ATH 205 Anthropological Theory Syllabus

ATH 205 Syllabus – 1 of 10
ATH 205 Anthropological Theory
Spring 2023, Muhlenberg College
Hillel 107, MW 12:30–1:45 p.m.
Instructor: Casey James Miller, Ph.D. E-mail: caseymiller@muhlenberg.edu
Office: Sociology & Anthropology 011 Office Phone: 484.664.3792
Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. –12:00 p.m. in person and on Zoom by appointment
Zoom Office Hours Info: meeting ID: 972 0834 1229, passcode: 935576
Course Description:
Anthropology is unique among academic discipline in that it encompasses an exceptionally wide
range of both topics and methods in its overall goal of better understanding the human condition
through time and space in all of its diversity and complexity. Ranging from the study of human
origins and the material culture of past and present societies all the way to investigating the
importance of language in human thought and interaction and the exploration of similarities and
differences between contemporary groups of human beings, anthropology covers a lot of
conceptual (and actual) ground. Anthropology is also a relatively new academic discipline with
links to other areas of enquiry in the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. So
what if anything do all anthropologists have in common? What core questions, theories, and
understandings, if any, do all anthropologists share, and how have anthropological ideas and
concepts changed over time?
This course encourages students to critically engage with the history and development of theory
in anthropology. Over the semester we will read, consider, discuss, and write about a wide range
of anthropological theories and theorists, including scholars who have long been considered part
of the “canon” as well as anthropologists whose contributions may have been previously
overlooked. By the end of this course, you will be familiar with the major theoretical approaches,
concepts, and paradigms that have defined the discipline from the origins of the discipline some
two hundred years ago to the present day and ready to pursue advanced study in anthropology.
Course Goals:
• To familiarize students with a wide range of classical and contemporary theoretical
paradigms in the discipline of anthropology, including how the knowledge and theories
generated by anthropologists are products of specific social and historical contexts.
• To help students identify, explore, and critique some of the key figures, questions, and
concepts in the development of anthropological theory and to reflect on how our
understandings of anthropological theory have changed and developed over time.
• To empower students to articulate anthropological concepts with accuracy and precision
and to apply anthropological theories to the analysis of contemporary issues and problems.
• To develop students’ proficiency in scholarly writing conventions and practices within the
discipline, including how to express anthropological questions and theories in clear and
concise language and how to develop and support original scholarly arguments including
mastering the use of motive, thesis, evidence, analysis, structure, style, and revision.

Required Texts (in the order assigned):
• Bolles, A. Lynn, Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz, Bernard C. Perley, and Keri Vacanti Brondo.
2022. Anthropological Theory for the Twenty-First Century: A Critical Approach.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Physical and electronic copies of the textbook we will be using this semester are available for
purchase or rental at the college bookstore and/or any major online bookseller. Both formats are
fine—please use whatever version works best for you. A physical copy of the textbook is also
available to check out for free at Trexler Library on reserve. If you are experiencing any financial
or technical difficulties accessing the textbook, please let the instructor know.
Course Requirements and Evaluation:
• 20% Class Participation
• 20% Online Reading Responses
• 20% Section Discussion Leaders
• 20% 2-Page Essays
• 20% Final Paper
All assignments will be submitted, graded and returned online through Canvas. If you have any
questions about an assignment or the assignment instructions, please ask the instructor.
Course Unit Instruction:
This class is scheduled to meet for 3 hours per week of classroom instruction. Additional
instructional activities for this course may include required attendance at campus events; online
discussions; individual or group presentations; and individual research and writing projects.
Course Policies and Expectations:
Attendance and Participation: Consistent and timely attendance and participation will be crucial
to doing well in this course, as we will be covering a lot of ground in anthropological theory
relatively quickly over the semester. Class participation includes timely completion of reading
assignments and thoughtful contribution to class discussions, when possible. Please complete all
assigned readings/films before the class they are listed for on the syllabus, take notes, and bring
your ideas, questions, and reactions to class ready to share with others. If you wish to speak to
share an opinion, respond to a question, or ask a question, please raise your hand. I want to create
and maintain a classroom learning environment that is inclusive and welcoming to people from all
backgrounds. Please be respectful of your classmates’ viewpoints and feelings during class
activities and discussions.
This is an in-person class and remote attendance will not be an option unless prearranged with and
approved by the instructor in advance. (The only exception is if the instructor needs to quarantine,
in which case the entire class will temporarily move online until in-person classes are able to
resume.) Students are expected to attend each class, in person, on time, having completed all

