change at the local, national and global level; and exploring the corresponding demands for rights and social justice. 5
4. With the use of appropriate technologies, be able to present advanced oral and written evaluations of developments in the realm of cultural production, consumption, and representation. 5
Update Date:
ASSESSMENT METHODS and CRITERIA
Percentage (%) | |
Final | 40 |
Midterm | 30 |
Participation | 10 |
Other | 20 |
RECOMENDED or REQUIRED READINGS
Readings |
The Foundation of Anthropology Classic Ethnographies Classic Ethnographies Revisited Critical Perspectives in Ethnography Abu-Lughod, Lila (1991) ?Writing Against Culture? in Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present, ed. Richard G. Fox, New Mexico: School of American Research Press, pp.137-162 Race and Colonialism Baker, Lee D. (2007) ?Columbia University?s Franz Boas: He Led the Undoing of Scientific Racism? The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, no.55, pp: 77-84. Migration and Culture Riano-Alcala, Pilar (2008) ?Journeys and landscapes of Forced Migration: Memorializing Fear among Refugees and Internally Displaced Columbians?, Social Anthropology, 16 (1), pp.1-18 Parla, Ayşe (2011) ?Undocumented Migrants and the Double Binds of Rights Claims? differences 22(1): pp. 64-89 Inhorn, Marcia C., (2018) ?America?s Arab Refugees: Vulnerability and Health on the Margins?, Stanford University Press, pp: 1-42 The City as an Ethnographic Site Bartu Candan, Ayfer and Biray Kolluoğlu (2008) ?Emerging Spaces of Neoliberalism: A Gated Town and a Public Housing Project in Istanbul.? New Perspectives on Turkey 39, pp. 5-46. Gender and Sexuality Özyeğin, Gül, 2015. ?Vulnerable Masculinity and Self-Transformation: Ali?s Story?, in New Desires, New Selves: Sex, Love and Piety Among Turkish Youth, New York UP. Biscop, Kilian & Steven Malliet & Alexander Dhoest, (2019) ?Subversive Ludic Performance: An Analysis of Gender and Sexuality Performance in Digital Games? Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 6 (2): 23-42 The Body, Science and Medicine Kayaalp, Ebru & İbrahim Burhan Işık. (August 30, 2020) ?Covid-19 and Healthcare Infrastructure in Turkey?, Medical Anthropology Quarterly. Anthropology of Consumption Polese, Abel & Oleksandra Seliverstova (2019) ?Luxury Consumption as Identity Markers in Talinn: A Study of Russian and Estonian Everyday Identity Construction through Consumer Citizenship?, Journal of Consumer Culture , pp. 1-22 Anthropology in the Era of the Anthropocene Kirksey, Eben, Craig Schuetze and Stefan Helmreich (2014) ?Introduction? in The. Multispecies Salon, ed. Eben Kirksey. Durham and London: Duke University Press, pp. 1-24. Tsing, Anna Lowenthaup (2014) ?Blasted Landscapes (and the Gentle Arts of Mushroom Picking)? in The. Multispecies Salon, ed. Eben Kirksey. Durham and London: Duke University Press, pp.87-109. |