Graduate Seminar in
Cultural Anthropology

IMPORTANT.  You will note that your papers count for 100% of your class grade.  However, please be aware that instructors may also add points to or subtract points from your final course grade based on class attendance, class participation, and close read assignments as described below.

No outside reading is required for papers, however it is respected. Papers must be referenced and should show understanding of key concepts in anthropological theory and mastery of readings assigned for class. Papers will be graded for both content and style. Papers must conform to AAA style. Style sheets are available on the web. You can get them by following the link on the class introduction page or by clicking here

This semester, all papers will use a peer review process. The basis of peer reviewing is that students are paired. They read and comment on each other's work before it is submitted to their professor. In this case you'll be paired a different student for each paper. Please note that when you review papers, you should be polite but deeply critical.  We will grade papers with in great detail and critique them sentence by sentence.  You are no help to your partner if you do not do the same.

For the first paper:
You will submit your abstract to your professor by midnight, September 16.
Your professor will return it to you by midnight on September 20.
You will then have about five days to write your paper.
You will submit your paper to your professor and your peer reviewer by midnight, September 25.
Your reviewer will mark-up your paper using the track changes feature in MS Word. The reviewer is responsible for checking for grammatical mistakes, mistakes in logic, or flow. The reviewer should also provide comments indicating the strength and weakness of the paper as well as suggestions for improvement.
Your reviewer will return your paper to you and to your professor by midnight on September 27.
You will revise your paper considering your reviewers comments and submit it to your professor by midnight on October 2.

For the second paper
You will submit your abstract to your professor by midnight, October21.
Your professor will return it to you by midnight on October 25.
You will then have about five days to write your paper.
You will submit your paper to your professor and your peer reviewer by midnight, October 30.
Your reviewer will return your paper to you and to your professor by midnight on November 1.
You will revise your paper considering your reviewers comments and submit it to your professor by midnight on November 6.

For your third paper
Submit your abstract to your professor by midnight on November 24.
Your professor will return it to you by midnight on November 30.
Submit your paper to your professor and your reviewer by midnight on December 5.
Reviewers must return papers by midnight December 8.
You will submit the final paper to your professor by midnight December 11.

No late papers will be accepted for any reason!

Close Read Project: In addition to the papers, you will be required to do six  "close read" projects and presentation.

A close read is an attempt to understand an essay in minute detail. You will be assigned six essays to read closely.  For each essay, follow these steps: Make a paper copy of the essay you've been assigned. Number the paragraphs. Read each paragraph, and then write a brief summary of the paragraph. Your summary should tell the reader what the main point of the paragraph is. It should be much shorter than the paragraph it summarizes. Keep in mind that you're not trying to comment on the paragraph or give your opinion of it. You are simply trying, in your own words, to reproduce exactly what the author meant. Your final product should be a numbered list of your paragraph summaries. I have prepared an example for you and you can find it by following the link on the class opening page. You must submit your close reads to your instructor on the day each essay is scheduled to be discussed.  We anticipate that your close read projects will be thoughtful, well executed, and turned in on time.  Please be aware that your instructors may subtract up to five points from your final course grade for close read projects that are late or are inadequate.  In rare cases of truly exceptional work, instructors may also add up to three points to your final course grade.

Attendance: This is grad school folks. We expect you to be here for every class meeting.
If, for some reason, you cannot make a class meeting, please inform your instructor ahead of time by email.  Instructors may, at their discretion excuse absences.  However, please not that instructors are not required to excuse absences regardless of reason.  We anticipate that almost all students will have perfect or nearly perfect attendance.  This will, of itself, have no affect on their grade.  However, please be aware that instructors may, at their discretion subtract up to five points from your final class grade for poor attendance.

Participation: Seminar style classes are based around discussion and debate. In order for them to work students must come prepared to discuss the material they have read. Please arrive to classes having read the assigned material and prepared to discuss it. You will be quizzed on the readings in class.  You will be expected to explain them or at least recount what they say.  Very important: Please understand that you should treat this and all other seminar classes as a sort of game. The ultimate goal of the game is deep knowledge of the subject matter, but the proximal goal is to maintain intense critical discussion. It’s kind of like trying to keep a balloon or ball in the air by bouncing it from person to person. It’s successful and fun when we can keep the ball in the air for a reasonably long time. It’s very important for you to talk in this class. However, it is also very important for you to understand that your professors will rarely applaud your contribution. Instead, they will challenge you to back up your point or consider other factors, or implications. It’s very important for you to challenge other students and respond to their points. The tone of discussion should be professional (click here for an example of what not to do). However, give and take is par for the course. On the one hand, no professor will ever consciously try to humiliate you. On the other, being a little bit tough is a requirement for success in anthropology.

We anticipate that students will contribute regularly to class discussion in a manner that demonstrates their understanding of assigned readings.  Average class participation will have no affect on grades.  However, please be aware that instructors may, at their discretion, add or subtract up to five points from your final class grade for exceptionally good or exceptionally poor participation.

Students with special needs: Students with special needs (as documented by the Office of Disability Services) should identify themselves at the beginning of the term. The Department of Anthropology is dedicated to providing these students with necessary academic adjustments and auxiliary aids to facilitate their participation and performance in the classroom.

All syllabi are subject to change...and this one is more subject to change than most.

Summary of Important Dates:

First Day of Class: August 27

Paper 1:
Abstract due to professor: Sept 16
Professor returns abstract: Sept 20
Paper to reviewer and professor: Sept 25
Reviewers return paper: Sept 27
First paper due: Oct 2

Paper 2
Abstract for second paper due: Oct 21
Abstract returned: Oct 25
Paper to reviewer and professor: Oct 30
Reviewers return paper: Nov 1
Second paper due: Nov 6

Paper 3
Abstract for third paper due: Nov 24
Professor returns abstract: Nov 30
Paper to reviewer and professor: Dec 5
Reviewers return paper: Dec 8
Final paper due: Dec 11

Readings and Lecture Topics