INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Robin L. Smith smithr@wou.edu
Phone: 838-8357
Office: HSS 210B
Office Hours: MW 1030-1130; TR 800-900 |
Note: If you have a disability that might require assistance or
accommodations for any aspect of this course, please feel free to come and
discuss this with me. You may also contact the Office of Disability
Services, at 838-8250 V/TTY, for information about accessibility and
accommodations. |
DESCRIPTION
. . . let us admit we expect
to be gathered up some day with the others as an exhibit in a Woman's Museum, a
museum for collections of . . . the first law brief or first novel written by
her, the first medical prescription signed or the first bone set by her, the
first degree conferred upon her--exhibits which alone will be able to prove to a
doubting posterity that once women were a distinct social class, the very
special object of society's interest--for a variety of reasons.
Elsie
Clews Parsons, The Old Fashioned Woman: Primitive Fancies about the Sex, 1913.
This course is concerned with anthropology as practiced by women. The entry
of women into science and the professions, the evolution of anthropological
thought and concerns, obstacles in women's careers, and feminist critiques of
anthropological theory and practice are examined. A basic familiarity with the
discipline is assumed, along with ability to write a documented research paper
and genuine eagerness to contribute regularly to class discussions. Upper
division standing and ANTH 216 are required.
TEXTS
|
Behar, Ruth and Deborah A. Gordon
(eds.)
1995 Women Writing Culture. Berkeley: University
of California Press. |
|
Golde, Peggy (ed.)
1986
Women in the Field: Anthropological Experiences. Berkeley:
University of California Press. |
Handouts:
- Glazer, Pinina Migdal and Miriam Slater
- 1987 Chapter One: The Context of
Professionalization. In Unequal Colleagues: The Entrance of Women
into the Professions, 1890-1940. New Brunswick and London: Rutgers
University Press.
- Harding, Sandra
- 1986 The Social Structure of Science:
Complaints and Disorders. In The Science Question in Feminism.
Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
- Additional readings--on reserve, distributed in class or available via
links to this page--will be assigned from time to time.
EVALUATION
1. PARTICIPATION AND FIELDNOTES 20%
Acquire a bound notebook (at
least 8" x 10" and 80 leaves) and bring it to every class meeting. Make
sequential, labelled, dated, situated, detailed entries for each 1)
reading assignment, 2) class meeting, 3) research session, and 4) period of
reflection related to this course. Submit upon request and at least 24
hours preceding midterm and final exams. Your fieldnotes may include
personal perspectives but should not contain any confidential material.
You may be asked to exchange notebooks or read aloud from your notes in
class.
2. MIDTERM 20%
An in-class essay exam addressing major issues from the
first half of the course. Fieldnotes may be used provided your notebook is
submitted at least 24 hours prior to exam.
3. RESEARCH
PAPER: 30%
The research paper (8-10 pages) will be a biographical study
of a woman anthropologist. Your subject will be selected to serve the needs of
this class, and the paper must reflect guided research conducted over the term.
This will be demonstrated via the submission of progress reports: subject,
profile, sources, outline, rough draft, etc. 10 of the 30 points for the paper
will be awarded for on-time submission of these reports.
4. RESEARCH PRESENTATION: 10%
You will teach one class on the life and
works of the woman anthropologist you have chosen to research. Part of your
lesson should be discussion of a reading selection on or by your subject.
Schedule a meeting with me at least one week in advance of your lesson to go
over your presentation and submit a copy of your selection for distribution to
the class. You must participate in others' presentations if you wish to
receive credit for your own.
5. FINAL: 20%
An in-class essay exam addressing major issues from the
second half of the course. Fieldnotes may be used provided your notebook is
submitted at least 24 hours prior to exam.
Grades are assigned according to the standards described in the WOU catalog
using the following scale: A = 93-100, A- = 90-92; B+ = 87-89; B = 83-86; B- =
80-82; C+ = 77-79; C = 73-76; C- = 70-72; D+ = 67-69; D = 63-66; D- = 60-62;
< 60 = F.
GOALS
Participation in this course will strengthen your skills as a reader,
researcher, writer, speaker, and listener. More specifically, our goals are
to:
- Understand what obstacles lay/lie in the path of women's entry into
science.
- Reveal gendered experiences in anthropological fieldwork, research, formal
higher education & field training, and in public and private life.
