Elizabeth L. Keating

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

This course is designed to provide the foundations for understanding language in interaction through conversation analysis, an approach to studying human society and culture by focusing on social interaction, including institutional interactions. Students read important texts in conversation analysis (CA) and ethnomethodology across a variety of settings. We discuss the theories influencing conversation analysis as well as the structures of conversation and how these influence how meaning is shaped collaboratively. Each student will do a project using principles of CA learned in the course, applying these methods to short stretches of language data the student has collected or will collect during the course. CA is an excellent tool for analyzing fieldwork materials, such as interviews, oral narratives, conversations, and language in institutional settings. No prerequisites.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

Description

Anthropology is unique in the way it provides knowledge about the human experience from many points of view. Anthropologists often learn about other ways of life by living among people with very different lifeways and lifeworlds, and being a participant observer in these worlds. The challenge of anthropology is to describe, in terms that can be understood cross-culturally, how different groups of people organize their lives and beliefs, for example, relationships, dress, conversation, ritual, stories, how they define what is sacred, and in general make sense of the human condition and organize social life. This course will explore the anthropological approach, especially focusing on the role of language and everyday symbolic systems in creating and sharing culture. We will read in depth about several different communities in different world areas, and about engineers managing in a global workspace. We will discuss social theories that have contributed to anthropological research, and explore how anthropology can be used to understand many issues about behavior, such as the persistence of social inequalities, the adoption and spread of new technologies, conflict and misunderstandings, rites of passage, and global flows of expressive forms. We will emphasize thediverse groups that make up the United States and other world communities, as their distinctive experiences are made manifest through such ideas as gender, the self, social status, age, identity, andpower.

TEXTS/READING

-Delaney, Carol. 2011. Investigating Culture

-Wiley-Blackwell Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1986. Veiled Sentiments, University of California Press

-Keating, Elizabeth and Sirkka Jarvenpaa. 2017. Words Matter: Communicating Effectively in the New Global Office, University of California Press.

-Articles and chapters, most of which are journal articles available through UT Libraries online. If not available online, they are available on the class website onCanvas.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The two exams will count for 50% of the grade, assignment 1 for 20%, the final project 20%, and the reading responses and journal item written each week for 10% of the grade. Plus and minus grades will be given on assignments and exams. Assignments, the final paper and exams are graded primarily on content and not on style of writing. Grade is based on details included (rather than overgeneralizations) and depth of analysis (not just a cursory job).

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

SS 302E HONORS SOCIAL SCIENCE: ANTHROPOLOGY

 I. Rationale 

Anthropology is unique in the way it provides knowledge about the human experience from many points of view. Anthropologists learn about other ways of life by living among people with very different lifeways and lifeworlds, and being a participant observer in these worlds. The challenge of anthropology is to describe, in terms that can be understood cross-culturally, how different groups of people organize their lives and beliefs, for example, relationships, dress, conversation, ritual, stories, how they define what is sacred, and in general make sense of the human condition. This course will explore the anthropological approach, especially focusing on the role of language and everyday symbolic systems in creating and sharing unique cultures. We will read in depth about several different communities in different world areas. We will discuss social theories that have contributed to anthropological research, and explore how anthropology can be used to understand many issues about behavior, such as the persistence of social inequalities, the adoption and spread of new technologies, conflict and misunderstandings, rites of passage, and global flows of expressive forms. We will emphasize the diverse groups that make up the United States and other world communities, as their distinctive experiences are made manifest through such ideas as gender, the self, social status, age, identity, and power. 

II. Course Aims and Objectives 

Course Objectives: At the end of the semester, each student should be able to: 

· Understand and describe the basic ideas of social theory that have led to current understandings of culture. 

· Distinguish among and critique ideas about the role of human symbolic systems in creating and maintaining coherent belief systems and worldviews. 

· Discuss and critique methods that have been brought to bear on the study of issues such as cultural difference, social inequality, interpretation of behavior, and cultural change. 

· Discuss the impact of innovations such as technologies on individuals, families, and communities. 

· Define a number of key concepts in culture, language, and human expressive forms. 

· Gain an understanding of human diversity. 

This course may be used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, empirical and quantitative skills, and social responsibility. 

III. Format and Procedures: The course is structured around lectures and class discussions based both on the readings and on other materials used for illustration and teaching purposes. Students are encouraged to participate in discussions. 

IV. Main Topics to be Covered: Worldview; Space; Time, History, Meaning, the Cross-Cultural Encounter; Identity; Socialization & Rites of Passage; Relatives and Relations, Reciprocity; The Body, Culture and Nature; Art and Aesthetics; Belief; Power; Translatability; Cultural Change 

Feedback: During the course I will be asking for your feedback on your learning both formally and informally. 

V. My Assumptions: In anthropological research the assumption is that all languages and cultures are equally rich and complex symbolic worlds and that there are no “primitive” cultures or languages. At the same time it is very common for people to view other people’s practices as primitive, peculiar or immoral, a situation that deserves our attention in a time of enhanced connection between cultures due to technology and globalization. 

VI. Course Requirements: 

Class attendance and participation policy: 

Class participation is encouraged. Since it’s difficult to generalize about culture, given the range of human diversity, examples shown and used in class are important for understanding the concepts discussed in the books and readings. 

Religious Holy Days 

By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence. 

Course Readings/Materials: 

(a) Required Books: 

Delaney, Carol. 2011. Investigating Culture, Wiley-Blackwell 

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1986. Veiled Sentiments. University of California Press 

Keating and Jarvenpaa. 2016. Words Matter: Communicating Effectively in the New Global Office. University of California Press

(b) Also required reading: articles and chapters mentioned on the syllabus, most of which are journal articles available through UT Libraries online. If not available online, they are available on the class website. 

Assignments, Assessment, and Evaluation 

Class preparation and participation: 

Read course material for the week prior to Monday’s class in order to contribute to the week’s class discussions on the materials. 

Post short reading responses on Canvas before class

Project work: 

A final project which will be detailed in class and which will be turned in in outline form first 

Final comments shared with the class about your project 

Exams: There will be two exams. They will each count for 25% of the class grade, a total of 50% for the exams. Exams are designed to check your understanding of vocabulary, theories and concepts we are working with. Make up exams are only allowed with a note from the doctor (after the exam), or a formal written appeal to the professor (before the exam). Makeup exams are different exams. There is no final exam, rather there is a class project. 

Grading: The two exams will count for 50% of the grade, assignment 1 for 20%, the final project 20%, and the reading responses posted each week for 10% of the grade. Plus and minus grades will be given. Projects and exams are graded primarily on content and not on style of writing. Grade is based on details included (rather than overgeneralizations) and depth of analysis (not just a cursory job). 

About the Professor: 

Elizabeth Keating

I am a linguistic anthropologist who studies culture and communication. I am especially interested in investigating the impacts of technology on language and the role of language in maintaining social inequality. I completed my Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1994. I am currently a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and in the past have been Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program in Liberal Arts.

I just published a new book: Words Matter: Communicating Effectively in the New Global Office

University of California Press (co-authored with Sirkka Jarvenpaa)

http://www.ucpress.edu/go/words

See more about the book at elizabeth-keating.com

I have a wide range of research interests in linguistic anthropology, including language and social hierarchy, virtual environments, societal impacts of technologies, visual language, multimodality, and language practices in the cross-cultural work place. I am currently conducting research on (1) cross- cultural misunderstandings among engineers collaborating virtually from four continents, (2) computer gamers’ emerging skills and use of language as they participate in multiple environments, and (3) language, culture and identity.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

HONORS SOCIAL SCIENCE: ANTHROPOLOGY

 I. Rationale 

Anthropology is unique in the way it provides knowledge about the human experience from many points of view. Anthropologists learn about other ways of life by living among people with very different lifeways and lifeworlds, and being a participant observer in these worlds. The challenge of anthropology is to describe, in terms that can be understood cross-culturally, how different groups of people organize their lives and beliefs, for example, relationships, dress, conversation, ritual, stories, how they define what is sacred, and in general make sense of the human condition. This course will explore the anthropological approach, especially focusing on the role of language and everyday symbolic systems in creating and sharing unique cultures. We will read in depth about several different communities in different world areas. We will discuss social theories that have contributed to anthropological research, and explore how anthropology can be used to understand many issues about behavior, such as the persistence of social inequalities, the adoption and spread of new technologies, conflict and misunderstandings, rites of passage, and global flows of expressive forms. We will emphasize the diverse groups that make up the United States and other world communities, as their distinctive experiences are made manifest through such ideas as gender, the self, social status, age, identity, and power. 