assigned readings and ready to actively participate in class. A sign-in sheet will be passed
around at the beginning of every class. Your signature on the sign-in sheet will be used as a record
of your attendance in class that day. Students are allowed to miss four classes over the semester
for any reason; additional absences will result in a lower final course grade. Repeated or excessive
tardiness or lack of preparation for class will also be considered as an absence. Students who miss
class are responsible for keeping up with their assignments and readings. If you anticipate needing
to miss multiple classes over the semester for any reason, please discuss this with the instructor in
advance so that we can make appropriate arrangements. Thank you!
Online Reading Responses: Reading responses are an informal way for you to organize your
thoughts about the readings, make connections, ask questions, and will also serve as a basis for
our in-class discussions. Each student will be responsible for writing and posting one short online
reading response per week over the duration of the semester (a sign-up sheet for Mondays or
Wednesdays will be posted on Canvas on the first day of class). Reading responses should be
approximately 250–300 words, discuss what you found interesting and/or confusing about one or
more of the readings assigned, and raise one or two questions for class discussion. Students are
encouraged to reflect on tensions or similarities between the different theoretical perspectives and
texts we will covering as the semester progresses. Online reading responses are due on Canvas
an hour before class (11:30 a.m.).
Section Discussion Leaders: Working singly or in groups of two, each student will serve as a
weekly Section Discussion Leader one time over the semester. A sign-in sheet will be circulated
during our first class meeting; each week must have at least one student signed up before students
may work in pairs. Section Discussion Leaders will be responsible for introducing the readings we
will be covering in their sections. Section Discussion Leaders will also be responsible for assisting
the instructor in moderating class discussion of the topics and readings in their assigned sections,
including reading students’ online reading responses before class and generating their own
questions for class discussion. Section Discussion Leaders are encouraged to prepare presentation
slides or handouts and to share these materials with the instructor in advance of their sections.
Section Discussion Leaders should assume that everyone has already completed the assigned
readings and avoid summarizing them. Instead, for each reading: 1) Give a brief biographical
description of the author. This can include things like: Who are or were they? When and where
did they live? What was going on at the time? What did they write about? What was their political
and/or theoretical agenda? What was their overall contribution to anthropological theory? 2)
Briefly situate the reading in the context of anthropological history and theory. This can
include things like: What theoretical questions does the reading raise or grapple with? How does
the reading engage in a conversation with other anthropologists we have read or are reading? What
is the historical or theoretical significance of the reading to the discipline? 3) Offer your own
critique of the reading, including things you liked or didn’t like about it and/or questions or
problems for further class discussion.
Two-Page Essays: For this class you will write three Two-Page Essays over the course of the
semester. Each essay will be based on one or more of the assigned readings for Sections 1–14 of
the course. You may choose which course sections you wish to write about, although you must
turn in your first Two-Page Essay no later than the beginning of Section 6 on Monday,

February 27. Two-Page Essays are due before the first day of class of the following section. For
example, if you choose to write one of your Two-Page Essays on Section 3, then your essay will
be due on Sunday, February 12, the day before the first class of Section 4). Each Two-Page Essay
must have an original thesis and make use of evidence (data, quotes, examples, etc.) drawn from
at least one of the readings assigned in your chosen section; you can also write about previous
section readings, if you wish to place readings from different sections into conversation with each
other. Each essay must fit onto two pages of typed text, including name, date, and essay title but
not including your references or works cited section, which can go onto a third page. You may use
any size font or line spacing you wish. Please do not use any outside sources for your Two-Page
Essays, but rather focus your writing on one or more of our course readings. You must revise at
least one of your Two-Page Essays in response to instructor feedback; revised essays may
receive a higher grade. Revised Two Page Essays are due no later than May 10, but may be handed
in at any time. Themes, questions, or readings that you write about in your Two-Page Essays may
be used as inspiration for your Final Paper.
Final Paper: In lieu of a final exam, students will complete a Final Paper of 8–10 pages in length
that asks them to engage more deeply with two or more anthropological paradigms or theories of
their choice. Further information and Final Paper topics will be available on Canvas. A one-page
Final Paper proposal will be due on Canvas on Thursday, March 30. Final Papers will be due
on Canvas on Wednesday, May 10. Students are encouraged to discuss their ideas for the Final
Paper with the instructor before beginning work on the assignment.
Late and/or Missing Work: All assignments are due on Canvas or in class on the day they are listed
on the syllabus, unless otherwise noted. I am happy to grant students extensions on their
assignments if they have a legitimate need; however, except for cases of emergency, all extension
requests must be made at least 24 hours before an assignment is due. Papers will be marked down
a grade for each day they are late (i.e. a B+ paper turned in a day late will receive a B).
The Writing Center: Students are encouraged to utilize the services of the Muhlenberg College
Writing Center, where a staff of trained tutors offer individual sessions to help students with their
writing assignments. Due to COVID-19, The Writing Center is now offering synchronous, online
appointments through their new platform WCOnline. Students can set up an appointment with a
writing tutor to discuss any and all aspects of their writing. Students will also be able to edit
existing drafts of writing assignments, upload readings, build outlines, and review conventions of
grammar and style through the platform’s video conferencing and word processing features. For
more information, please visit http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/academics/writing/center/.
Academic Resource Center: The Academic Resource Center (ARC) offers individual and small-
group tutoring, course- specific workshops, peer mentoring, and professional academic coaching
for all currently enrolled Muhlenberg students. Students may request to be assigned to work on a
weekly basis with a tutor for the duration of the spring 2023 semester starting on Tuesday, January
17th. A link to the online tutor request form is available on the ARC website. Questions regarding
the ARC or any of their services may be directed to arcstudent@muhlenberg.edu.
Academic Integrity Code: Maintaining one’s individual academic integrity is a crucial component
of Muhlenberg College’s Academic Integrity Code, which is found online at

