Anth 3100: African Ethnography - Syllabus

UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE AFRICAN ETHNOGRAPHY Anthropology 3100 Fall 2009 Class: MWF 12:00‐12:50 PM Instructor: Dr. Jerimy J. Cunningham Instructor Phone: 329‐5102 Office Hours: Online: Tuesday 1:00‐2:00 PM In Person: Monday 3:15‐4:15 PM Classroom: L1170 Dropbox: A868 Instructor Office: A868 Email: On Blackboard INTRODUCTION: The goal of this course is to provide students with a well‐rounded introduction to the anthropological study of African societies. The principal theme of the course centers on how anthropology has represented African societies during the 20th Century. It thus aims to give students a broad understanding of the traditional social and cultural forms present in Africa and the ways that anthropology has changed the way it has studied these social forms. The course is organized thematically around a series of readings that give students an overview of the diversity of scholarship on a given topic. We begin with a brief introduction and overview of the African continent and its history, then look at key topics in African anthropology such as tribes/ethnicity, African art, witchcraft, gender, economics, and nationalism. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the course, students should have the necessary skills and knowledge to: • Describe Africa’s traditional cultural and historical landscapes, including key historical developments, principal cultural and linguistic groupings, political and economic systems, and unique cultural traditions. • Identify how anthropology has changed the way it studies and represents African societies during the 20th Century. • Critically and knowledgeably assess the information they receive about Africa through mainstream media sources • Continue their independent study Africa beyond the classroom. COURSE TEXTS: Core Course Text: Grinker, Richard and Christopher B. Steiner (1997) Perspectives on Africa: A reader in culture, history & representation. Blackwell, Malden, MA. Ethnographies (you will be assigned to read ONE of the following): Fergusson, James (1999) Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt. University of California Press, Berkeley. Hutchinson, Sharon E. (1996) Nuer Dilemmas: Coping with Money, War and the State. University of California Press, Berkeley. MacGaffey, Jane and Remy Bazenguissa‐Ganga. (2000) Congo‐Paris: Transnational Traders on the Margins of the Law. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. Schroeder, Richard A. (1999) Shady Practices: Agroforestry and Gender Politics in the Gambia. University of California Press, Berkeley. DELIVERABLES Component Africa in the World Original Post Mid‐Term Exam Africa in the World Response Ethnography Group Project Reflections Final Exam Weighting 5% 25% 5% 25% 5% 35% Date Oct 9 Oct 19 Nov 13 Dec 7 Dec 11 First week of exam period Mid‐Term exam (25%) The mid‐term will be a mixed format exam written through Blackboard that assesses student knowledge of all materials from lectures and readings up to the date of the exam. Africa in the World Postings (2 Posts, 5% each) In the place of a paper, the course contains a series of small ongoing assignments focused on bulletin board postings made through Blackboard. The reasoning here is that by writing your thoughts to a bulletin board (rather than simply handing them to me as an assignment or a paper), your peers gain an opportunity to learn from you and you from them. Increasingly, we find that information about Africa is not restricted just to ethnographies and anthropology courses, but surrounds us in our own daily lives. We read about Africa in the media, watch travel shows that visit Africa on cable TV, can listen to African music on iTunes or can go to African shops and festivals right here in Alberta. For your Africa in the World assignment, you are to explore these various connections and report what you find back to your colleagues through postings to the bulletin board dedicated to the Africa in the World. As with the ethnography‐ related postings, you are to select your best original thread and your best response and submit them to me for grading. For your initial posting, you might visit a museum exhibit, watch a TV program, attend a festival, or read an article in a newspaper, magazine or academic journal. The objective for this assignment, however, is not just to report the existence of these resources to your peers, but to “get behind the story” and explore the larger background context for the item you’ve identified. This means doing additional library research aimed at situating your encounter with Africa in the World in relation to course materials or other sources of information that