II. Course Aims and Objectives 

Course Objectives: At the end of the semester, each student should be able to: 

 Understand and describe the basic ideas of social theory that have led to current understandings of culture. 

 Distinguish among and critique ideas about the role of human symbolic systems in creating and maintaining coherent belief systems and worldviews. 

 Discuss and critique methods that have been brought to bear on the study of issues such as cultural difference, social inequality, interpretation of behavior, and cultural change. 

 Discuss the impact of innovations such as technologies on individuals, families, and communities. 

 Define a number of key concepts in culture, language, and human expressive forms. 

 Gain an understanding of human diversity. 

This course may be used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, empirical and quantitative skills, and social responsibility. 

III. Format and Procedures: The course is structured around lectures and class discussions based both on the readings and on other materials used for illustration and teaching purposes. Students are encouraged to participate in discussions. 

IV. Main Topics to be Covered: Worldview; Space; Time, History, Meaning, the Cross-Cultural Encounter; Identity; Socialization & Rites of Passage; Relatives and Relations, Reciprocity; The Body, Culture and Nature; Art and Aesthetics; Belief; Power; Translatability; Cultural Change 

Feedback: During the course I will be asking for your feedback on your learning both formally and informally. 

V. My Assumptions: In anthropological research the assumption is that all languages and cultures are equally rich and complex symbolic worlds and that there are no “primitive” cultures or languages. At the same time it is very common for people to view other people’s practices as primitive, peculiar or immoral, a situation that deserves our attention in a time of enhanced connection between cultures due to technology and globalization. 

VI. Course Requirements: 

Class attendance and participation policy: 

Class participation is encouraged. Since it’s difficult to generalize about culture, given the range of human diversity, examples shown and used in class are important for understanding the concepts discussed in the books and readings. 

No laptops, or ipads, cell phones or similar devices may be used during class period. Please take your notes with paper and pen/pencil. Although a great tool, laptops can compromise your attention and those seated around you and your responsibilities as members of the class group. 

Religious Holy Days 

By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence. 

Course Readings/Materials: 

(a) Required Books: 

Delaney, Carol. 2011. Investigating Culture, Wiley-Blackwell 

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1986. Veiled Sentiments. University of California Press 

(b) Also required reading: articles and chapters mentioned on the syllabus, most of which are journal articles available through UT Libraries online. If not available online, they are available on the class website. 

Assignments, Assessment, and Evaluation 

Class preparation and participation: 

 Read course material for the week prior to Tuesday’s class in order to contribute to the week’s class discussions on the materials. 

 List one significant idea in each reading and bring this list of significant ideas (can be a few sentences on each) with you to class (for class participation grade), and turn it in each Tuesday. 

Project work: 

 A final project which will be detailed in class and which will be turned in in outline form first 

 Final comments shared with the class about your project 

Exams: There will be two exams. They will each count for 25% of the class grade, a total of 50% for the exams. Exams are designed to check your understanding of vocabulary, theories and concepts we are working with. Make up exams are only allowed with a note from the doctor (after the exam), or a formal written appeal to the professor (before the exam). Makeup exams are different exams. There is no final exam, rather there is a class project. 

Grading: The two exams will count for 50% of the grade, assignment 1 for 20%, the final project 20%, and the significant ideas handed in each week for 10% of the grade. Plus and minus grades will be given. Projects and exams are graded primarily on content and not on style of writing. Grade is based on details included (rather than overgeneralizations) and depth of analysis (not just a cursory job). 

About the Professor: 

I am a linguistic anthropologist who studies culture and communication. I am especially interested in investigating the impacts of technology on language and the role of language in maintaining social inequality. I completed my Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1994. I am currently a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and in the past have been Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program in Liberal Arts.

I just published a new book: Words Matter: Communicating Effectively in the New Global Office

University of California Press (co-authored with Sirkka Jarvenpaa)

http://www.ucpress.edu/go/words

See more about the book at elizabeth-keating.com

I have a wide range of research interests in linguistic anthropology, including language and social hierarchy, virtual environments, societal impacts of technologies, visual language, multimodality, and language practices in the cross-cultural work place. I am currently conducting research on (1) cross- cultural misunderstandings among engineers collaborating virtually from four continents, (2) computer gamers’ emerging skills and use of language as they participate in multiple environments, and (3) language, culture and identity.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

This course is designed to provide the foundations for understanding language in interaction through conversation analysis, an approach to studying human society and culture by focusing on social interaction, including institutional interactions. Students read important texts in conversation analysis (CA) and ethnomethodology across a variety of settings. We discuss the theories influencing conversation analysis as well as the structures of conversation and how these influence how meaning is shaped collaboratively. Each student will do a project using principles of CA learned in the course, applying these methods to short stretches of language data the student has collected or will collect during the course. CA is an excellent tool for analyzing fieldwork materials, such as interviews, oral narratives, conversations, and language in institutional settings. No prerequisites.

This course focuses on language use in social institutions and the role of language in bringing institutions into being and maintaining them. Readings focus on institutions as a constitutive element of society and as products of joint action. We look at how to study institutions and the people who participate in them. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language and institutions across a range of disciplines and cultures. The course will also include collaboratively analyzing instances of language use in institutions and analyzing “institutional talk” as it makes possible certain relationships, hierarchies, and associations.

 HONORS SOCIAL SCIENCE: ANTHROPOLOGY

 I. Rationale 

Anthropology is unique in the way it provides knowledge about the human experience from many points of view. Anthropologists learn about other ways of life by living among people with very different lifeways and lifeworlds, and being a participant observer in these worlds. The challenge of anthropology is to describe, in terms that can be understood cross-culturally, how different groups of people organize their lives and beliefs, for example, relationships, dress, conversation, ritual, stories, how they define what is sacred, and in general make sense of the human condition. This course will explore the anthropological approach, especially focusing on the role of language and everyday symbolic systems in creating and sharing unique cultures. We will read in depth about several different communities in different world areas. We will discuss social theories that have contributed to anthropological research, and explore how anthropology can be used to understand many issues about behavior, such as the persistence of social inequalities, the adoption and spread of new technologies, conflict and misunderstandings, rites of passage, and global flows of expressive forms. We will emphasize the diverse groups that make up the United States and other world communities, as their distinctive experiences are made manifest through such ideas as gender, the self, social status, age, identity, and power. 

II. Course Aims and Objectives 

Course Objectives: At the end of the semester, each student should be able to: 

 Understand and describe the basic ideas of social theory that have led to current understandings of culture. 

 Distinguish among and critique ideas about the role of human symbolic systems in creating and maintaining coherent belief systems and worldviews. 

 Discuss and critique methods that have been brought to bear on the study of issues such as cultural difference, social inequality, interpretation of behavior, and cultural change. 

 Discuss the impact of innovations such as technologies on individuals, families, and communities. 

 Define a number of key concepts in culture, language, and human expressive forms. 

 Gain an understanding of human diversity. 

This course may be used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, empirical and quantitative skills, and social responsibility. 

III. Format and Procedures: The course is structured around lectures and class discussions based both on the readings and on other materials used for illustration and teaching purposes. Students are encouraged to participate in discussions. 

IV. Main Topics to be Covered: Worldview; Space; Time, History, Meaning, the Cross-Cultural Encounter; Identity; Socialization & Rites of Passage; Relatives and Relations, Reciprocity; The Body, Culture and Nature; Art and Aesthetics; Belief; Power; Translatability; Cultural Change 

Feedback: During the course I will be asking for your feedback on your learning both formally and informally. 

V. My Assumptions: In anthropological research the assumption is that all languages and cultures are equally rich and complex symbolic worlds and that there are no “primitive” cultures or languages. At the same time it is very common for people to view other people’s practices as primitive, peculiar or immoral, a situation that deserves our attention in a time of enhanced connection between cultures due to technology and globalization. 