www.muhlenberg.edu/main/aboutus/dean-academic/integrity. As specified in the Code, “As an
academic community devoted to the discovery and dissemination of truth, Muhlenberg College
insists that its students will conduct themselves honestly in all academic activities.” Every student
bears the primary responsibility for understanding the nature and importance of academic honesty;
any instances of plagiarism will not be tolerated and will be dealt with on an ad hoc basis. In
accordance with the Code, “on all forms of work submitted for a grade, students shall write
and [initial] the following pledge: ‘I pledge that I have complied with the Academic Integrity
Code in this work.’” If you have any questions or concerns about the AIC, please ask.
Students with Disabilities or Special Needs: Students with disabilities requesting classroom or
course accommodations must complete a multi-faceted determination process through the Office
of Disability Services prior to the development and implementation of accommodations,
auxiliary aids, and services. Each Accommodation Plan is individually and collaboratively
developed between the student and the Office of Disability Services. If you have not already
done so, please contact the Office of Disability Services to have a dialogue regarding your
academic needs and the recommended accommodations, auxiliary aides, and services.
Students Experiencing Financial Hardship: If you are experiencing financial hardship, have
difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day or do not have a safe
and stable place to live, and believe this may affect your performance in this course, I would
urge you to contact our CARE Team through the Dean of Students Office for support. The
webpage is: www.muhlenberg.edu/main/aboutus/deanst/careteam/. You may also discuss your
concerns with the instructor if you are comfortable doing so.
Class Recording Policy: By enrolling and attending Muhlenberg College courses, students
consent to the recording of classes within the scope of college policies. The purpose of recording
a class is to facilitate the achievement of learning outcomes and/or educational access, with the
recording serving as a teaching/learning tool. In all cases where a recording will occur, the
instructor must be notified in advance of the recording of a class session. An instructor may give
students in the class access to a recording as part of the course curriculum or, alternatively, grant
permission to select individuals (including proxy recordings). The instructor may rescind
previously granted permission to record at any point during the course, provided that doing so
does not compromise an approved accommodation. Any permitted class recordings made by
students must be destroyed one week after the final grade is posted for the course, unless the
student has received permission from the instructor to retain them or is entitled to retain them as
an approved accommodation. Instructors may retain a class recording for other purposes on the
condition that all identifying student audio and images are edited out of the recording unless
permission has been granted. No instructor will be required to permit recording except under
requirements of law.
Class recordings may not be reproduced, transferred, distributed, or displayed in any manner.
Students may not share authorized recordings from class in any way with anyone. This includes,
but is not limited to:
• Sharing recordings with other students;
• Sharing recordings with other students;
• Sharing recordings with parents or guardians;

