Instructor: James M. Wilce, Ph.D.

Office hours: Anthropology (Bldg. 60) Rm. 211: T/R 9-10 a.m., R 1-2 p.m. or by appt.

Phone: 523-2729 or 523-7118.

Course prerequisites: Upper division.

Course description: This course explores South Asia–focusing on gender and the practices and understandings of health and healing–through ethnographies and original research articles. Putting the focus in its broader ethnographic context, readings begin with the unique nature of social organization in India and with cultural construction of the self or person in relation to the group. Throughout, the readings reflect the evolution from "holistic" or "totalizing" visions in the anthropology of the region toward person-centered, fragmented, particularistic, and conflict-centered treatments. The assigned ethnographies present accounts of women and men in family life; text and performance in healing; symbolic representations of gender in Hindu and Muslim texts and practices; and local meanings of loss, grief, and healing. Texts, articles, and films will provide students the tools with which to grapple with these issues. The course is co-convened with ANT 628, and differs from it in the work required (reading, weekly papers, and final paper).

Course approach: Students will be expected to complete the readings before coming to class and participate in the seminar discussion, taking some leadership of the discussion for at least one class session. See the guidelines on the last page of the syllabus. On some occasions the professor will give mini-lectures summarizing some arguments made outside the assigned readings.

Course objectives: Through responsible participation in and leading of weekly discussions and through their writing, students will show an ability to communicate intelligently about the following topics: a) how the experience of being a "person" (personhood) does and/or does not vary cross-culturally, b) how religion, social structure, personhood, and family life are related, and c) in what ways early experience in families shapes cultural patterns of behavior and personality.

Other required readings will be placed on webreserve (see Cline Library’s homepage) according to the schedule/outline found below in this syllabus. About 70 pages of reading are assigned in the articles and books each week (vs. 150 in ANT 628). Learn to read for main arguments more than detail, and compare authors’ arguments against each other in your own critical synthesis.

1) Students will write reflections on the readings every three weeks, approximately 3 pages in length, integrating and critically evaluating the perspectives they offer. These papers will be due at the beginning of class on announced dates. On days when no paper is due there will be a brief quiz on the readings.

2) Students will be familiar with all readings assigned for the class meeting and will participate in seminar-discussion of those readings. In addition, each student will be especially familiar with part of the week’s assigned reading (a chapter, article, etc.) and take particular responsibility to lead discussion on that part.

3) Students will present a final paper (13-15 pp.) which integrates the readings and takes a strong position in response to one of the following:

a) Write a critical review of one of the texts, drawing on the other readings as well as their own theorizing and any South Asian field experiences they have had. This paper will require rigorous comparison of the relative merits of all of the approaches taken by the texts and critiques.

b) Discuss an anthropological topic worked out in advance with the professor (e.g. kinship, folklore, resistance, mother-child relationship, concepts of personhood) from one of the several theoretical perspective (e.g. psychoanalytic, postmodern/poststructural, sociolinguistic, phenomenological, "resistance") presented in the readings. Argue for the effectiveness or appropriateness of that theoretical approach in explaining or handling the data. Use all the texts.

Grades will be assigned for participation and writing on the following basis:

1) Participation 25 points

2) Papers & quizzes 25 points

3) Final Paper 50 points

Totals of 90 points and above will constitute A’s, 80-89 B’s, 70-79 C’s, and 60-69 D’s. Grades below 60 are F’s.

1) Attendance is required; the seminar format requires it. If you anticipate being away, please notify me in advance for the sake of the smooth functioning of the seminar.

2) Plagiarism has no place in a university. It is not hard for an instructor to detect which words are a students and which have been copied, even if the source is not one of our class readings. Points will be taken off for copying material written by others without citing the source properly. For example, I might mention "natural selection in favor of high intelligence" in a paper, in which case I must cite the author, the date of publication, and the page number of the quotation (Hickerson 1980: 17). Even if you paraphrase, you should give credit in precisely the same way if your idea comes directly from a given page of writing, and simply leave off the page number if your statement is indebted to another’s writing in a more general way. This will be crucial in your final papers, but get in the habit by citing your sources (page numbers and all) in the biweekly papers, too.

3) Students with difficulties in writing may be referred to the writing center for tutorial assistance. If it is recommended, this tutorial assistance should be understood as required.