VI. Course Requirements: 

Class attendance and participation policy: 

Class participation is encouraged. Since it’s difficult to generalize about culture, given the range of human diversity, examples shown and used in class are important for understanding the concepts discussed in the books and readings. 

No laptops, or ipads, cell phones or similar devices may be used during class period. Please take your notes with paper and pen/pencil. Although a great tool, laptops can compromise your attention and those seated around you and your responsibilities as members of the class group. 

Religious Holy Days 

By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence. 

Course Readings/Materials: 

(a) Required Books: 

Delaney, Carol. 2011. Investigating Culture, Wiley-Blackwell 

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1986. Veiled Sentiments. University of California Press 

(b) Also required reading: articles and chapters mentioned on the syllabus, most of which are journal articles available through UT Libraries online. If not available online, they are available on the class website. 

Assignments, Assessment, and Evaluation 

Class preparation and participation: 

 Read course material for the week prior to Tuesday’s class in order to contribute to the week’s class discussions on the materials. 

 List one significant idea in each reading and bring this list of significant ideas (can be a few sentences on each) with you to class (for class participation grade), and turn it in each Tuesday. 

Project work: 

 A final project which will be detailed in class and which will be turned in in outline form first 

 Final comments shared with the class about your project 

Exams: There will be two exams. They will each count for 25% of the class grade, a total of 50% for the exams. Exams are designed to check your understanding of vocabulary, theories and concepts we are working with. Make up exams are only allowed with a note from the doctor (after the exam), or a formal written appeal to the professor (before the exam). Makeup exams are different exams. There is no final exam, rather there is a class project. 

Grading: The two exams will count for 50% of the grade, assignment 1 for 20%, the final project 20%, and the significant ideas handed in each week for 10% of the grade. Plus and minus grades will be given. Projects and exams are graded primarily on content and not on style of writing. Grade is based on details included (rather than overgeneralizations) and depth of analysis (not just a cursory job). 

About the Professor: 

I am a linguistic anthropologist who studies culture and communication. I am especially interested in investigating the impacts of technology on language and the role of language in maintaining social inequality. I completed my Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1994. I am currently a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and in the past have been Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program in Liberal Arts.

I just published a new book: Words Matter: Communicating Effectively in the New Global Office
University of California Press (co-authored with Sirkka Jarvenpaa)
http://www.ucpress.edu/go/words

See more about the book at elizabeth-keating.com

I have a wide range of research interests in linguistic anthropology, including language and social hierarchy, virtual environments, societal impacts of technologies, visual language, multimodality, and language practices in the cross-cultural work place. I am currently conducting research on (1) cross- cultural misunderstandings among engineers collaborating virtually from four continents, (2) computer gamers’ emerging skills and use of language as they participate in multiple environments, and (3) language, culture and identity.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

This course explores notions of power as they emerge and are constructed in language, ways in which linguistic exchanges can express relations of power, and the role that power can play in the structure of human interaction. The course focuses on ways that language and other semiotic systems are used in building and maintaining power relations, in sometimes subtle ways.  The course also focuses on how the notion of power varies cross culturally. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language and power across a range of disciplines and cultures. Reading case studies and ethnographic accounts, students gain ways to apply analytical and theoretical frameworks to their own research projects. Early on in the course students will start to bring language data from their research or based on their interests, and this data will be analyzed collaboratively in terms of the concepts and issues examined in the readings and in class discussions.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

Description:

Anthropology is the study of human cultures. Anthropologists describe and analyze different ways that communities define and interpret their experiences and the world around them. This course explores anthropological approaches to researching culture and society, specifically by looking at ways we use language and other symbolic forms in creating our important social relationships. This includes identities, distinctions based on race, ethnicity, and gender, the character of our social institutions, the creation of social inequality, youth culture, language socialization and other key aspects of the rich daily life of individuals and groups. Language is a key way that people create, share, and dispute knowledge about their world and the nature of human experience.

Texts/Readings:

The following books and readings will be included:

Delaney, Carol, Investigating Culture

Anderson, Benedict, Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia

Abu-Lughod, Lila, Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society

Reading selections from authors such as Goffman, Gumperz, Austin, Bourdieu, Hymes, Foucault, Giddens, Ochs, Tannen, and specific ethnographic studies and examples.

Assignments:

Students will be expected to participate actively in classroom discussions. Students will prepare short initial responses to the week's assigned readings prior to class (these responses and classroom participation are worth 20% of the grade). The class will include three writing assignments (6-8 pages each, worth a total of 40% of the grade) and two exams (worth a total of 40% of the grade).

About the Professor:

Professor Keating teaches courses in Anthropology (Culture and Communication, Visual Anthropology, New Communication Technologies, and Language in Society), and she was Director of the Science, Technology & Society Program at UT Austin from 2003-2007. She is the author of numerous articles on the role of language in constructing social inequalities, language and power, societal impacts of new communication technologies, and visual communication. She has conducted fieldwork in Pohnpei (Micronesia), Romania, India, Brazil, the U.S. Deaf Community, and among scientists and engineers in the U.S. She was the recipient in 2009 of the DIIA Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

Description:

Anthropology is the study of human cultures. Anthropologists describe and analyze different ways that communities define and interpret their experiences and the world around them. This course explores anthropological approaches to researching culture and society, specifically by looking at ways we use language and other symbolic forms in creating our important social relationships. This includes identities, distinctions based on race, ethnicity, and gender, the character of our social institutions, the creation of social inequality, youth culture, language socialization and other key aspects of the rich daily life of individuals and groups. Language is a key way that people create, share, and dispute knowledge about their world and the nature of human experience.

Texts/Readings:

The following books and readings will be included:

Delaney, Carol, Investigating Culture

Anderson, Benedict, Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia

Abu-Lughod, Lila, Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society

Reading selections from authors such as Goffman, Gumperz, Austin, Bourdieu, Hymes, Foucault, Giddens, Ochs, Tannen, and specific ethnographic studies and examples.

Assignments:

Students will be expected to participate actively in classroom discussions. Students will prepare short initial responses to the week's assigned readings prior to class (these responses and classroom participation are worth 20% of the grade). The class will include three writing assignments (6-8 pages each, worth a total of 40% of the grade) and two exams (worth a total of 40% of the grade).

About the Professor:

Professor Keating teaches courses in Anthropology (Culture and Communication, Visual Anthropology, New Communication Technologies, and Language in Society), and she was Director of the Science, Technology & Society Program at UT Austin from 2003-2007. She is the author of numerous articles on the role of language in constructing social inequalities, language and power, societal impacts of new communication technologies, and visual communication. She has conducted fieldwork in Pohnpei (Micronesia), Romania, India, Brazil, the U.S. Deaf Community, and among scientists and engineers in the U.S. She was the recipient in 2009 of the DIIA Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

Description:

Anthropology is the study of human cultures. Anthropologists describe and analyze different ways that communities define and interpret their experiences and the world around them. This course explores anthropological approaches to researching culture and society, specifically by looking at ways we use language and other symbolic forms in creating our important social relationships. This includes identities, distinctions based on race, ethnicity, and gender, the character of our social institutions, the creation of social inequality, youth culture, language socialization and other key aspects of the rich daily life of individuals and groups. Language is a key way that people create, share, and dispute knowledge about their world and the nature of human experience.

Texts/Readings:

The following books and readings will be included:

Delaney, Carol, Investigating Culture

Anderson, Benedict, Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia

Abu-Lughod, Lila, Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society

Reading selections from authors such as Goffman, Gumperz, Austin, Bourdieu, Hymes, Foucault, Giddens, Ochs, Tannen, and specific ethnographic studies and examples.

Assignments:

Students will be expected to participate actively in classroom discussions. Students will prepare short initial responses to the week's assigned readings prior to class (these responses and classroom participation are worth 20% of the grade). The class will include three writing assignments (6-8 pages each, worth a total of 40% of the grade) and two exams (worth a total of 40% of the grade).