- Examine the intersections of race, culture, class and gender as they
affect the study and interpretation of human experience by anthropologists.
- Appreciate contributions of women's work and feminist critiques to
anthropological knowledge.
It was only when I was off in college,
away from my native surroundings, that I could see myself like somebody else and
stand off... Then I had to have the spy-glass of Anthropology to look...
--Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men
Schedule ANTH 375 Spring 2004
Week 1
INTRODUCTIONS
Mar
29 Organization and
Goals
Please read through the syllabus
and research
paper guide and decide whether or not you wish to make a commitment to this
course.
Mar
31 Women in the Professions &
Science
Glazer, Pinina Migdal and Miriam Slater: Chapter
One: The Context of Professionalization. (handout)
Harding, Sandra: The Social Structure of Science:
Complaints and Disorders (handout)
Week 2
FIRST
GENERATION
Apr 5
Golde
vii-15 : Preface and Introduction/Peggy Golde
Behar and Gordon xi-23: Introduction: Out of Exile/Ruth
Behar
Apr 7
Behar and Gordon 85-103: Feminist
Anthropology: The Legacy of Elsie Clews Parsons/Louise Lamphere
Week 3
NATIVE ANTHROPOLOGISTS
I
Apr 12
Behar and Gordon 131-147: Ella Cara Deloria and
Mourning Dove: Writing for Cultures, Writing Against the Grain/Janet L.
Finn
Selection from Waterlily (handout)
Apr 14
Golde 19-44: Kapluna Daughter/Jean Briggs
You must commit to a research
subject by Thursday of this week. Check
here for details and to see which subjects have been claimed so far.
Week 4
SECOND
GENERATION
Apr 19
Behar and Gordon 104-130 "Not in the
Absolute Singular": Rereading Ruth Benedict/Barbara
Babcock
Ruth
Benedict/The Uses of Cannibalism (handout)
Apr
21 Golde: 293-332:
Fieldwork in the Pacific Islands, 1925-1967/Margaret Mead
Behar and Gordon 186-206: Margaret Mead and the
"Rustling-of-the-Wind-in-the-Palm-Trees-School" of Ethnographic Writing/Nancy
Lutkehaus
Week 5
Apr 26
Margaret Mead: Coming of Age [film: from Strangers Abroad
series]
If you wish
to use your fieldnotes on the midterm Wednesday, your notebook must be in my
hands by 9:00 AM Tuesday April 27th.
Apr 28
MIDTERM ON WEDNESDAY
The second half of the course is
structured around student presentations. As soon as selections are
confirmed, this part of the syllabus will be updated.
Week 6
May 3 Golde 119-142: A Woman
Anthropologist in Brazil/Ruth Landes
Behar and Gordon
166-185: Ruth Landes and the Early Ethnography of Race and Gender/ Sally
Cole
May 5
Behar and Gordon: The Ethnographic
Films of Barbara G. Myerhoff: Anthropology, Feminism, and the Politics of
Jewish Identity/Gelya Frank
Week 7
May 10
Behar & Gordon
322-332: Writing Lesbian Ethnography/Ellen
Lewin
May 12
Nini Callan -- GERTRUDE BELL -- Readings TBA
Your formal
proposal for your research paper is due no later than Thursday of this
week. See
research paper guide for details.
Week 8
May 17
Miwa Koike --
HORTENSE POWDERMAKER -- Readings TBA
May 19
Megan Stewart -- ZORA NEALE HURSTON -- Readings
TBA
Week 9
May 24
Karen McBane -- JANE RICHARDSON HANKS -- Readings
TBA
Bring two copies of
your complete rough draft to class on Monday, May
24th.
May 26
Megin Ellis -- HILDA KUPER -- Readings TBA
Bring the edited draft back to
class Wednesday to return to the author.
Week 10
May 31
Memorial Day -- No Class -- Work on your paper!
June 2 Sara Dehlbom -- DIAN
FOSSEY -- Readings TBA
Your completed paper is due no
later than Friday, June 4th. Turn in what you have.
Exam Week
If you wish to use your fieldnotes
on the final Wednesday, your notebook must be in my hands by 9:00 AM Tuesday
June 8th.
June 9th
FINAL EXAM Wednesday 8:00
AM
(If you'd like a wake up call, email me your phone # &
desired time.)
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