Fall 2007 Course Descriptions

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 Michael Blim -- Key Debates in the Study of Capitalism
The object of the course is to examine those debates that underlie the understanding of the key changes in the operation and development of capitalism historically that have later been considered to be its “turning points.” The point of this analysis is to understand the extent to which these turning points, such as they are, not only signal a specific change in direction, but prefigure fundamental problems in capitalist development. Some of the cases to be analyzed include the nature of the transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe; the 17th Century economic crisis; colonialism and the rise of world systems from the 16th century onward; industrialization and its relation to European (and American expansion) in the 19th century; imperialism, particularly as it affected the growth of the international division of labor from the 19th century onward; colonial liberation movements and the failure of developmentalism; the seventies economic crack-up and its effects on the shape of the new world economy.
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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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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."