About the Professor:

Professor Keating teaches courses in Anthropology (Culture and Communication, Visual Anthropology, New Communication Technologies, and Language in Society), and she was Director of the Science, Technology & Society Program at UT Austin from 2003-2007. She is the author of numerous articles on the role of language in constructing social inequalities, language and power, societal impacts of new communication technologies, and visual communication. She has conducted fieldwork in Pohnpei (Micronesia), Romania, India, Brazil, the U.S. Deaf Community, and among scientists and engineers in the U.S. She was the recipient in 2009 of the DIIA Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The goal of this course is to introduce students to the fascinating world of human communication as it emerges within particular cultures and shapes habits, thoughts, and emotions. Students will be able to  sharpen their skills and develop new skills in meta-level analysis of how people use language and other symbolic forms to maintain power or to express identity. Understanding how the everyday language people use is interpreted is an essential part of successful cross cultural communication. We look at both the principles of everyday communication and the many creative ways people use these principles in different cultures. Language shapes unique ways of thinking and of interpreting the world.

This course explores notions of power as they emerge and are constructed in language, ways in which linguistic exchanges can express relations of power, and the role that power can play in the structure of human interaction. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language and power across a range of disciplines and cultures. Early on in the course students will collect language data from a context of their choice, and this data will be analyzed both collaboratively and individually in terms of the concepts and issues examined in the readings and in class discussions.

 This course explores ideas about gender as they emerge through language and embodied behavior, and the role gender plays in the structure of human interaction and human society. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language and gender across a range of disciplines and cultures. Early on in the course students will collect language data from a context of their choice, and this data will be analyzed both collaboratively and individually in terms of the concepts and issues examined in the readings and in class discussions.

Description: Anthropology is the study of human cultures. Anthropologists describe and analyze different ways that communities define and interpret their experiences and the world around them. This course explores anthropological approaches to researching culture and society, specifically by looking at ways we use language in creating our important social relationships. This includes identities, distinctions based on race, ethnicity, and gender, the character of our social institutions, the creation of social inequality, youth culture, language socialization and other key aspects of the rich daily life of individuals and groups. Language is a key way that people create, share, and dispute knowledge about their world and the nature of human experience.

Texts/Readings:

The following books and readings will be included:

Anderson, Benedict, Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia

Abu-Lughod, Lila, Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society

Reading selections from authors such as Goffman, Gumperz, Austin, Bourdieu, Hymes, Foucault, Giddens, Ochs, Tannen, and specific ethnographic studies and examples.

Assignments:

Students will be expected to participate actively in classroom discussions. Students will prepare short initial responses to the week's assigned readings prior to class (these responses and classroom participation are worth 20% of the grade). The class will include three writing assignments (6-8 pages each, worth a total of 40% of the grade) and two exams (worth a total of 40% of the grade).

About the Professor:

Professor Keating teaches courses in Anthropology (Culture and Communication, Visual Anthropology, New Communication Technologies, and Language in Society), and she was Director of the Science, Technology & Society Program at UT Austin from 2003-2007. She is the author of numerous articles on the role of language in constructing social inequalities, language and power, societal impacts of new communication technologies, and visual communication. She has conducted fieldwork in Pohnpei (Micronesia), Romania, India, the U.S. Deaf Community, and among scientists and engineers in the U.S. She was the recipient in 2009 of the DIIA Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

 This course is an introduction to aspects of culture and sociality as they are emerging through technological or computer mediated means. The goals of the course are to introduce students to emerging issues in creating and participating in electronically mediated interactions, and to develop skills in investigating and understanding the roles that technology plays in mediating sign systems that influence culture and ways of thinking. We will also look at the role that culture plays in understanding technology. Readings discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological, technical, and anthropological contributions to the understanding what we are coming to know as E-Society.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

Description:

Anthropology is the study of human cultures. Anthropologists describe and analyze different ways that communities define and interpret their experiences and the world around them. This course explores anthropological approaches to researching culture and society, specifically by looking at ways we use language in creating our important social relationships. This includes identities, distinctions based on race, ethnicity, and gender, the character of our social institutions, the creation of social inequality, youth culture, language socialization and other key aspects of the rich daily life of individuals and groups. Language is a key way that people create, share, and dispute knowledge about their world and the nature of human experience.

Texts/Readings:

The following books and readings will be included:

Anderson, Benedict, Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia

Abu-Lughod, Lila, Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society

Reading selections from authors such as Goffman, Gumperz, Austin, Bourdieu, Hymes, Foucault, Giddens, Ochs, Tannen, and specific ethnographic studies and examples.

Assignments:

Students will be expected to participate actively in classroom discussions. Students will prepare short initial responses to the week's assigned readings prior to class (these responses and classroom participation are worth 20% of the grade). The class will include three writing assignments (6-8 pages each, worth a total of 40% of the grade) and two exams (worth a total of 40% of the grade).

About the Professor:

Professor Keating teaches courses in Anthropology (Culture and Communication, Visual Anthropology, New Communication Technologies, and Language in Society), and she was Director of the Science, Technology & Society Program at UT Austin from 2003-2007. She is the author of numerous articles on the role of language in constructing social inequalities, language and power, societal impacts of new communication technologies, and visual communication. She has conducted fieldwork in Pohnpei (Micronesia), Romania, India, the U.S. Deaf Community, and among scientists and engineers in the U.S. She was the recipient in 2009 of the DIIA Award for Excellence in Teaching. 

The goals of this course are to introduce students to the study of language use from a sociocultural perspective and to develop skills (through collecting language data) in analyzing the role that language plays in the construction of culture and in the interpretation of human interaction. Topics discussed in lectures and readings include ethnicity, identity, power, status, and gender as these ideas are constructed and negotiated through language.

This course explores notions of gender as they emerge and are constructed in language in interaction, and the role that gender plays in the structure of human interaction. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language and gender across a range of disciplines and cultures.

ANTHROPOLOGY 393, LINGUISTICS 396

TOPICS IN LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY: LANGUAGE AND POWER

Wednesday 9-12, Spring 2010, Unique # 30635, EPS 1.130KA

Professor:            Elizabeth Keating

                        Office: EPS 2.206, phone 471-8518, email: ekeating@mail.utexas.edu,

                        Office hours: Tuesday 1-3

This course explores notions of power as they emerge and are constructed in language, ways in which linguistic exchanges can express relations of power, and the role that power can play in the structure of human interaction. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language and power across a range of disciplines and cultures. Early on in the course students will collect language data from a context of their choice, and this data will be analyzed both collaboratively and individually in terms of the concepts and issues examined in the readings and in class discussions.

Work and Grading: Students will be responsible for short written summaries of weekly class readings to be emailed to the professor and the other seminar members before class, one individual research paper, and an oral presentation.

Books & Other Materials:

Wetherell, Margaret, Stephanie Taylor, and Simeon Yates. 2001/2005. Discourse Theory and Practice.

            Sage Publications (DTP)

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1994. Language and Symbolic Power, Harvard University Press (LSP)

Drew, Paul and John Heritage. 1992. Talk at Work. Cambridge University Press. (TW)

Anderson, Benedict. 2006. Language and Power. Equinox Publishing (LP)

Pdf’s of some readings on the Blackboard site for the class; please download the journal articles cited

Week 1 (January 20) Introduction, Course Mechanics

 Week 2 (January 27) Introduction, Language and Power

Bourdieu (LSP), pages 1-42 (various Introductions)

Kress, Gunther (in DTP), Reading 2. From Sassure to Critical Sociolinguisitcs: the turn towards a

            social view of language.

Potter, Jonathan (in DTP), Reading 3. Wittgenstein and Austin.

Dumont, Louis. 1970. From Homo Hierarchicus, pp. 1-21.

Collins, P.  1993. Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination  from: Lemert, C., ed. Social Theory.

            San Francisco: Westview Press.

Anderson, B. 2006 (LP) Part I, Power, Chapters 1 and 2

Week  3 (February 3) Prelude

Giddens, A. 1987. Structuralism, Post-structuralism and the Production of Culture, from A. Giddens and J. Turner. Social Theory Today. Stanford: Polity Press

Foucault, M. 1972.  The Unities of Discourse, from: The Archaeology of Knowledge, NY: Pantheon

Weatherall. 2005. Reading 7, 16           

Anderson, B. 2006 (LP) Part II, Language, Chapters 4 and 5

Week  4 (February 10) Signs, Sentences, Meaning

Wetherall et al., Reading 4, 6, 8

Goffman, E.  1956. The Nature of Deference and Demeanor  from: Interaction Ritual: Essays on face-to-face

            Behavior, NY: Pantheon Books

Brown, R. and Gilman, A. 1960. The Pronouns of Power and Solidarity. In Sebeok, T., ed. Style in

            Language. MIT Press.

