Fall 2005 Course Descriptions

Professor Don Robotham -History of Anthropological Theory
You can regard anthropological theory as trying to answer these related fundamental questions:

• What is the subject matter of this discipline?
• Given a particular definition of this subject matter, what are the concepts and methods appropriate to the study of this subject matter?
• What are the meanings of the concept of ‘culture’?
• What are the meanings of the concept of ‘society’?
• What are the meanings of the concepts of ‘class’, ‘race’, and ‘gender’?
• How do we understand ‘markets,’ ‘modes of production’ and ‘modernity’?
• How do we understand ‘globalization’?
• What is ‘poststructuralism’ and ‘postmodernism’?
• What are the implications of all of this for how human beings lived in the past and how they live today?

These are some of the questions theory is trying to answer. Through all the many complicated twists and turns, you should try to keep these basic questions in mind. Different theories provide different answers to these questions. You have to work out your own answers but not in a vacuum. The History of Anthropological Theory asks additional questions:

• How has theory attempted to answer the above questions in the past and what was the context out of which the central questions of theory arose?
• How have earlier theories affected contemporary anthropological theory and practice?

The course is organized around contrasting two central theoretical traditions which deeply shape anthropology and the world today: the civil society and the cultural tradition. The first is the Hobbes-Locke-Adam Smith tradition which expresses itself in both Marxism and Structural Functionalism and whose basic concept is that of ‘Society’. A central aspect of this tradition is the concept of ‘Modernity’ and the ‘Market.’ The second is the Boas tradition which expresses itself in cultural anthropology and whose central concept is ‘Culture’. The first tradition is embodied in notions of modernity and history as found in the works of Max Weber, for example. The second is ambivalent and even hostile towards the notions of the ‘Market’ and ‘Modernity’ and critical of technology, expressed, for example, in the work of Heidegger, Foucault and postmodernism.
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Prof. Vincent Crapanzano – Existentialism and Phenomenology.
This seminar will be devoted to readings in the philosophy, literature, and literary criticism influenced by phenomenology and existentialism. We will consider such questions as intentionality of consciousness, the priority of consciousness over existence or existence over consciousness, other minds, being/Being, nonbeing, bad faith, guilt, freedom, commitment, ethical responsibility, care, and despair. We will relate existentialism and phenomenology to individualism, nihilism, war, and revolution. Particular attention will be given to the problem of language in phenomenological description and existential hermeneutics. Readings will include selections from Husserl, Sartre, Heidegger, Binswanger, Jaspers, and Camus as well as (but not limited to) novels by Blanchot, Sartre, Sarraute, Camus, and Robbe-Grillet. They will also include critical writings by Gaston Bachelard, Georges Poulet. and f the “Geneva group.” Students will be encouraged to consider the relationship between phenomenology and existentialism and film, social and cultural description, and the “early” writings of post-structuralists like Foucault and Derrida.
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Professors Selma Botman and Beth Baron --- Approaches to the Study of the Middle East
This seminar will introduce students to major themes in the field of modern Middle East Studies in a range of disciplines, including history, art history, anthropology, sociology, political science, and comparative literature. The purpose of the course will be to outline the making of the field, with particular emphasis on the American academic context, and to examine the wide-ranging trends that have informed scholars and students alike. We will invite CUNY faculty to discuss their own research, and to set their writings within the context of disciplinary and theoretical debates in their fields of specialization. This pro-seminar will seek to broaden students' perspectives beyond their discipline and/or their country of specialization, and to acquaint them with the trends, methods, and issues that make up the field of Middle East Studies.
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Professor Leith Mullings -- Multiculturalism: Critical Perspectives on Culture, Class and Conflict
This course focuses on contemporary challenges of multiculturalism and cultural pluralism. We begin by exploring the ways in which relations of globalization have transformed constructions of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and other forms of difference. We then trace popular and academic notions of culture underlying public policy concerning race, ethnicity, class and immigration in the United States and other areas of the world. As we critically examine theories of multiculturalism and how these are played out in ‘neo-liberal,’ ‘corporate’ and ‘radical’ directions, we consider a range of sites characterized by competing concepts of culture and relations of power. Seminar participants are encouraged to explore specific problems of contemporary multi-ethnic societies.
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Professor David Harvey -- Geographical Thought and Theory
Geographical Thought and Theory entails a critical engagement with the history and present condition of conceptualizing geographical phenomena both within the discipline of geography and beyond. The central focus will be on the three concepts of place, space and environment and how geographical knowledges can best be deployed to better integrate our understanding of how physical and social processes interact to shape our contemporary world.
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Professors Gerald Creed and Katherine Verdery --Ethnology and Ethnography of Eastern Europe
This course introduces students to anthropological work in socialist and postsocialist Eastern Europe. It is organized around some exemplary monographs, selected to provide coverage of different countries/groups and topics, supplemented by an array of articles and chapters. Topics to be covered include collectivization, informality, privatization/restitution, consumption, gender and citizenship/nationalism. We will begin with a brief review of pre-socialist history and efforts to theorize socialism.
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Professor Ida Susser --Ethnology and Ethnography of the United States
This course considers theoretical approaches to ethnographic research in the United States. We will read ethnographies, both older works and contemporary research from a variety of perspectives, placing such works in the context of historical, political/economic and cultural analyses of the U.S. We will consider issues raised about conducting fieldwork research in the US, and questions related to reflexivity and political responsibility. In the light of the dramatic events the US is now experiencing, we will discuss changing approaches to empire, global relations, class and cultural representations of groups and power in the US.
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Professor David Harvey --Reading Marx’s Capital
A close reading, chapter by chapter and week by week, of the text of Volume One of Marx's Capital (Vintage Books edition).
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Professor Michael Blim -- Foundations of Anthropological Thought: Marx, Weber, Durkheim
This seminar closely examines the foundations of modern social theory. It is hoped that analysis of the works of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim will create not only specific understandings of their contributions to the understanding of the modern world, but will provide a sketch of the terrain upon which contemporary social thought is constructed.
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Professor Thomas McGovern -- Core Course in Archaeology
This course is intended as an introductory course for non-archaeological anthropology students. It attempts to give an abbreviated overview of methods and major issues in modern archaeology combined with a highly selective survey of major trends in prehistory. This is a rather tall order (globe + 4.5 mil. years), and the key words in the last sentence are "abbreviated" and "selective." You should realize that more coursework and outside reading will be desirable if you expect to do archaeology professionally, but this course is designed to give you some tools and ideas for teaching innocent undergrads later in life (yes, four-field courses do happen to nice people like you). Depending on your interests, you may find it useful to also sample archaeological regional courses dealing with your world area and investigate offerings on Hunter/Gatherers and Early States, all of which my be useful both theoretically and practically. You might find attendance at the Archaeology seminar series (usually Thursdays ca. 4:30-6:00) occasionally informative and interesting; see me for schedule and details. Should the subfield interest you more than you'd expected, feel free to contact me or any of the other archaeology faculty about fieldwork and additional courses. It is never too late to convert!
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PhD Program in Anthropology - The CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309
phone: 212.817.8005 fax: 212.817.1501 email:

This departmental publication supplements the official Bulletin of The Graduate School as well as the current Graduate Center Student Handbook and "Announcement of Courses."