Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examines the dynamic relationship among conceptual aims, social relations in research, and the socio-political contexts of anthropological work through close study of selected classical and contemporary works in anthropology. Students from other departments and faculties may enrol with permission of instructor.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course serves an advanced introduction to contemporary theory in anthropology. It is composed of three parts. The first part provides a brief overview of theories that have shaped the development of anthropology as a discipline such as functionalism, structural functionalism, modernism, postmodernism, structuralism, poststructuralism, etc. The second part focuses on major concepts that provide the context for understanding contemporary theory and methods in anthropology. This includes a focus on key theorists (e.g., Bourdieu, Bakhtin, Foucault, Agamben, Williams, Ahmed, Ortner, Massumi), themes (practice, ideology, governmentality, hegemony, power, discourse, affect, body, voice, agency) and approaches (critical, late-modern, postmodern, poststructural, postpositive, feminist, global). The final part of the course will provide an opportunity to apply these concepts into ethnography and focus on recent ethnographic innovations that restructure relationships between science and government, between researcher and research subjects and between academic and public discourse. Note: the syllabus is flexible and interactive. Multiple sets of readings are provided; class members can choose readings based on your research interests, and together we will determine the final reading list for the semester.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Some of the readings in the syllabus are available as electronic resources through the Simon Fraser University library (URL to be posted). Other readings are available as PDF files on the website or email attachments sent by the instructor.