Week  5 (February 17)   Methodologies, Contexts

Weatherall, Reading 9, 11, 12, 22

Goodwin, C. 2007.  Formulating the Triangle of Doom. Gesture, 7(1). pp. 97-118.

Taylor, T. 2006/2009. Beyond Fun. Instrumental Play and Power Gamers. In Play Between Worlds: Exploring

            Online Game Culture. MIT Press           

Week 6 (February 24) Talk at Work: Micro-Analysis of Talk-in-Interaction

Drew, P. and J. Heritage, 1992. Analyzing Talk at Work: an Introduction, from Talk at Work, Cambridge

            University Press.

Gumperz, J.1992. Interviewing in Intercultural Situations, from Drew and Heritage Talk at Work.

Drew, P. 1992. Contested Evidence in Courtroom Cross-Examination: the Case of a Trial for Rape, from

            Drew and Heritage Talk at Work.

Weatherall, Reading 9

Week 7 (March 3) Theory and Practice: Cross-Cultural Issues

Bourdieu, Chapters 1, 3

Bloch, M. Introduction, from M. Bloch, ed. Political Language and Oratory in Traditional Society. NY: Academic

            Press.

Kuipers, Joel. 2007. Comments on ritual unintelligibility.  Text & Talk, 27, 4: 559-566

Gal, S. 1995. Language and the "Arts of Resistance" Cultural Anthropology, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 407-424           

Week 8.  (March 10) Political Field (s)

Bourdieu (LSP), Chapters 7, 8, 9

Keating, E. 1998. Honor and Stratification in Pohnpei, Micronesia. American Ethnologist, 25(3):399-411.                                                             http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~ekeating/Publications/AmerEthnol.pdf

McElhinny, Bonnie. 2003. Fearful, Forceful Agents of the Law: Ideologies about Language and Gender in Police

            Officers’ Narratives about the Use of Physical Force. Pragmatics 13(2):253-284.

Week 9 (March 17) Spring Break

Week 10 (March 24) Constructing Authority

Bourdieu, Chapter 4, 5

Keating, E. 1997. Honorific Possession: Power and Language in Pohnpei, Micronesia. Language in Society, 26(2):

            247-268. http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~ekeating/Publications/Honorific%20Possession.pdf

Cohn, Carol. 1987. Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals. Signs: Journal of Women

                                                in Culture and Society, vol 12, no. 4

Week 11 (March 31) More Constructing Authority

Bourdieu, Chapter 6, 2,

Philips, S. 1993. Evidentiary Standards for American Trials. From J. Hill and J. Irvine, eds. Responsibility and

            Evidence in Oral Discourse, Cambridge University Press

Irvine, J.  1993. Insult and Responsibility: verbal abuse in a Wolof Village. From J. Hill and J. Irvine, eds.

            Responsibility and Evidence in Oral Discourse, Cambridge University Press

Week 12 (April 7) Gender, Language and Power

LaFrance, M. & E. Hahn.1994. The Disappearing Agent from: Roman, Juhasz, and Miller, The Women and

            Language Debate. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press.

hooks, b. 1990.  Reflections on Race and Sex  and  Representations: Feminism and Black Masculinity 

            from hooks, b. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. Boston: South End Press.

Weatherall, Reading 24

Goodwin, M. 2003. The Relevance of Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Children's Peer Negotiations. In Handbook

            of Language and Gender. Janet Holmes and Miriam Meyerhoff, eds. Pp. 229-51.            Blackwell.

                http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/goodwin/RelevanceEthnicityClassGender.pdf

Week 13 (April 14) Representations, Reported Speech

Bourdieu (LSP), Chapters 10, 11

Keating, E. 2002. Everyday Interactions and the Domestication of Social Inequality, IPRA Pragmatics

            12:3.347-359. http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~ekeating/Publications/Pragmatics%202002%202.pdf

Schieffelin, B. 2000. Introducing Kaluli Literacy. In Kroskrity, Paul, ed. Regimes of Language:

            Ideologies, Polities, and Identities. Santa Fe: School of Am. Research.

            http://homepages.nyu.edu/~bs4/Bambi--Website_Assets/BBS%20PDFs/IntroKaluliliteracy.pdf

Mertz, Elizabeth. 1994. Legal Language: Pragmatics, Poetics and Social Power. In Annual Review of Anthropology

            23: 435-455.

Week 14 (April 21) Conclusion and Review

Week 15 & 16 (April 28, May 5) Wrapping Up; Class Presentations

Other suggested readings:

Silverstein, Michael. 2000. Whorfianism and the Linguistic Imagination of Nationality. In Kroskrity, P. ed.,

            Regimes of Language: Ideologies, Polities, and Identities. Santa Fe: School of American Research.

Wertsch, J. 1985. Extending Vygotsky’s Semiotic Analysis: Propositional and Discourse Referentiality  from:

            Vygotsky and the Social Formation of Mind. Harvard University Press.

Goodwin, Marjorie. 2006. The Hidden Life of Girls. Blackwell

Duranti, Alessandro. 1994 From Grammar to Politics: Linguistic Anthropology in a Western Samoan Village.             Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Other Information

Religious Holidays:

Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. If you miss an examination, work assignment, or other project due to the observance of a religious holy day you will be given an opportunity to complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence. It is the policy of The University of Texas at Austin that you must notify your instructor at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates you will be absent to observe a religious holy day.

Special Needs:

Students with disabilities who require special accommodations need to get a letter that documents the disability from the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students (471-6259 voice or 471-4641 TTY for users who are deaf or hard of hearing). This letter should be presented to me at the beginning of the semester and accommodations needed should be discussed at that time. Five business days before an exam the student should remind me of any testing accommodations that will be needed. See following website for more information: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd/providing.php

University Electronic Mail Notification Policy (Use of E-mail for Official Correspondence to Students):

All students should become familiar with the University's official e-mail student notification policy. It is the student's responsibility to keep the University informed as to changes in his or her e-mail address. Students are expected to check e-mail on a frequent and regular basis in order to stay current with University-related communications, recognizing that certain communications may be time-critical. It is recommended that e-mail be checked daily, but at a minimum, twice per week. The complete text of this policy and instructions for updating your e-mail address are available at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.html. In this course e-mail will be used as a means of communication with you. You will be responsible for checking your e-mail regularly for work and announcements. Note: if you are an employee of the University, your e-mail address in Blackboard is your employee address.

Use of Blackboard in this Class:

This course uses Blackboard, a Web-based course management system in which a password-protected site is created for each course. You will be responsible for checking the Blackboard course site regularly for class work and announcements. As with all computer systems, there are occasional scheduled downtimes as well as unanticipated disruptions. Notification of these disruptions will be posted on the Blackboard login page. Scheduled downtimes are not an excuse for late work. However, if there is an unscheduled downtime for a significant period of time, I will make an adjustment if it occurs close to the due date. Blackboard is available at http://courses.utexas.edu. Support is provided by the ITS Help Desk at 475-9400 Monday through Friday 8 am to 6 pm, so plan accordingly.

Note about Feedback:

Feedback is an important part of learning. Without feedback on how well you understand the material, it is more difficult for you to make good progress. During this course you will give me feedback on your learning in informal and formal ways, such as assignments or exams. Please let me know when something is not clear. This will enable me to provide additional information when needed or to explain a concept in different terms.

Academic Honesty:

Although I encourage you to work together, you are expected to do your own work and acknowledge use of anyone else’s work or ideas. Academic dishonesty includes: (a) copying another student’s work or letting another student copy your work and (b) copying passages or ideas directly from another source and passing them off as your own; that is, without properly referencing them. When scholastic dishonesty is suspected, I am required to notify you and possibly turn the matter over to the Dean of Students office. Penalties for academic dishonesty include a failing grade on the assignment or in this course and possible expulsion form the university. If you have specific questions about these issues, contact the Office of the Dean of Students in FAC 248.

