Featured Course

Principles of Cultural Anthropology

Level: College - second year

Focus: cultural anthropology overview; ethnographic method

Competency: critical reading, data gathering and analysis

In a Nutshell: Overview of cultural anthropology is centered on the practice of ethnographic research and writing.

Why I Developed This Course

This course is intended primarily for starting sociology/anthropology majors, to build the disciplinary foundation before they move on to the sequence of upper-division courses. Its focus is to teach students what "ethnography" is in realistic terms through the reading and analysis of published ethnographic studies. We spend a considerable amount of time discussing what it means to practice ethnography and to impart ethnographic knowledge through written media. Close reading of ethnographic texts is combined with fieldwork exercises to achieve these effects.

Reading List

I assign two book-length monographs, which gives my students sufficient time for close reading. Ethnography is quite varied in practice, and choosing a pair of ethnographies with contrasting qualities (both in terms of fieldwork settings and written presentation of findings) is the key to make this course work. My current readings are:

Translated Woman by Ruth Behar (a past recipient of MacArthur Foundation "geneous" grant) is the now-classic life history of a Mexican woman, Esperanza. Charmingly written and deceptively theoretical, Behar's account raises many important questions about the relationship ethnographers build with their participants, the complexity of telling other people's stories across borders, and the intersection between two biographies - that of the participant and the ethnographer.

Behar's text serves as the anchor for my course design, and I like to pair it with something grittier, more bleakly written, and closer to home, for example:

Enforcing Order by Didier Fassin on French urban policing is based on painstaking field research in the suburban areas around Paris and hours of participant observation of patrolling routines, break-room talks, and interviews with police bureaucrats and rank-and-file officers alike. His matter-of-fact voice and systematic presentation of field data and their analysis are striking contrast to Behar's.

I have also used/considered:

In Search of Respect by Phillipe Bourgois (study of drug dealers in the "Spanish Harlem" in the 1980s)
Renegade Dreams by Laurence Ralph (study of Chicago's inner-city violence and its impact on community)

Course Objectives

I incorporate instructions and activities that address intellectual contents on: critical cultural analysis, self-reflection, media analysis, technology-mediated teamwork, and effective presentation skills.

Critical Cultural Analysis - It is often a challenge to get students to think analytically about a familiar topic like food, which makes it all the more important to provide explicit instructions on how to apply an ethnographic perspective to consider the details of mundane everyday thoughts and actions that are otherwise taken for granted as given, natural, or meaningless.

Self-Reflection - Reflecting on one's own beliefs and practices is the essential first step toward gaining the analytical distance that is required for critical thinking. I often tell my students that it's almost like an out-of-the-body experience: standing aside and watching what you do and think as though it was someone else.

Media Analysis - Today's college students seem quite media savvy. Whether the traditional popular media or social media, they are quick to recite critical perspectives on their negative social and personal impact. Yet, their understanding of media tends to stop there. So, this course incorporates exercises in which to practice concrete skills of symbolic analysis on visual media.

Online Learning and Communication - How to work productively in a technology-mediated environment, and how to communicate and collaborate effectively online? These are crucial skills for students who will be soon navigating the post-COVID job search and workplace. In addition to the course content, I incorporated skill-building as a required element of the course, including time management, teamwork, and online slide presentation.

Course Structure

The course is designed for a 15-week semester. Each "module" is structured around a process-oriented assignment (instead of an essay or exam at the end), which students work on step-by-step throughout the module.

Week 1-2: Introductory Module

First class session focuses on the discussion of course requirements and verbal instruction on the modular learning process.
Remainder of the module will model the modular learning process in a shortened format.
Practice assignment is centered on the discussion of online learning and job/career-relevant skills that they can practice in this course. It requires students to incorporate three modes of learning: self-guided activities (readings, video recorded presentations, discussion prep), whole-class discussion and teamwork, to set their own goals for skill development.

Week 3-5: Module 1 Food and Self

Primary goals: 1) introduce key theoretical concepts for critical study of food, 2) consider the concept of power through an ethnographic case study, and 3) reflect on the changes in our food habits during the COVID pandemic and consider the relationship between food and self.
Process-oriented assignment helps students acquire the skills of applying critical theory to deconstruct symbolic relationships around food and demystify the relationship of power behind them.

Week 6-8: Module 2 Affluence

Primary goals: 1) to consider the notion of "affluence" in relationship to food, 2) introduce inequity inherent in access to affluence, 3) consider media representation of food and its underlying assumptions about affluence
Process-oriented assignment helps students practice critical analysis by applying conceptual tools learned in this course to popular cultural representation.
Skill-building midterm progress check helps students to assess their progress and adjust their strategies for the remainder of the semester.

Week 9-11: Module 3 Mini-Conference

Primary goals: 1) to demonstrate grasp of theoretical ideas presented in readings about the systems of food production and distribution and their consequences, 2) work independently in a small team to collect information and analyze the assigned topic related to food, 3) present their findings effectively online.
Team presentation helps students to identify a topic of their interest, combine multiple articles/chapters from two textbooks and additional reliable source(s), and craft a thought-provoking presentation.
Process-oriented assignment helps students develop their team presentation within the allocated time, and generate synthesis (as though they just attended a mini-conference on food studies).

Week 12-15: Final Module

Primary goals: 1) to identify a significant food-related issue, 2) identify a "small change" that can lead to a major change in our food practices, if adopted collectively, and 3) put together a thoughtful proposal to convince a relevant decision-maker.
Process-oriented assignment (in lieu of the final exam) helps students integrate all the materials from this course to craft a proposal for social change.
Skill-building final reflection helps students to evaluate how much progress they made on self-identified goals.

Reflection

To be honest, I was a little nervous about the online team presentations. I've done it before in the in-person version of this course, but didn't know if students would be able to pull it off online. I'm excited to report that all five teams did a very good job of researching the topic and harnessing technology tools to prepare and present together online. They also found the "mini-conference" format a productive way to share and learn from each other's insights, observation largely supported by insightful synthesis essays.

It was also the first time I incorporated graded assignments on transferable skill-building, and that worked out very well, too. Students appreciated the acknowledgement that they were doing a lot to learn how to learn online. Self-defined process encourages them to choose what is relevant for themselves and take ownership of their own professional development.

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