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Semester: Fall 2002
| This course website is for students to be able to refer to the syllabus, keep track of assignments, access internet articles through the links, and possibly comment on articles assigned. Please refer to the site often to see if anything has been changed or added. Anthropology 133.1 Cultural Perspectives on Family and Society Fall 2002 Instructor: Cassandra White Email: cwhite@sbc.edu Telephone: 381-6204 (office) 946-0717 (home) Office hours: Mon. and Wed., 2:30-3:30 p.m. Office: Benedict 311 Class meets: Tues. and Thurs. 10:30-11:45 a.m. in Benedict 201 Course Description In this course, we will explore the varieties of human family relationships and kinship systems cross-culturally. The types of bonds that humans form with others and the meanings of these bonds to the individual and to the larger society will be studied. We will look at various ways of defining “family.” We will read about and discuss gender roles in families, the interaction between kinship practices and religious tradition, and the impact of political, economic, and social factors on kinship in different parts of the world. Finally, we will study the ways in which new medical knowledge and genetic technologies affect kinship and the family. Course Goals and Objectives Students should gain an appreciation of the myriad ways in which families may be organized and in which different people may be regarded in the context of different families and social relationships. Through the readings, students should also become aware of the methods used by anthropologists to collect data on family life and kinship, and students will learn how to apply some of these methods. Course Requirements Books Required (Available at the Sweet Briar Bookshop): Relative Values: Reconfiguring Kinship Studies, Sarah Franklin and Susan McKinnon (eds.) From the Margins of Hindu Marriage, Lindsey Harlan and Paul Courtright (eds.) Queer Families, Queer Politics, Mary Bernstein and Renate Reimann (eds.) Other Readings: There are several articles, listed on the syllabus or to be assigned in class, that can be accessed as links on the course website. Course Website: http://ingber.spanish.sbc.edu/sites/ANTH133/ANTH133.html This course website will be maintained throughout the semester. The website has a copy of the syllabus, links to internet articles, and assignments. Students should refer to the website frequently to make sure they are up-to-date on class activities. Assignments: Reading assignments are given on the schedule by the date of the class when those readings will be discussed. Ability to participate in discussions of the reading will be part of the class participation grade. Each student will also be assigned two articles or chapters to present to the class. Along with a brief presentation of the article’s content, the student will prepare at least two questions for discussion from their reading to ask the class. Everyone in the class (not just the person who is presenting) is responsible for reading all of the assigned articles. The article presentations will also be part of the class participation grade. There will be four short writing assignments given during the semester. These assignments will be generally short essays (1-2 pages) on readings or films. For one assignment, students will learn how to construct a kinship chart. Students will conduct two kinship interviews (details to be given in class) during the semester. Exams: There will be one quiz, on kinship and family terms, close to the beginning of the semester. The mid-term and the final exam will be take-home, essay exams. Methods of Evaluation (Grading): Class Participation (discussion of readings and article presentations): 20% Short writing assignments: 20% Kinship Interview 1: 15% Kinship Interview 2: 15% Quiz: 5% Mid-Term Exam: 10% Final Exam: 15% Attendance: It is important to attend class because lecture content cannot always be found in the reading, and you must be in attendance to participate in discussions. Missing classes will thus affect your class participation grade and possibly your exam grades. Please let me know, in advance if possible, if you are missing class for a legitimate reason, such as a university-sponsored event or an illness. Late grades: Assignments and exams that are turned in after the due date will receive a late grade (one grade lower for each class period after the due date). Schedule August 22 (Thursday) Review of Syllabus; August 27 (Tuesday) Introduction: Ethnography, Participant Observation, and Kinship study; Kinship Terms; “Where Women Rule” (available online) August 29 (Th) Ways of Representing the Family, Kin Terminology Systems, Photography and Television; Readings: Chapter 3 in Relative Values, (Chapter 5 in Queer Families) September 3 (T) short quiz; film: Secrets and Lies September 5 (Th) Secrets and Lies, part 2; Blood, Body Substance, and Kinship; Adoption; Readings: Chapter 1 and 7 in Relative Values **September 6-7; 7:30p.m.: film Monsoon Wedding at Tyson Auditorium; extra credit: write a short essay discussing the issues of family, marriage, and kinship portrayed in the film September 10 (T) Adoption, cont. Readings: Chapter 17 in Relative Values Assignment 1 due September 12 (Th) Issues of Gay Families; Readings: Chapter 1, 2, and 7 in Queer Families September 17 (T) Marriage and Legal Issues for Gay Families; Readings: Chapters 3 and 19 in Queer Families September 19 (Th) Marriage and Legal Issues, cont.; Readings: Chapters 20, and 23 in Queer Families September 24 (T) Cross-Cultural Issues in Gay Families; Readings: Chapter 8 and 10 in Queer Families; Assignment 2 due; take-home mid-term handed out September 26 (Th) Reading day October 1 (T) Film: The Wedding Banquet October 3 (Th) The Wedding Banquet, part 2; Cross-Cultural Issues in Gay Families, cont.; Readings: Chapters 4 and 6 in Queer Families October 8 (T) Parenthood in Gay Families; Readings: Chapters 11, 12, and 13 in Queer Families; take-home mid-term due October 10 (Th) Parenthood, cont.; Readings: Chapters 16 and 17 in Queer Families October 15 (T) Status of Women in Marriage; Readings: Chapters 1, 4, and 8 in Hindu Marriage; Assignment 3 due October 17 (Th) Religion, Oral Tradition, and Kinship Readings: Chapters 2 and 3 in Hindu Marriage October 22 (T) Religion, Oral Tradition, and Kinship, cont. Readings Readings: Chapters 5 and 6 in Hindu Marriage; Assignment 3 due October 24 (Th) Religion, Oral Tradition, and Kinship Readings, cont. Chapter 9 in Hindu Marriage, Chapter 16 in Relative Values October 29 (T) Infidelity, Separation; Readings: Chapter 7 in Hindu Marriage, “Breaking Up—Japanese Style” (available online) Kinship interview due October 31 (Th) Arranged Marriage; film: Teen Kanya (part 2 of Two Daughters of India) November 5 (T) Arranged Marriage, Internet dating., Readings: “Arranged Marriages, Minus the Parents” (available online) November 7 (Th) Changes in Kinship Patterns; Readings: Chapter 8 and pp. 257-291 of Chapter 9 in Relative Values, internet article: “Grandparents: The Forgotten Group in HIV/AIDS Policy” (available online) November 12 (T) Changes in Kinship Patterns, cont.; Readings: Chapter 15 in Relative Values Readings: Assignment 4 due November 14 (Th) Kinship and New Technologies; Readings: Chapters 4 and 5 in Relative Values November 19 (T) Kinship and New Technologies; Readings: Chapters 6 and 13 in Relative Values November 21 (Th) no class; American Anthropological Association meetings November 23-December 1: Thanksgiving vacation December 3 (T): Kinship and New Technologies cont.; Readings: tba December 5 (Th): Future of the family; Kinship interview #2 due Take-home final exam is due on last day of final exams |
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For more information about your assignment, contact Cassandra White at cwhite@sbc.edu. For any problems you experience accessing the pages or submitting assignments, contact Alix Ingber at ingber@sbc.edu
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