• Sharing recordings with friends;
• Sharing recordings through social media;
• Posting recordings online;
• E-mailing recordings to anyone; and
• Retaining downloaded recordings.
Permission to allow class recording is not a transfer of any copyrights in the recording or related
course materials. Materials contained within the class recordings, including but not limited to
videos and other web-based media, may also have their own copyright protection for which there
may be separate prohibitions under the law against dissemination.
Class schedule: Subject to change based on course pace and inclement weather
Section 0: Introduction
Wednesday, January 18
Course overview; self-introductions and reflections; in-class readings.
Section 1: On Roots of Social Difference
Monday, January 23
1.1 William Apess. “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man.”
1.2 Frederick Douglas. “The Claims of the Negro, Ethnologically Considered.”
1.3 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. “Bourgeois and Proletarians.”
Wednesday, January 25
1.4 Lewis Henry Morgan. “Ethnical Periods.”
1.5 Lucy E. Parsons. “Afternoon Session, June 29: Speeches at the Founding Convention of
the Industrial Workers of the World.”
1.6 Max Weber. Excerpt from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
Section 2: On Methods of Fieldwork
Monday, January 30
2.1 Edward Sapir. “Language and Environment.”
2.2 Arthur C. Parker. “The Origin of the Iroquois as Suggested by Their Archaeology.”
2.3 Franz Boas. “The Methods of Ethnology.”
Wednesday, February 1
2.4. Margaret Mead. “The Methodology of Racial Testing: It’s Significance for Sociology.”
2.5. Zora Neale Hurston. Excerpt from Mules and Men.
Section 3: On Hidden Logics of Culture
Monday, February 6
3.1 Bronislaw Malinowski. “The Essentials of the Kula.”
3.2 Marcel Mauss. Excerpt from The Gift.
3.3 Ruth Benedict. “The Science of Custom.”

3.4 Jomo Kenyatta. Excerpt from Facing Mt. Kenya.
3.5 Claude Lévi-Strauss. “Language and the Analysis of Social Laws.”
Section 4: On History, Power, and Inequality
Monday, February 13
4.1 W.E.B. Du Bois. “The White Worker.”
4.2 Fernando Ortiz. “On the Social Phenomenon of ‘Transculturation’ and Its Importance in
Cuba.”
4.3 Eric Wolf. “The World in 1400.”
4.4 Ann L. Stoller. “Making Empire Respectable: The Politics of Race and Sexual Morality
in Twentieth-Century Colonial Cultures.”
4.5 Paul Farmer. “An Anthropology of Structural Violence.”
Section 5: On Writing Cultures
Monday, February 20
5.1 Katherine Dunham. “Twenty-Seventh Day: Journey to Accompong.”
5.2 Clifford Geertz. “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight.”
5.3 Renato Rosaldo. “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage.”
5.4 Lila Abu-Lughod. “Writing against Culture.”
5.5 Rosabelle Boswell. “Sensuous Stories in the Indian Ocean Islands.”
Your first Two-Page Essay must be handed in on Canvas by Sunday, February 26
Section 6: On Colonialism and Anthropological “Others”
Monday, February 27
6.1 Beatrice Medicine. “Learning to Be an Anthropologist and Remaining ‘Native.’”
6.2 Edward W. Said. “Knowing the Oriental.”
6.3 Esteban Krotz. “Anthropologies of the South: Their Rise, Their Silencing, Their
Characteristics.”
Wednesday, March 1
6.4 Michel-Rolph Trouillot. “Anthropology and the Savage Slot: Poetics and Politics of
Otherness.”
6.5 Epeli Hau’ofa. “Our Sea of Islands.”
Section 7: On Anthropology and Gender
Monday, March 6
7.1 Eleanor Burke Leacock. Introduction to The Origin of the Family, Private Property and
the State: In the Ligh of the Researches of Lewis H. Morgan, by Friedrich Engels.
7.2 Sylvia Junko Yanagasakio and Jane Fishburne Collier. “Toward a Unified Analysis of
Gender and Kinship.”

