There are four primary goals for the Senior Seminar in Anthropology: 1) to study the history of anthropological thought from the late 19th century up through the contemporary period; 2) to assess the place of anthropological thinking as it stands at the present time; 3) to evaluate your position as regards the various schools and ideas which compose anthropological theory as you prepare for post-graduate life; and 4) to prepare for your comprehensive examinations and post-graduate job searches and graduate school applications.

This is also a Core Course and will fulfill the college’s Core 10 requirement: Reflections on Liberal Studies. As such it is designed to further develop your analytical, research and critical thinking skills. The course requires consistent close reading and engaged participation in discussion, a research paper, and two synthetic critical essay exams based on our class readings (see below). It is a course based on collaborative inquiry within a seminar environment, where teacher and student are expected to work together in the interpretation and evaluation of the material examined during the course of the semester. This Core 10 class also requires the completion of the “Reflections on the Liberal Studies” paper (see below). It is also required that Core 10 courses have a multi disciplinary component. As you know this will be easy for us to fulfill in our Senior Seminar. As anthropologists, most of you are already multi disciplinarians with interests that incorporate data, methods, hypotheses and theories derived from other disciplines. In this course, we examine anthropological thought over the last century considering its relationship to other disciplines and how these other disciplines have impacted anthropological thinking. A wide range of disciplines have influenced and been influenced by anthropology, including: history, biology, psychology, sociology, political science, education, geology, literary criticism, linguistics, human evolution, gender studies, and the philosophy of science.

For the first half of the semester, we will focus on anthropology prior to 1990. We will use the text Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History, edited by R. Jon McGee and Richard L. Warms, as well as two monographs (Harris and Geertz). This part of the course explores the major theoretical schools from a chronological perspective, discussing the contributions of 4-5 anthropologists per week. For the second half of the course we turn our attention to an examination of anthropological thought from 1990 until the present. The second half of the course will focus on a selection of monographs and readings from Anthropological Theory that examine ideas in socio-cultural, archaeological and physical anthropology. The readings are designed so that those of you with no prior training in one of the sub-disciplines will gain some exposure to it and be able to appreciate its relationship to the large discipline of anthropology. It will also give you some background in the major sub-disciplines that you can take into the comprehensive exam process.

COURSE POLICIES: Back to Top

The due dates provided below are deadlines and not guidelines. All papers must be turned in no later than the assigned due date. Those given to me late, should I choose to accept them, will be downgraded by one half letter grade per day overdue. You cannot make up an exam without a medical excuse or other information that makes it clear you had a valid reason for missing. No work will be accepted following the final exam date.

You have all pledged to abide by the Millsaps Honor Code. I expect that you will respect the Code, especially with regard to issues of plagiarism. During the course of the semester, as you work on various writing assignments, if you have any questions at all about plagiarism, come talk to me. Better to be safe than sorry.

Note that if you are challenged with a learning disability it is your responsibility to register as such with Student Services and to inform me of any allowances granted by the college, especially in terms of test-taking.

A large portion of your grade in this course will come from class participation, so you must regularly attend. You will be allowed two unexcused absences for the semester before your grade begins to suffer. Furthermore, tardiness is disruptive and will not be tolerated. Late arrival will count against your class participation grade. Should you choose to sleep in class, I will wake you up and ask that you leave.

Course Requirements:

Each student will be responsible for all the assigned readings and will be prepared to address the appropriate discussion questions. There will also be a research paper, paper presentation and mid-semester and final take-home essay examinations.

30% (i.e. 30 points out of 100 total) of your grade will be based on attendance, how well prepared you are, the degree of control you have over the material and your effort to contribute to and participate in the general conversation of the class.

30% of your grade will be based on your research paper (15-20 pages).

25% of your grade will be based on a critical synthetic take-home essay undertaken as the final examination requirement.

15% of your grade will be based on a take home essay examination at mid-semester.

Note that each class period, one of you will be responsible for leading the class discussion and for distribution of a 1-2 page summary of the day’s reading assignment. As a result, each of you will end up leading class a total of 3-4 times, maybe more, maybe less.

The research paper:

The research paper is designed to encourage you to focus on a particular aspect of anthropology and do a research paper on it. It will be evaluated on the basis of the thoroughness of your research, your command of the topic, and the professional quality of the paper as regards mechanics and style.

The first step is picking a research topic and having it approved. This is an important first step which will show how seriously you are taking the assignment and how intelligently you are approaching it. In many cases the research topic determines the success of the article. Choose your topic carefully, exploring the resources necessary to do your work. If, after exploring your topic you learn that it will require the use of inter-library loan, do not wait until the last minute to place your inter-library loan orders, since it often takes several weeks to get the material and then time to read it and evaluate it. Then you may determine that much of what you requested is not on point and you have to request additional material. I am not going to be sympathetic to research problems based on the fact that you did not give yourself sufficient time to accomplish your goals.

