PAPVA_21 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology for Archaeologists B

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2021

The course is not taught in Spring 2021

Extent and Intensity
1/1. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Dr. phil. Maximilian Wilding (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jarmila Bednaříková, CSc.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The Near East archaeologist is a ‘marginal person’, in the sense that she/he often trespasses the fence-line between societies, ethnic groups, social classes and interest groups while doing her/his work. To comprehend this social reality is vital for persons who want to run archaeological projects in the Near East. The course should - make the interpretations of future prehistorians rounder, - give them genuinely new ideas about ‘what to look for’ when digging up a certain kind of perished culture, - and support their acting within the West Asian host community. Instead of giving a full account of the discipline’s research-history, theoretical discourses or meta-theories, emphasis will be on. (1) full comprehension of widely accepted definitions and explanations, (2) getting a feel for the challenging ethnological view point, (3) controlled use of ethnographies that are centred on what the visited groups have to say about themselves (rather than such that are based on a fleeting or romanticised look on traditional communities). The course participants will be invited to sometimes ‘flip’ the viewpoint on cultures and to look in multiple directions all the while. Following this teaching approach the course offers the opportunity once to perceive ‘cultures’, ‘cultural complexes’, ‘groups’, ‘traditions’ in real 3D, vital & reactive. In line with prehistorians needs the course will discuss in greater detail ways of ‘making one’s living’ (foraging - horticulture - agriculture - pastoralism) & ways of integrating the human group (band - tribe - chiefdom - state). The proximal goal of the lectures A & B is that students of prehistory are able to easily apprehend & make competent use of social/cultural anthropological books (introductions, overviews and monographies). By the end of the course the students will be able to perform the following tasks: (1) Correctly identifying the basic socio-economic type of the prehistoric community found at the site. (2) Using the correct terms to describe the presumed social and ritual practices, political and ideological systems and cultural interactions of the prehistoric community. (3) Enhanced understanding of socio-economic & socio-religious complexity. (4) Gaining some basic understanding of the obligations of an excavation director in rural SW-Asia. (5) Being able to make more qualified statements on the challenges/chances of intercultural communication at home & abroad.
Syllabus
  • 8- Ethnic religions worldwide. 9- Understanding the horticultural way-of-life. Perceptions, strategies, values & challenges. (Entrenching the proficiency of gardening. The tribe. The lineage unfolding (clans – moieties – phratries). The function of initiations, age sets & secret societies. Daily dealings without formal leaders. Socio- political checks & balances. Religious dynamism, surplus & social aggrandisement. The blurred line between life & death: ancestor worship. Witchcraft. Recent consequences of the antagonism with central government). Papua New Guinea. 10- Understanding the agricultural way-of-life. Perceptions, strategies, values & challenges. (The emergence of stratification. Courts, ministers & artists. Territorial expansion & internal control. The role of redistribution, good allocation & socio-economic specialization. Harnessing dynamics by monuments & imagery & script. Asian rice farming). 11- Understanding the pastoral way-of-life – Perceptions, strategies, values & challenges. Definitions of landscape, property & territory. Intensified economy in natural ‘wastelands’. Idiosyncrasies of the social structure. Egalitarian-stratified life. Kain & Abel?: Shepherds’ relevance for settled village life. ‘Forming dromocratic elites’: Pastoralists in the SW-Asian urban context. 12- Recap/Discussion: ‘What’s been in the pocket for prehistorians?’
Literature
  • Lenkeit, Roberta Edwards, Introducing Cultural Anthropology. 4th. 2008. New York: MacGraw-Hill.
  • Peoples, James and Garrick Bailey. Humanity. An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. 7th. 2005. Belmont: Wadsworth Pub. Co.
  • Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Mirror for Humanity. A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. 13th. 2009. Boston: MacGraw-Hill.
  • HAVILAND, William A. Cultural anthropology. 9th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College. xxi, 513 s. ISBN 0-15-508243-4. 1999. info
Teaching methods
In the course the students will be trained to recognize inter-relations beyond the isolated ethnographic fact. In line with work will actually be with the students, setting out at their own everyday experiences. From this vantage point & using the contrast they will be drawn into the discussion of interesting aspects of indigenous life (e.g. performed religion, sharing, functioning of ‘leaderless’ societies, matrilineal practice etc.). Teaching technique: direct-reflexive teacher/student dialogue. The goal in to learn to raise & answer questions & to practice checking on the veracity of purported arguments (scientific reasoning). In-class discussions will be favoured to develop the skill to approach ethnological issues with proper terminology. At intervals certain ‘teaching mile stones’ will be entrenched by students’ own presentations. Extra-focus on the analysis of film-footage of various kinds.
Assessment methods
Assessment based on the cross-sum of: presence & communication; proficiency in making written notes; discussion input; 1 presentation; oral final exam. Final exam A: Research history + Foraging. B: Comparing Horticulture, Agriculture, Pastoralism (only the most basic aspects).
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2021/PAPVA_21