HONORS  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 301: ANTHROPOLOGY
Unique Number: 43465
Spring, 2010: Tuesday and Thursday, 11-12:30, WEL 2.256
Professor: Elizabeth Keating, Phone: 471-8518; office EPS 2.206
Office Hours:  Tuesday, 1-3


Anthropology is unique in the way it provides knowledge about the human experience from many points of view.  Anthropologists learn about other ways of life by living among people with very different lifeways and lifeworlds, and being a participant observer in these worlds. The challenge of anthropology is to describe, in terms that can be understood cross-culturally, how different groups of people organize their lives and beliefs, for example, relationships, dress, talk, stories, how they define what is sacred, and in general make sense of experience.  This course will explore the anthropological approach, especially focusing on the role of language and everyday symbolic systems in creating and sharing culture. We will read in depth about several different communities in different world areas.  We will discuss social theories that have contributed to anthropological research, and explore how anthropology can be used to investigate many issues about behavior, such as the persistence of social inequalities, the adoption and spread of new technologies, conflicts and misunderstandings, rites of passage, and global flows of expressive forms.  We will emphasize the diverse groups that make up the United States and other world communities as their distinctive experiences are made manifest through such ideas such as gender, the self, social status, age, identity, power and ethnicity.  

Course Objectives: At the end of the semester, each student should be able to:

•    Understand and describe the basic ideas of social theory that have led to current understandings of culture.
•    Distinguish among and critique ideas about the role of human symbolic systems in creating and maintaining coherent belief systems.
•    Discuss and critique the social science methods that have been brought to bear on the study of issues such as cultural difference, social inequality, interpretation of behavior, and cultural change.
•    Discuss the impact of some new communication technologies on individuals, families, and communities.
•    Define a number of key concepts in culture, communication and language.
    
Required Readings:

1. Moore, Henrietta, and Todd Sanders eds. 2006. Anthropology in Theory: Issues in Epistemology, (AT)
    ISBN: 978-0631-22915-5, Publisher: Blackwell
2. Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1986. Veiled Sentiments. University of California Press. (VS)
3. Horst, Heather and Daniel Miller. 2006. The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication, Berg Pub. (CP)
4. Alim, H. Samy. 2006. Roc the Mic Right: The Language of Hip Hop Culture. Routledge. (LHHC)
 5. A series of articles available on the Blackboard web site.

Blackboard Site: The course Blackboard site includes additional information concerning the course including all non-textbook readings, instructions for each assignment, and other information.  

Course Requirements:

1. Class preparation and participation:
•    Read course material prior to the class in order to contribute to class discussions on the materials. Pop quizzes will be given on the readings.
•    List three significant ideas in each reading and bring this list with you to class (for class participation grade), and turn it in each week.

2. Project work:     
•    3 short papers (3-5 pages, single spaced) based on collecting everyday language examples (details explained later).
•    A term paper of approximately 15 pages, double spaced, based on data collection (of language forms) and reasoning through a particular case focusing on, for example, the following themes (more details will be provided later):
        
•    Impacts of technologies on cultural practices and beliefs, including communication
•    Gender as elaborated through multiple semiotic modes (text, the body, images, sound)
•    Poetics, narrative and the role of language styles and forms in organizing our experience
•    Cultural values and social inequality
•    Globalization of work
•    Culture contact and change
    
•    10 PowerPoint slides explaining and summarizing your findings

3. Exams: There will be two exams.  They will each count for 15% of the class grade, a total of 30% for the exams.      
    Each exam is designed to check your understanding of the vocabulary and concepts we are working with.

Grading: The three short papers will count for 30 % of the grade, and the longer paper and PowerPoint slides will count for 30 %. The two exams will count 30%. Class participation, based on attendance, contributions to discussions, pop quizzes, and list of significant ideas in readings will account for 10 %.

Assignments and Exam Schedule:

Exam 1:    Tuesday Feb 16
Assignment 1:     Tuesday Feb 23
Assignment 2:    Tuesday March 23
Assignment 3:    Tuesday April 20
Exam 2:    Tuesday May 4    
Term Paper:     Friday May 7





Course Outline & Reading Assignments:


Week 1
     Jan. 19: Introduction to the Class
     Jan. 21: Introduction to Anthropological Issues
    Readings:    Moore and Sanders, “Anthropology and Epistemology,” in AT pp. 1-21
            Duranti, “Theories of Culture,” Blackboard site


Week 2
     Jan. 26 & 28: Ethnocentrism & Modes of Thought
     Readings:  Oyewumi, “The Invention of Women,” in AT pp. 540-545
            Viveiros de Castro, “Valorizing the Present: Orientalism, Postcoloniality and the
                    Human Sciences, “ in AT pp. 546-551
            Abu-Lughod, “Guest and Daughter,” in VS pp. 1-35
            Alim, “’Talkin Black in this White Man’s World’: Linguistic Supremacy, Linguistic
                    Equanimity, and the Politics of Language,” in LHHC pp. 51-68

Week 3
     Feb 2 & 4: Some Lines of Early Anthropological Thought and Method
Readings:     Malinowski, “The Group and the Individual in Functional Analysis,” in AT, pp. 88-99
    Steward, “The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology,” in AT, pp. 100-106
    Leach, “Introduction to Political Systems of Highland Burma,” in AT, pp. 128-134

Week 4
     Feb. 9 & 11: Language and Texts, Linguistic Anthropology
    Readings:      Sapir, “Anthropology and Sociology,” in AT, pp. 68-76
            Geertz, “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture,” AT, p. 235-43
            Keesing, “Anthropology as Interpretive Quest,” AT, pp. 258-266
            Tyler, “The Antinomies,” in AT, pp. 305-310
            Horst & Miller, “Introduction,” in CP, pp. 1-18

Week 5
     Feb. 16: EXAM 1 (covering weeks 1-4)
     Feb. 18: Materiality
    Readings:   Toren, “Introduction to Mind, Materiality and History,” in AT pp. 204-219
            Donham, “Epochal Structures I: Reconstructing Historical Materialism,” AT pp. 397-406

****Assignment 1 due on Feb 23 Tuesday

Week 6
     Feb. 23 & 25: Political Technologies of the Body
    Readings:   Jackson, “Knowledge of the Body,” in AT pp. 322-335
            Martin, “The End of the Body?” in AT pp. 336-351
            Foucault, “The Body of the Condemned,” in AT pp. 352-356
            Bourdieu, “Structures and the Habitus,” in AT pp. 407-416
            Horst & Miller, “Pressure,” in CP pp. 123-136
            
Week 7
    Mar 2 & 4: Space and Globalization
    Readings:      Horst & Miller, “Locations,” in CP pp. 37-58
                Horst & Miller, “Link Up,” in CP pp. 81-102
                Horst & Miller, “Coping,” in CP pp. 103-122
            Alim, “Verbal Mujahidin in the Transglobal Hip Hop Umma,” LHHC pp. 20-50
                Gupta & Ferguson, “Beyond ‘Culture’: Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference,
                    AT pp. 608-617
                Appadurai, “Grassroots Globalization and the Research Imagination,” AT pp. 622-632

Week 8
     March 9 & 11: Technology  
    Readings:      Horst & Miller, “Possession,” CP pp. 59-80
            Horst & Miller, “Evaluation,” CP pp. 159-182
            Castells, Chapter 1 The Information Technology Revolution. (Blackboard Site)


Week 9 (SPRING BREAK)  March 16 & 18

****Assignment 2 due Tuesday, March 23
    


Week 10
     March 23 & 25: The Language of Sentiment
    Readings:     Veiled Sentiments, Part 1 “The Ideology of Bedouin Social Life,” pp. 39-170

Week 11
     Mar 30 & April 1:  The Language of Sentiment
    Readings:  Veiled Sentiments, Part II “Discourses on Sentiment,” pp. 171-260

Week 12
     April 6 & 8: More Expressive Forms
    Readings: Alim, “’The streetz iz a mutha’: The Street and the Formation of a Hip Hop Linguistics,”
            in LHHC pp. 1-19
            Alim, “‘Bring it to the cypher’: Hip Hop Nation Language,” LHHC, pp. 69-108
            Goodwin, Charles. 1994. Professional Vision. American Anthropologist 96(3): 606-33.
                http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/clic/cgoodwin/94prof_vis.pdf

