The Anthropology of Modernity
I am putting this syllabus on the web to provide you with a set of links to electronic sources in Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Transnationalism, Nationalism, and Postmodernism. If you are starting with a hard-copy of the syllabus, you can reach the electronic syllabus by going to the Bates Home Page on Netscape (www.bates.edu), clicking on Faculty, then going to Anthropology, and finally Full Descriptive List of Courses. Get out there on the web and find out more about the topics discussed in this course. Alta Vista is a wonderful search engine. It is listed on the Netscape page of search engines, along with Yahoo, Lycos, and Dogpile. Don't be limited by my links. Use any of these search engines to find your own by entering the topic you want to know more about.
This course approaches the study of the modern world from an anthropological perspective, focusing on meaning, everyday life, and the economic and cultural structures that tie people together. Where anthropology historically has pursued these issues in the context of small, face-to-face societies, THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF MODERNITY brings this focus to the study of large-scale, industrial societies and the still larger context of the world-system, namely those global flows of people, things, and ideas that link all human societies--from the most remote, technologically-simple ones to modern, industrial nations.
The challenge for a course which means to take on global forces--consumption, advertising, migration, media--is to recognize the way these forces have created a cultural formation that reaches around the world without losing touch with everyday examples, local differences, and individual agency.
| September 10 (Th) | The Course: Modernity as an Anthropological Issue
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| September 15 (Tu) | The Global Now
Appadurai, "Here and Now," inModernity at Large , pp. 1-23.
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| September 17(Th) | The Global Cultural Economy
Appadurai, "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy," and "Global Ethnoscapes," in Modernity at Large, pp. 27-47 and 48-65.
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| September 22 (Tu) | The Japanese Version
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| September 24 (Th) | Global Ethnoscapes
First PAPER due
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| September 29 (Tu) | Consumption
McCracken, Culture and Consumption, introduction and pp. 3-30. |
| October 1 (Th) |
The Store
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| October 6 (Tu) |
Meaning and Movement
McCracken, Culture and Consumption,pp. 44-53, 57-80, 118-29..
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| October 8 (Th) |
Clothing and Culture
McCracken, Culture and Consumption, pp. 31-43, 93-103. |
| October 12 (Monday) |
8:00 Class: Hour Examination
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| October 13 (Tu) |
Advertising and Media
Frank, The Conquest of Cool, pp. 1-87.
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| October 15 (Th) |
The 1960's
Frank The Conquest of Cool, pp. 88-167.
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| October 27 (Tu) |
Individualism
Frank, The Conquest of Cool, pp. 167-235 |
| October 29 (Th) | Discussion
Second PAPER due |
| November 3 (Tu) |
Nationalism and its Presuppositions
Handler, Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec, pp. 3-51. Other Federalist and Separtist Movements
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| November 5 (Th) |
Quebecois Nationalism
Handler, Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec, pp. 52-196, skimming chapters 4,5, and 6.
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| November 10 (Tu) |
What is modern about Nationalism?
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| November 12 (Th) | A Nation of Contradictions
Sesser, "A Nation of Contradictions," in The New Yorker, pp. 37-68, on reserve.
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| November 13 (Friday, 8:00 Class) | Singapore
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| November 17 (Tu) |
Indian Cricket
Appadurai, "Playing with Modernity," in Modernity at Large, pp. 89-113. |
| November 19 (Th) | Global Flows
Babb and Wadley, Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, introduction and pp. 51-75 and 191-216.
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| December 1 (Tu) | Indian Comic Books
Babb and Wadley, Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, pp. 76-134
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| December 3 (Th) | Video Vacana
Babb and Wadley, Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, pp. 254-83. |
| December 7-11 | Reading Week
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I value what students have to say, sometimes to the extent of letting people go off on tangents. Hanging 10% of final grades on class participation is a form of coercion, but I believe learning to talk in an academic setting is as important as learning to think analytically or use a computer. Students usually assume that they are being judged on the content of their comments. I judge students merely on whether they say something. There are no dumb comments--there are only students who do not contribute to class and students who do. In my experience, the only mistake a student makes in class is imagining her or his comments are worth airing on every topic. If you are a verbal person, let other people have a chance at it. If you are not verbal, recognize that your ideas are often more incisive than those of people who talk regularly. Make an effort to make your ideas known, whether it is the first day of class or late March.
My office hours are MW 1:30-4:00, but I work in my office almost every morning and afternoon, and you are welcome to try to find me then or to make an appointment. If you are having trouble (or pleasure) with the readings, the course, or me, please come see me straightaway, 7 Libbey Forum. My policy on late papers is to grant extensions, but to assess a penalty relative to how late the paper turns out to be. Winter semester provokes lots of students to ask for extensions. You can have one in most cases, but the price is having the paper graded down by 1/3 of a letter grade each day, e.g., an "A" paper on Monday becomes a "A-" on Tuesday.
Final Exam: Tuesday, 15 December, 1:15 p.m.
All students are responsible for reading and understanding the Bates College statements on academic honesty, crediting of sources, and plagiarism.
e-mail responses: skemper@bates.edu
Last Updated: 18 August 1998