A little after mid-semester I will request a progress report. If at this point you have little or nothing to report you need to recognize you are likely to produce a sub-par research paper.

The research paper will be due the middle of November, prior to Thanksgiving break.

Reflections on Liberal Studies Paper:

In order to meet the core 10 requirement you are required to write a reflective essay. This 4-5 page type-written paper will not receive a letter grade. It will receive the grade of “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.” In your essay you are to relate your experiences in the core and your work as a Sociology-Anthropology major to your goal of becoming a liberally educated person. This paper will be forwarded to the Writing Center as part of your portfolio.

How did Millsaps’ liberal arts context inform your training in your major? How has your work in the Millsaps Core Curriculum complimented your work in your major, and has it aided you in achieving your hopes and expectations on a more personal level? Recall your initial seminar in liberal studies, significant courses in the core, and integral courses in your major in your reflection. Have you developed some or all of the following liberal arts abilities: Reasoning, Communication, Quantitative Thinking, Historical Consciousness, Aesthetic Judgment, Global and Multicultural Awareness, Valuing and Decision-Making? Have these abilities enhanced your work in your major?

Note that you may also submit your Core 10 paper for consideration for the Frank and Rachel Laney award. This award is announced at commencement and carries a substantial cash prize. Last year’s winner (Hannah Page) and the top ten papers (four of which were written by anthropology majors) are available at www.millsaps.edu/corecurr/laney/laney.htm.

This paper will be due on October 28.

The Take Home Examinations:

The first take home examination will consist of a single essay question. The second take home examination will consist of two synthetic essay questions. You will write a five-page double-spaced typed answer for each essay question. Each essay question is designed for you to assess one of the major issues in contemporary anthropology we have addressed through the material in class. It will require you to both critically evaluate the positions offered by anthropology as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the theories, methods and interpretations offered by the particular anthropologists you discuss in your essay. It should be interpretative not descriptive.

Required Texts:

Clifford, James

1997 Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

Geertz, Clifford

1983 Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretative Anthropology. Basic Books, New York.

Harris, Marvin

1998 Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture. Waveland Press, New York.

McGee, R. Jon and Richard L. Warms (eds)

2000 Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Mayfield Publishing Co., Mountain View.

Tedlock, Dennis

1993 Breath on the Mirror: Mythic Voices & Visions of the Living Maya. Harper, San Francisco.

Thomas, David Hurst

2000 Skull Wars: Kenniwick Man, Archaeology, and the Battle for Native American Identity. Basic Books, New York.

Schedule of Classes:

Week 1 (August 27): Introduction, distribute syllabus

Week 2 (September 1, 3): McGee and Warms: 19^th-Century Evolutionism (Tylor, Morgan)

Historical Particularism (Boas, Kroeber)

Week 3 (September 8, 10): McGee and Warms: Historical Particularism (Radin)

Functionalism (Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown)

Week 4 (September 15, 17): McGee and Warms: Functionalism (Evans-Pritchard)

Culture and Personality (Benedict, Mead)

Week 5-6 (September 22, 24, 29, October 1):

McGee and Warms: Cultural Ecology and Neoevolutionary Thought (Stewart, White)

Neomaterialism (Fried, Rappaport, Bourgois)

And Harris Good To Eat

Week 7 (October 6, 8):

McGee and Warms: Structuralism (Levi-Strauss, Leach, Ortner)

Ethnoscience and Cognitive Anthropology (Conklin, Tyler)

(Due Oct 6: paper topic abstract with bibliography)

Take-home essay exam assigned October 8, due October 13.

Week 8 (October 13, 15):

McGee and Warms: Sociobiology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Behavioral Ecology (Wilson, Barkow)

Anthropology and Gender: The Feminist Critique (Slocum, Leacock, Stoler)

Fall Break: October 19-22

Weeks 9-10 (October 22, 27, 29):

McGee and Warms: Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology (Douglas, Turner)

And Geertz Local Knowledge

Postmodernism and Its Critics (Rosaldo, Crapanzano, D’Andrade)

(Core 10 Reflective Paper due October 29)

Week 11 (November 3, 5): Tedlock Breath (pgs. 1-166)

Week 12 (November 10, 12): Tedlock Breath (pgs. 167-231)

Week 13 (November 17, 19): Thomas Skull Wars (chaps. 1-6)

(First draft of research paper due on Nov 19th)

Week 14 (November 24): Thomas Skull Wars (chaps. 7-24)

Thanksgiving: November 26-30

Week 15 (December 1, 3): Clifford Routes

(Final paper due December 3)

Final essay exam due during the final exam period (Saturday, December13, 9 am), during which you will be responsible for presenting to the class the results of your research.