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 Katherine Verdery -- Anthropological Approaches to Property
This course introduces some of the ways anthropologists have studied property--once a prime subject in the discipline--and some important contemporary issues relating to it.  We will read from the work of Locke, Maine, Fustel de Coulanges, Malinowski, and Gluckman, and we will consider topics such as cultural property, intellectual property, post-socialist privatization, common property, and bio-information.  The aim is to encourage students' further work in the area, which is of major significance in the global economy.
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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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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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last modified 08.24.07
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