allow you to develop a better understanding of the item you’ve found. Keep in mind that the theme for the course focuses on representations of Africa and thus your example of Africa in the World should include a critical assessment of how Africa is being represented. Your original thread should be between 200‐500 words long and is worth 5% of your total grade. It is due October 9th. Your responses to your classmates’ original postings may be a comparison of their item with your own, or it may relate to your own knowledge of the issues raised by the example on which they have chosen to write. As with the original thread, your response should be between 200‐500 words and is worth 5% of your total grade in the course. Your response is due November 13th. Ethnography Group Presentation (25% total ‐ 10% for individual postings + 15% for presentation) I have also selected four ethnographies to use in this year’s course that explore a variety of topics. Each student will read one of these ethnographies during the course (so don’t make the mistake of buying them all). After the first week of classes, you will be asked to sign up to read a particular ethnography. Hopefully, this will allow you to focus your learning towards course topics that most interest you. Descriptions of the course ethnographies are available on Blackboard and I would encourage you to read through them as soon as possible. Everyone reading the same ethnography will be placed in a group that has its own discussion board on Blackboard which will allow you to exchange thoughts with your peers about the ethnography you are reading. I would also encourage you to sit together during the class and try to get to know one another. This way, you will get know 5‐6 people with whom you can study or from whom you can get notes. As you work through your readings, you should reflect on the ethnography and its relation to the core course theme of “representation,” as well as to issues that come up in our readings and lectures and post your ideas, questions or commentaries to Blackboard. I will periodically visit your bulletin board throughout the semester and you will be marked on the frequency and quality of your postings. Your contribution to group discussions is worth 10% of your final mark. At the end of the semester, your group will make a class presentation that briefly summarizes your ethnography’s principal themes, identifies the key issues that it raises, and provide a short overview and analysis of the pertinent discussions that took place on your bulletin board. The aim of the presentation is to allow the rest of the class to learn about your ethnography and hear about the types of discussions you have be having about it. As I’ve outlined on the schedule, I’ve set aside two classes for group work and other times may be allotted depending on how fast we move through the course content. The presentations will occur on December 7th and December 9th and they should be approximately 10‐12 minutes long, with an additional 5 minutes set aside for questions and discussions. Your group presentation is worth 15% of your final grade. Reflections (5%) The final written assignment is a short reflective piece focused on what you have learned about Africa in this course. The reflection piece is your opportunity to think about your contributions to the discussion boards, group work and class discussions to identify how your understanding of Africa has changed since the course began. The reflective piece should be 200‐500 words in length and is due December 11th. Final Exam (35%) The final exam will be a mixed format exam written through Blackboard during the first week of the Exam Period that emphasizes course materials covered after the Mid‐Term. COURSE POLICIES Percentage to Letter Grade Conversion Grade A+ A A‐ B+ B B‐ C+ C C‐ D+ D F Percent 95+ 87‐94% 83‐86% 78‐82% 74‐77% 70‐73% 67‐69% 63‐66% 60‐62% 57‐59% 50‐56% 0‐49% Returned Exams and Assignments I will strive to return marked exams and assignments to students within 2 weeks of their due date. Marks will be posted in Blackboard’s Gradebook. Citation Format All assignments should adhere to the style format of the American Anthropological Association (http://www.aaanet.org/publications/guidelines.cfm). A pdf version of the guide is available on Blackboard. Late Penalties for All Course Assignments All deliverables lose 2% of the FINAL GRADE IN THE COURSE for each day that the assignment is late. For example, your posting is worth 5% of the final grade. An article review that is 1 day late will lose 2% of the FINAL GRADE that is allotted to the assignment, which effectively moves an initial score of 5/5 (or 100% and an ‘A+’) to a mark of 3/5 (which is 60% or a ‘C‐’). Please note that no extensions will be granted and delayed submissions of assignments because of illness or family emergency will require official documentation. PowerPoint Slides PowerPoint slides related to lectures will be posted on Blackboard after the lectures in which they are used. It is my goal to have the slides available for you on Blackboard within 72 hours of the lecture, however it may take longer if the lectures carry over into subsequent classes. COMMUNICATION POLICIES Outside lectures and office hours, the primary forms of communication in the course take place through Blackboard, including the bulletin board, email and chat rooms. Bulletin Board Any questions that you may have that relate to course content, course procedures, the assignments or the readings should be posted to the main bulletin board. This allows everyone in the class to see the responses that I give and it makes my life a bit easier because I won’t have to answer 6 identical questions. It also will hopefully jump start the bulletin board as a venue for informal discussions about the course. Email Questions on more personal issues can be sent to my email box on Blackboard. I will check my email once a day during the week and I will try to reply to you within 72 hours. At certain times during the semester, I will be away from my office for 2‐7 days at a time and thus I may be delayed in replying to any questions. However, I will post a notice outlining my absences on the bulletin board. In case of emergencies, you may contact me directly at my uleth email: ([email protected]). Office Hours & Chats I have scheduled one block of office hours each week during which time I would invite you to drop by my office to talk about assignments, course materials or anthropology in general. To facilitate communication, I will also be holding a second block of office hours each week online in the chat room. Appointments or additional office hours may also be scheduled if necessary. Telephone I have posted my office telephone number on the course outline. I would stress that this is given for emergency purposes only. Questions relevant to the course are best directed to me through the bulletin board and email. Please use the telephone as a last resort. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE & ASSOCIATED READINGS (**SUBJECT TO CHANGE**) Week 0: Introduction Sept 9 Overview of Syllabus Sept 11 The African Continent at a Glance Select Ethnographies on Blackboard Week 1: African History Sept 14 Precolonial History – Listen to BBC podcasts Groups Assigned – Purchase ethnographies Sept 16 Colonial History – Listen to BBC podcasts Sept 18 Group norms activity Week 2: Representation in Anthropology Sept 21 Representation in Anthropology – Read Intro (pg. xvii) Sept 23 Film: The Nuer – Read Ch. 2 Sept 25 Film: Africa – Leopards of Zanzibar – Read Ch. 3 Week 3: From Tribes to Ethnicity Sept 28 Anthropology & Colonialism – Read Ch. 33 Sept 30 British Anthropology – Read Ch. 1 Oct 2 From Tribes to Ethnicity – Read Ch. 4 & 5. Week 4: African Economics Oct 5 Characterizing African economies – Read Ch 6 & 9 Oct 7 Spheres of Exchange – Read Ch. 7, 10, 11 Oct 9 Film: Africa – Voices of the Forest **African in the World Original Post Due** Week 5: Hunter‐Gatherers in Africa Oct 12 No Class: Thanksgiving Oct 14 Pygmies – Read Ch. 12 & 13 Oct 16 Rethinking Hunter‐gatherers – Read Ch. 14 Week 6: Witchraft & Rationality Oct 19 No Class: **MidTerm Exam** Oct 21 Azande Witchcraft – Read Ch. 16, 17 & 18 Oct 23 Contextualizing Witchcraft – Read Ch. 20 Week 7: Ancestors, Gods and Religion Oct 26 Systems of Thought – Read Ch. 21 & 22 Oct 28 Embedded Ideology – Read Ch. 23 & 24 Oct 30 Film: Africa – Love in the Sahel Week 8: Arts, Aesthetics & Music Nov 2 Understanding African Art I – Read Ch. 25 Nov 4 Understanding African Art II – Read Ch. 26 Nov 6 African Music – Read Ch. 28 Week 9: Sex and Gender in Africa Nov 9 Polygamy – Read Ch. 29 Nov 11 No Class – Remembrance Day Nov 13 Shifting Gender Relations – Read Ch. 31 **Africa in the World Responses Due** Week 10: Colonialism & Neocolonialism Nov 16 Film: Africa – Southern Treasures – Read Ch. 30 Nov 18 Colonialism & Compradors – Read Ch. 34 & 35 Nov 20 Neo‐colonialism – Read Ch. 36 Week 11: Nations & Nationalism Nov 23 African nationalism – Read Ch. 37 & 38 Nov 25 Atavism & Failed States – Reach Ch. 39 Nov 27 Group Projects Work Day Week 12: Representations of Africa Nov 30 Film: Afrique, je te plumerai – Read Ch. 41 Dec 2 Film: Afrique, je te plumerai – Read Ch. 42 Dec 4 Rethinking representation – Read Ch. 43 & 44 Week 13: Ethnographies Dec 7 Group Presentations Dec 9 Group Presentations; Representing Africa Dec 11 Summary & Review **Reflections due**