7.3 Ifi Amadiume. Excerpt from Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an
African Society.
Wednesday, March 8
7.4 Gloria Anzaldúa. “La conciencia de la mestiza / Twards a New Consciousness.”
7.5 Philippe Bourgois. “In Search of Masculinity: Violence, Respect, and Sexuality among
Puerto Rican Crack Dealers in East Harlem.”
Spring Break
Section 8: On Queering Anthropological Knowledge Production
Monday, March 20
8.1 Michel Foucault. Excerpt from The History of Sexuality.
8.2 Evan B. Towle and Lynn M. Morgan. “Romancing the Transgender Native: Rethinking
the Use of the ‘Third Gender’ Concept.”
8.3 Susan Stryker. “Transgender History, Homonormativity, and Disciplinarity.”
Wednesday, March 22
8.4 Jafari Allen. “One Way or Another: Erotic Subjectivity in Cuba.”
8.5 Savannah Shange. “Play Aunties and Dyke Bitches: Gender, Generation, and the Ethics
of Black Queer Kinship.”
Section 9: On Social Position and Ethnographic Authority
Monday, March 27
9.1 Donna Haraway. “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the
Privilege of Partial Perspective.”
9.2 Delmos J. Jones. “Anthropology and the Oppressed: A Reflection on ‘Native’
Anthropology.”
9.3 Dána-Ain Davis. “What Did You Do Today? Notes from a Politically Engaged
Anthropologist.”
Wednesday, March 29
9.4 Heike Becker, Emile Boonzaier, and Joy Owen. “Fieldwork in Shared Spaces:
Positionality, Power, and Ethics of Citizen Anthropologists in Southern Africa.”
9.5 Bernard C. Perley. “‘Gone Anthropologist’: Epistemic Slippage, Native Anthropology,
and the Dilemmas of Representation.”
Final Paper proposals due on Canvas by Thursday, March 30.
Section 10: On Theorizing Globalization
Monday, April 3
10.1 Arjun Appadurai. “Theory in Anthropology: Center and Periphery.”
10.2 Akhil Gupta and James Ferguson. “Beyond ‘Culture’: Space, Identity, and the Politics
of Difference.”
10.3 Aihwa Ong. “Mutations in Citizenship.”

Wednesday, April 5
10.4 Faye V. Harrison. “Global Apartheid at Home and Abroad.”
10.5 Gustavo Lins Ribeiro. “Non-hegemonic Globalizations: Alternative Transnational
Processes and Agents.”
Easter Holiday (be sure to read ahead as we will be covering a whole week’s worth of material
on Wednesday!)
Section 11: On Environment, Pluriverse, and Power
Wednesday, April 12
11.1 Julian Steward. “The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology.”
11.2 Paige West. “Translation, Value, and Space: Theorizing and Ethnographic and Engaged
Environmental Anthropology.”
11.3 Zoe Todd. “Indigenizing the Anthropocene.”
11.4 Arturo Escobar. Excerpt from Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence,
Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds.
11.5 Alaka Wali. “Complicity and Resistance in the Indigenous Amazon: Economía Indígena
under Siege.”
Section 12: On State Power
Monday, April 17
12.1 Pierre Bourdieu. “Symbolic Power.”
12.2 Begoña Aretxaga. “What the Border Hides: Partition and Gender Politics of Irish
Nationalism.”
12.3 Katherine Verdery. “Seeing like a Mayor; or, How Local Officials Obstructed
Romanian Land Restitution.”
Wednesday, April 19
12.4 Achille Mbembé. “Necropolitics.”
12.5 Christen Smith. “Strange Fruit: Brazil, Necropolitics, and the Transnational Resonance
of Torture and Death.”
Section 13: On Agency and Social Struggle
Monday, April 24
13.1 Saba Mahmood. “The Subject of Freedom.”
13.2 Shalini Shankar. “Speaking like a Model Minority: ‘FOB’ Styles, Gender, and Racial
Meanings among Desi Teens in Silicon Valley.”
13.3 Victoria Redclift. “Abjects of Agents? Camps, Contests, and the Creation of ‘Political
Space.’”
Wednesday, April 26
13.4 Yarimar Bonilla and Jonathan Rosa. “#Ferguson: Digital Protest, Hashtag Ethnography,
and the Racial Politics of Social Media in the United States.”
13.5 Audra Simpson. “Consent’s Revenge.”
Section 14: On Critical Theory for the Twenty-First Century

Monday, May 1
14.1 A. Lynn Bolles. “Seeking the Ancestors: Forging a Black Feminist Tradition in
Anthropology.”
14.2 Leith Mullings. “Interrogating Racism: Toward an Antiracist Anthropology.”
14.3 Ghassan Hage. “Toward an Ethics of the Theoretical Encounter.”
Wednesday, May 3
14.4 Jeff Maskovsky. “At Home in the End Times.”
14.5 Kim Tallbear. “Caretaking Relations, Not American Dreaming.”
“Provocation: Going Native – A Satirical End to Anthropology Theory”
Wrap-up activities and course evaluations.
Final Papers and revised Two-Page Essays are due on Canvas by Wednesday, May 10

ATH 205 Anthropological Theory Syllabus

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to ATH 205 Anthropological Theory Syllabus

Similar to ATH 205 Anthropological Theory Syllabus (20)

More from Crystal Sanchez

More from Crystal Sanchez (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

ATH 205 Anthropological Theory Syllabus