African Anthropology
Spring 2004
MW 3:15
Instructor: Julian M. Murchison
Room: SH 368
Office: SH 346
Office Hours: TTh 3:15-4:15 and W 10:00-12:00, or by appointment
Email: murchjm@millsaps.edu
Phone: Ext. 1437
Contents:
Course Description
Required Texts
Course Requirements
Class Policies
Schedule
Since the advent of anthropology as a discipline, the continent of Africa has been an important focal point for fieldwork and theorizing. Well-known anthropologists, such as Evans-Pritchard, Radcliffe-Brown, Victor Turner, and Mary Douglas, have all turned to the continent as the source for many of their contributions to the discipline. Partly as a product of European anthropologists’ ties to European colonial powers on the continent, Africa was particularly influential in the development of anthropology in Europe (e.g., British social anthropology) in much the same way that studies of Native American groups were crucial in the development of Boasian anthropology in the United States. Readings from Schneider’s The Africans will give us some sense of the broad scope and history of Africanist anthropology
Today, anthropologists from Africa, America, and Europe are all making exciting contributions to Africanist anthropology in its many guises. Much of the recent work in the anthropology of Africa has involved critiquing and rethinking earlier approaches to African societies and cultures. This course is designed to develop an appreciation for the history and development of Africanist anthropology over the course of the last century or so and also to allow you, the students, to engage in detail with some more recent ethnographic examples that highlight the complexity of contemporary Africa. The ethnographies by Suggs, Hutchinson, Stoller, Ferguson, and Hansen are all excellent examples of contemporary ethnographies of different locations on the African continent.
We will continually return to central questions, such as: What is “Africa”? How much similarity is there between social and cultural phenomena across the continent? How have historical processes on the continent shaped what Africa is today? What role does African culture (e.g., “custom and tradition,” religion and ritual, kinship, etc.) play in the contemporary context?
Ferguson, James
1999Expectations of modernity: myths and meanings of urban life on the Zambian Copperbelt. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hansen, Karen Tranberg
2000Salaula: the world of secondhand clothing and Zambia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hutchinson, Sharon Elaine
1996Nuer dilemmas: coping with money, war, and the state. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Schneider, Harold K.
1981The Africans: an ethnological account. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Stoller, Paul
1995Embodying colonial memories: spirit possession, power, and the Hauka in West Africa. New York: Routledge.
Suggs, David N.
2001A bagful of locusts and the baboon woman. San Diego: Harcourt.
1) Attendance and Participation (25%) You are required to attend class and to participate in class discussions and activities. Each of you is allowed two absences before your attendance and participation grade begins to suffer. Please note that this policy does not discriminate between excused and unexcused absences; you are allowed two absences total. I will make exceptions for college-sanctioned events, such as Model-UN or intercollegiate athletics. However, you are responsible for talking to me about any such absences ahead of time. This is a discussion-oriented course, and a significant component of your grade will depend on your regular, productive participation in class discussion and other activities. It is not enough simply to attend class in the sense of filling a chair. In order to earn a good attendance and participation grade, you must regularly come to class prepared to participate in an engaged and thoughtful manner (i.e., having done the reading and other assignments). Tardiness is disruptive for the entire class and will negatively affect your attendance and participation grade.
On a rotating basis, you will be responsible for preparing notes and discussion questions on the day’s readings. These notes and questions will help to structure class discussions, and at the end of the semester we will have a detailed set of notes for the class readings as a whole. These notes will be graded on the basis of their thoroughness and will comprise an important part of your attendance and participation grade.
2) African Newspaper Assignment (5%) Each of you will be responsible for finding a different English-language newspaper from somewhere in Africa to follow on-line during the course of the semester. Each week (beginning in the second week) you will bring to class one interesting piece from your newspaper to share with the class.
3) Map Quiz (5%) To begin talking about Africa and its history, we all need some geographical familiarity with the continent. For this quiz, you will be required to fill in a blank map with the names of the current countries and their capitals.
4) In-class Exams (30%) These exams will consist of several short answers and a single essay. They will cover key, specific analytical concepts as well as the larger theoretical issues that we will engage.
5) Final Research Paper (35%) This research paper will be the largest single component of your final grade. You will write about a topic of your choosing that deals with African culture or Africanist anthropology. The paper will be 3,500-5,000 words and will be based on detailed and comprehensive library research. Your grade for this paper will be based on three separate, graded assignments: (1) bibliography/outline (5%); (2) rough draft (10%); and (3) final draft (20%). In a 4000-level course, I expect a high quality of research and writing. Therefore, you should plan to begin your research early and work on it consistently throughout the course of the semester. We will schedule meetings to discuss your research and rough drafts individually, but you should also feel free to arrange to meet with me at any point to discuss ideas, questions, or sticking points.