Week 13
     April 13 & 15: Analysis
    Readings: Alim, “Spittin the Code of the Streets: The Strategic Construction of a Street-Conscious
            Identity,” in LHHC pp. 109-125
            Alim, ‘Every syllable of mine is an umbilical cord through time’: Toward an Analytical
                Schema of Hip Hop Poetics,” LHHC, pp. 126-154
            Bailey, Ben, Communication of Respect in Interethnic Service Encounters, Language in Society 26.3: 327-356 (Blackboard)

****Assignment 3 due Tuesday April 20


Week 14
     April 20 & April 22: Analysis, Language and Culture
    Readings: Basso, K. 1979. excerpts from Portraits of the Whiteman, Cambridge University Press     (Blackboard)
            Ochs and Schieffelin. 1984. “Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three
            Developmental Stories and Their Implications,” from R. Shweder and R. Levine, eds. Culture Theory: Essays in Mind, Self, and Emotion (Blackboard)

Week 15
     April 27 & 29: Some Final Thoughts, Review
    Readings: Castells, Chapter 5, The Culture of Real Virtuality: the Integration of Electronic Communication,
            the End of the Mass Audience, and the Rise of Interactive Networks. (Blackboard)

Week 16
   May 4 & 6: Second Exam, Course Overview and Conclusions

May 7: Final Paper Due

 
Other Information


Religious Holidays:
Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. If you miss an examination, work assignment, or other project due to the observance of a religious holy day you will be given an opportunity to complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence. It is the policy of The University of Texas at Austin that you must notify your instructor at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates you will be absent to observe a religious holy day.

Special Needs:
Students with disabilities who require special accommodations need to get a letter that documents the disability from the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students (471-6259 voice or 471-4641 TTY for users who are deaf or hard of hearing). This letter should be presented to me at the beginning of the semester and accommodations needed should be discussed at that time. Five business days before an exam the student should remind me of any testing accommodations that will be needed. See following website for more information: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd/providing.php

University Electronic Mail Notification Policy (Use of E-mail for Official Correspondence to Students):
All students should become familiar with the University's official e-mail student notification policy. It is the student's responsibility to keep the University informed as to changes in his or her e-mail address. Students are expected to check e-mail on a frequent and regular basis in order to stay current with University-related communications, recognizing that certain communications may be time-critical. It is recommended that e-mail be checked daily, but at a minimum, twice per week. The complete text of this policy and instructions for updating your e-mail address are available at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.html. In this course e-mail will be used as a means of communication with you. You will be responsible for checking your e-mail regularly for work and announcements. Note: if you are an employee of the University, your e-mail address in Blackboard is your employee address.

Use of Blackboard in this Class:
This course uses Blackboard, a Web-based course management system in which a password-protected site is created for each course. You will be responsible for checking the Blackboard course site regularly for class work and announcements. As with all computer systems, there are occasional scheduled downtimes as well as unanticipated disruptions. Notification of these disruptions will be posted on the Blackboard login page. Scheduled downtimes are not an excuse for late work. However, if there is an unscheduled downtime for a significant period of time, I will make an adjustment if it occurs close to the due date. Blackboard is available at http://courses.utexas.edu. Support is provided by the ITS Help Desk at 475-9400 Monday through Friday 8 am to 6 pm, so plan accordingly.

Note about Feedback:
Feedback is an important part of learning. Without feedback on how well you understand the material, it is more difficult for you to make good progress. During this course you will give me feedback on your learning in informal and formal ways, such as assignments or exams. Please let me know when something is not clear. This will enable me to provide additional information when needed or to explain a concept in different terms.

Academic Honesty:
Although I encourage you to work together, you are expected to do your own work and acknowledge use of anyone else’s work or ideas. Academic dishonesty includes: (a) copying another student’s work or letting another student copy your work and (b) copying passages or ideas directly from another source and passing them off as your own; that is, without properly referencing them. When scholastic dishonesty is suspected, I am required to notify you and possibly turn the matter over to the Dean of Students office. Penalties for academic dishonesty include a failing grade on the assignment or in this course and possible expulsion form the university. If you have specific questions about these issues, contact the Office of the Dean of Students in FAC 248.

ANTHROPOLOGY 307, LINGUISTICS 312

CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Fall 2009

Tuesday and Thursday 3:30-5 p.m. (Course # ANT 307, 30365; LIN 312, 41420)

Professor:             Elizabeth Keating

                        Office: 2.206 EPS, Phone: 471-8518, email: ekeating@mail.utexas.edu

This course is an introduction to everyday language use in a variety of cultures. The goals are to develop your skills in analyzing and understanding the many creative ways people use language in the formation of culture, in shaping ways of thinking, and in arguing and discussing how to interpret behavior and events. We will use two in-depth cases—a community of Bedouins in the Western Desert of Egypt and the American Deaf community—as examples of very different ways of using language to express culture. Stories and accounts of language use from these two communities will be supplemented by lectures and other materials on language in many different language communities. Each of you will collect everyday language examples for several analytical exercises. You will experience using language data as a basis for examining and questioning concepts such as ethnicity, identity, power, status, and gender as they emerge in everyday communication between people.

Texts:                        1. Duranti, A. (1996)  Linguistic Anthropology, Cambridge U. Press (LA)

                        2. Abu-Lughod, L. (1986) Veiled Sentiments, University of California Press (VS)

                                    3. Lane, H., Hoffmeister, R. and Bahan, B. (1996) A Journey into the Deaf World, Dawn

                                                Sign Press (DW)

4. materials on the Blackboard site.

Requirements: There will be two mid-term exams, each covering about half of the course (no final).  There will be material on the exam from the readings and from lectures, so if you have to miss class be sure to get notes from a fellow student. Each of you will be responsible for three written analytical exercises (3-5 pages). Each of these requirements will be fully explained at the time of assignment. Late assignments will be downgraded one letter grade. All assignments must be typed.

Note: do the readings assigned below before class meets that week. Quizzes will be given regularly on readings.

Schedule of Due Dates of Assignments

**Assignment 1 Analytical Exercise Due: September 29

** Assignment 2 Analytical Exercise Due:  October 29

**Assignment 3 Analytical Exercise Due: November 24

Schedule of Exams

***Midterm #1 (covering weeks 1-7): October 20

***Midterm #2 (Covering weeks 8-15): December 1

Grading: Exams count 45% of the grade, and written assignments 45%. Class participation counts 10%. The class participation grade is made up of: a) participating in discussions in class, b) emailing to Prof. Keating newspaper, magazine, or internet articles concerning some aspect of language and culture, c) pop quiz grades on readings, d) attendance at lectures.

WEEK #1  (Aug 27) Overview and Introduction to the Course and Course Mechanics

                        Note: do readings assigned for next week

WEEK #2  ( Sept 1, 3) Studying Language and Culture: a beginning

Readings:            Lane, Hoffmeister, Bahan (DW): “Author’s Note” and Chapter 1

                                    Duranti (LA) Chapter 2, Theories of Culture

                                    Abu-Lughod (VS) Preface and Chapter 1, Guest and Daughter

WEEK #3  (Sept 8, 10) “Everyday” Symbolic Systems & Messages

Readings:             Cook, G. (1992) from the book The Discourse of Advertising, NY: Routledge (Blackboard)

                                                            (Note: begin reading the article at the section entitled “Perfume and Cars”)

                                                Lane, Hoffmeister, Bahan (DW) Chapter 3, The Language of the Deaf-World

Duranti (LA), Meaning in Linguistic Forms, pages 162-166 and 204-213 (section 6.1-6.2; 6.8 to end of chapter)

WEEK #4 (Sept 15, 17) Looking at Language as Action; the Importance of Conversation

Readings:             Duranti (LA) Chapter 1, The Scope of Linguistic Anthropology, also pages 236-244 (begin at section 7.4) & Chapter 8, Conversational Exchanges

WEEK #5 (Sept 22, 24) How to Study Language; Recording Interaction

Readings:            Duranti (LA) Chapters 4 (Ethnographic Methods) & 5 (Transcription: from writing to

                                                digitized images), and pages 290-330 (begin at section 9.2.1),  and pages 340-347

**First analytical exercise due Sept 29:  (Assignment #1)

WEEK #6 (Sept 29, Oct 1) Language Socialization

Readings:             Ochs and Schieffelin (1984) “Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three

                                                            Developmental Stories and Their Implications,” from R. Shweder and R. Levine, eds. Culture Theory: Essays in Mind, Self, and Emotion (Blackboard)

                        Lane, Hoffmeister, Bahan (DW) Chapter 2, Families with Deaf Children

                        Imam, Syeda Rumnaz  (2005) English as a global language and the question of nation-

                                    building education in Bangladesh, Comparative Education, 41: 471–486.