Hall, Kira

1. "Go Suck Your Husband's Sugarcane...". In Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality. K. Hall and A. Livia, eds. Pp. 430-460. Oxford: Oxford University Press. WEBRESERVE

50+30=80

77

Adams, Vincanne

At the beginning of class on announced weeks, a typed paper of about three pages is due. That paper will be your way of integrating and responding to the readings assigned for three weeks of class. The aim of these papers is to encourage synthetic, integrative, critical reflection on the readings (and to ensure that everyone has done the readings in a thoughtful way to prepare to participate in discussion). Your papers should touch on the main contribution of each reading and should point out the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s argument. As the semester progresses, you should compare the arguments of different authors across the weeks. Papers should be cumulative in that sense. I am looking for evidence that you have integrated, compared and contrasted perspectives. Papers longer than 4 pages are NOT acceptable. Be concise.

For a particular week’s paper, specific instructions may be given to supplement this general guide. Because the writing assignments may change on one week’s notice, an absence can throw you off seriously. If you must miss class, contact someone about the next week’s assignment.

1. Each class session will consist of a group discussion based on a collection of readings. You are required to attend each class having read the assigned readings and being ready to discuss them. You will find it helpful to take notes on the readings and bring them with you to class.

2. You will be responsible for co-facilitating some of the class discussions. Each required reading will be assigned to at least one student who will be expected to lead the discussion on it. Do not read your notes. Speak from an outline instead. In preparing for the discussions you will facilitate, try not to spend too much time summarizing the readings, but do so in enough detail to orient the group. In addition, you should formulate a series of questions and comments to stimulate discussion using the following guidelines:

What is the reading about? (should take up about half of your present)

What are the broader issues that it seeks to address?

What underlying assumptions-- theoretical or otherwise-- does the author make?

What are the strengths of the argument?

What are its weaknesses or limitations? What considerations has the author failed to take into account?

What have you learned? What more would you now like to know on the topic?

To what related material-- in this class, other classes, your own lives-- does the material relate? Does it help you more clearly understand dynamics or patterns that exist in this society or any others?

Look for common or contrasting threads that run through each week’s readings. Consider the questions that they seek to address as a unit.

Students not leading the discussions that particular week should try to keep these same questions in mind. Remember, the quality of any seminar depends mostly on how well participants prepare prior to coming to class. This involves not only reading the assigned materials but also thinking critically about the issues that they raise.

NAU’s Safe Working and Learning Environment Policy seeks to prohibit discrimination and promote the safety of all individuals within the university. The goal of this policy is to prevent the occurrence of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status and to prevent sexual harassment, sexual assault or retaliation by anyone at this university.

You may obtain a copy of this policy from the college dean’s office. If you have concerns about this policy, it is important that you contact the departmental chair, dean’s office, the Office of Student Life (523-5181), the academic ombudsperson (523-9368), or NAU’s Office of Affirmative Action (523-3312).

If you have a disability, you can arrange for accommodations by contacting the office of Disability Support Services (DSS) at 523-8773 (voice) 523-6906 (TTY). You are encouraged to provide documentation of the disability to DSS at least 8 weeks prior to the beginning of the semester so arrangements can be made to meet your individual needs. You must register with DSS each semester you are enrolled and wish to use accommodations.

Faculty are not authorized to provide accommodations without prior approval from DSS. Students are encouraged to notify their instructors a minimum of one week in advance of the need for accommodation. Failure to do so may result in a delay in provision of the accommodation.

Concerns may be brought to the attention of the office of Disability Support Services or to the ADA coordinator in the Affirmative Action Office.

Any study involving observation of or interaction with human subjects that originates at NAU–including a course project, report, or research paper–must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the protection of human subjects in research and research-related activities.

The IRB meets once each month. Proposals must be submitted for review at least fifteen working days before the monthly meeting. You should consult with your course instructor early in the course to ascertain if your project needs to be reviewed by the IRB and/or to secure information or appropriate forms and procedures for the IRB review. Your instructor and department chair or college dean must sign the application for approval by the IRB. The IRB categorizes projects into three levels depending on the nature of the project: exempt from further review, expedited review, or full board review. If the IRB certifies that a project is exempt from further review, you need not resubmit the project for continuing IRB review as long as there are no modifications in the exempted procedures.

A copy of the IRB Policy and Procedures Manual is available in each department’s administrative office and each college dean’s office. If you have questions, contact Carey Conover, Office of Grant and Contract Services, at 523-4889.

The university takes an extremely serious view of violations of academic integrity. As members of the academic community, NAU’s administration, faculty, staff and students are dedicated to promoting an atmosphere of honesty and are committed to maintaining the academic integrity essential to the education process. Inherent in this commitment is the belief that academic dishonesty in all forms violates the basic principles of integrity and impedes learning. Students are therefore responsible for conducting themselves in an academically honest manner.

Individual students and faculty members are responsible for identifying instances of academic dishonesty. Faculty members then recommend penalties to the department chair or college dean in keeping with the severity of the violation. The complete policy on academic integrity is in Appendix F of NAU’s Student Handbook.