The dates provided on this syllabus for the submission of assignments are deadlines. You should submit all assignments by the beginning of the class meeting on the date due. You should also keep a hard copy of all assignments and save them on disk for your own records. Computer problems are not an acceptable excuse for late papers. Late submissions will only be accepted at the discretion of the instructor and, if accepted, will be penalized half of a letter grade (5%) for each day (i.e., 24-hour period) late. If legitimate, unavoidable circumstances require you to seek an extension, make sure you consult with me about an extension as early as possible before the deadline. No work will be accepted after the final exam date.
If you miss class, for whatever reason (i.e., excused or unexcused, including due to late registration), you are responsible for making up any work. Talk to me and fellow students to find out what was covered, get notes, etc. You will not be allowed to make up an exam unless you provide proper documentation indicating that your absence was excused.
You are responsible for doing all of the reading on time. Read ahead if you can. If a reading assignment is listed for a particular day, that reading assignment should be completed prior to the class meeting on that day. In order for reading to be useful, you must comprehend and engage with the material. Therefore, reading involves more than simply passing your eyes over the text; it involves taking notes and thinking critically about the words on the page. Reading will provide the basis for class discussion and examination of key anthropological topics.
If you have a question about a topic covered in the readings, class, or elsewhere, please do not hesitate to ask me about it. You are welcome to contact me over email or to come to see me during office hours, but I also encourage you to ask questions in class, where your classmates can benefit from your questions.
As students at Millsaps, you have all pledged to abide by the Millsaps Honor Code. I expect you to meet the high standards of academic honesty embodied in the Honor Code. Academic honesty is vital for our intellectual endeavors. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are acts of dishonesty. If I find that a student has been academically dishonest, college policies require that I report the case to the academic dean for consideration by the Honor Council. Please take your responsibilities under the Honor Code very seriously. You should always submit your own original work for this class and cite all sources upon which you have drawn in developing papers and other projects. I will be unable to grade your work if you fail to provide proper citations. If you have questions about these issues, please see me.
If you are challenged with a learning disability, it is your responsibility to register with Student Services and to inform me of any allowances granted by the college. I will be happy to work with you to make sure that we arrange for the appropriate allowances.
Class Schedule:
Week 1 (1/12/04-1/16/04)
Monday: Syllabus
Wednesday: Schneider, 1-41
Week 2 (1/19/04-1/23/04)
Monday: Schneider, 42-81
Wednesday: Suggs, vii-xviii, 1-42
*MAP QUIZ*
Week 3 (1/26/04-1/30/04)
Monday: Suggs, 43-88
Wednesday: Suggs, 89-105
Week 4 (2/2/04-2/6/04)
Monday: Schneider, 82-140
Wednesday: Schneider 141-178
Week 5 (2/9/04-2/13/04)
Monday: Hutchinson, 1-55
Wednesday: Hutchinson, 56-157
Week 6 (2/16/04-2/20/04)
Monday: Hutchinson, 158-269
Wednesday: Hutchinson, 270-356
*FINAL RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL DUE*
Week 7 (2/23/04-2/27/04)
Monday:
Wednesday:
*EXAM #1*
Week 8 (3/1/04-3/5/04)
Monday: Schneider, 179-230
Wednesday: Stoller, 1-48
*BIBLIOGRAPHY/OUTLINE DUE*
Week 9 (3/8/04-3/12/04)
Monday: Stoller, 49-92
Wednesday: Stoller, 93-136
SPRING BREAK!
Week 10 (3/22/04-3/26/04)
Monday: Stoller, 137-200
Wednesday:
Week 11 (3/29/04-4/2/04)
Monday: Ferguson, 1-81
*ROUGH DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE*
Wednesday: Ferguson, 82-165
Week 12 (4/5/04-4/9/04)
Monday: Ferguson, 166-233
Wednesday: Ferguson, 234-258
Week 13 (4/12/04-4/16/04)
Monday: Hansen, 1-76
Wednesday: Hansen, 77-155
Week 14 (4/19/04-4/23/04)
Monday: Hansen, 156-206
Wednesday: Hansen, 207-258
*FINAL DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE*
Saturday, May 1, 2:00 p.m. – EXAM #2