WEEK #7 (Oct 6, 8) The Ethnography of Communication and Verbal Art

Readings:            Abu-Lughod (VS), Chapter 2, Identity in Relationship; Chapter 3, Honor and the

                                    of  Autonomy; Chapter 5, The Poetry of Personal Life

**Second Analytical Exercise Due Oct 29:  (Assignment 2)           

WEEK #8 (Oct 13, 15) Verbal Art, continued

Readings:            Abu-Lughod (VS), Chapter 4, Modesty, Gender, and Sexuality; Chapter 6, Honor and             Poetic Vulnerability; Chapter 7, Modesty and the Poetry of Love

                                    Lane, Hoffmeister, Bahan (DW), pages 104-123 and 144-161

**Oct 20: First Midterm (covering weeks 1-7)

WEEK #9 (Oct 20, 22) Language, Ethnicity and Class

Readings:             Basso, K. (1979) excerpts from Portraits of the Whiteman, Cambridge University Press

                                                            (Blackboard)

                                                Smitherman, Geneva (1997) “The Chain Remain the Same": Communicative Practices in the Hip Hop Nation, Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 3-25 (Blackboard)

                                                Bailey, Ben, Communication of Respect in Interethnic Service Encounters, Language in Society 26.3: 327-356 (Blackboard)

WEEK #10 (Oct 27, 29) Language and Status

Readings:            Laitin, David (1989). Language Policy and Political Strategy in India. Policy Sciences 22: 415-436.

                                    Lane, Hoffmeister, Bahan (DW) Chapter 7, Disabling the Deaf-World

                                    Abu-Lughod (VS), Chapter 8, Ideology and Politics of the Sentiment

WEEK #11 (Nov 3, 5) Multilingualism

Readings:            Zentella, Ana Celia (1997) “Bilingualism en Casa” from Growing Up Bilingual: Puerto

                                                            Rican Children in New York. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

                                                Nelson, Cecil L. (1992) My Language, Your Culture: Whose Communicative

                                                Competence? (Blackboard site)

WEEK #12 (Nov 10, 12)  Language and Technology

Readings:            McCloud, Scott, Understanding Comics (selections on Blackboard)

                                                Berger, J. and J. Mohr (1982) The Ambiguity of the Photograph. In Another Way

                                                            of Telling. Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, pp. 85-100.

                                                Street, Brian (1995) The Uses of Literacy and Anthropology in Iran, from Social Literacies, Longman: London. (blackboard site)

                                                Cassell, J., and Tversky, D. (2005). The language of Online Intercultural Community Formation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(2), http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue2/cassell.html

WEEK #13 (Nov 17, 19) Language and Gender

Readings:            “Attacking Stereotypes in Toyland” (Blackboard)

                                                Eckert, P. & McConnell-Ginet, S. (1995) “Constructing Meaning, Constructing Selves”

                                                            from Hall, K. and Bucholz, M. Gender Articulated. Routledge. (Blackboard)

**Third Analytical Assignment due November 24

WEEK #14 (Nov 24) Review

Readings:             Duranti (LA), Chapter 10, Conclusions

                                                Lane, Hoffmeister, Behan (DW), Chapter 16, Journey’s End

**Second Midterm: Dec 1 (Weeks 8-15)

WEEK #15 (Dec 1, 3) Wrapping Up

                        Second Midterm and Review of Results

Other Information

Religious Holidays

Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. If you miss an examination, work assignment, or other project due to the observance of a religious holy day you will be given an opportunity to complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence. It is the policy of The University of Texas at Austin that you must notify your instructor at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates you will be absent to observe a religious holy day.

Special Needs

Students with disabilities who require special accommodations need to get a letter that documents the disability from the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students (471-6259 voice or 471-4641 TTY for users who are deaf or hard of hearing). This letter should be presented to me at the beginning of the semester and accommodations needed should be discussed at that time. Five business days before an exam the student should remind me of any testing accommodations that will be needed. See following website for more information: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ssd/providing.php

University Electronic Mail Notification Policy (Use of E-mail for Official Correspondence to Students)

All students should become familiar with the University's official e-mail student notification policy. It is the student's responsibility to keep the University informed as to changes in his or her e-mail address. Students are expected to check e-mail on a frequent and regular basis in order to stay current with University-related communications, recognizing that certain communications may be time-critical. It is recommended that e-mail be checked daily, but at a minimum, twice per week. The complete text of this policy and instructions for updating your e-mail address are available at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.html. In this course e-mail will be used as a means of communication with you. You will be responsible for checking your e-mail regularly for work and announcements. Note: if you are an employee of the University, your e-mail address in Blackboard is your employee address.

Use of Blackboard in this Class

This course uses Blackboard, a Web-based course management system in which a password-protected site is created for each course. You will be responsible for checking the Blackboard course site regularly for class work and announcements. As with all computer systems, there are occasional scheduled downtimes as well as unanticipated disruptions. Notification of these disruptions will be posted on the Blackboard login page. Scheduled downtimes are not an excuse for late work. However, if there is an unscheduled downtime for a significant period of time, I will make an adjustment if it occurs close to the due date. Blackboard is available at http://courses.utexas.edu. Support is provided by the ITS Help Desk at 475-9400 Monday through Friday 8 am to 6 pm, so plan accordingly.

Note about Feedback

Feedback is an important part of learning. Without feedback on how well you understand the material, it is more difficult for you to make good progress. During this course you will give me feedback on your learning in informal and formal ways, such as assignments or exams. Please let me know when something is not clear. This will enable me to provide additional information when needed or to explain a concept in different terms.

Academic Honesty

Although I encourage you to work together, you are expected to do your own work and acknowledge use of anyone else’s work or ideas. Academic dishonesty includes: (a) copying another student’s work or letting another student copy your work and (b) copying passages or ideas directly from another source and passing them off as your own; that is, without properly referencing them. When scholastic dishonesty is suspected, I am required to notify you and possibly turn the matter over to the Dean of Students office. Penalties for academic dishonesty include a failing grade on the assignment or in this course and possible expulsion form the university. If you have specific questions about these issues, contact the Office of the Dean of Students in FAC 248.

A reading course in a selected area of linguistics.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

Taught online during scheduled times.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

A reading course in a selected area of linguistics.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

Taught online during scheduled times.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

A reading course in a selected area of linguistics.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

Taught online during scheduled times.

A reading course in a selected area of linguistics.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

Taught online during scheduled times.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

Please check back for updates.

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.

An Anthropology Core Course, this course is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of language from a sociocultural perspective. Topics discussed include linguistic, philosophical, psychological, sociological and anthropological contributions to the understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication as a social activity embedded in cultural contexts. No prior training in linguistics is presupposed. Readings include both ethnographic studies and theoretical work about language.

The goals of this course are to look at language practices in many different communities, to look at issues in cross-cultural communication, and to understand how 'everyday' language use influences how we think about society and personhood, and the role language plays in creating and maintaining cultures. 

The ability to learn and use language is a quintessentially human characteristic—one that distinguishes homo sapiens from other animal species. Language is simultaneously generated through and generative of social life; the former is a primary resource that we humans use in both the structuring and accomplishment of the latter. These dynamics form the subject of study of linguistic anthropology.

This course is an introduction to linguistic anthropology. It is impossible in a single semester to provide a complete overview of all topics that linguistic anthropologists address, so this course covers selected topics, the selection of which is aimed to illustrate how linguistic anthropologists go about doing their work: the range of topics they examine, the kinds of questions they ask, the types of approaches and methods they utilize, and the sorts of conclusions they reach.