Anthropology 591: Craft, Objects, People

Anthropology 591: Craft, Objects, People

Clare Wilkinson

Friday, 1:10-3:40pm

Aims of the course

The course aim is to explore some theoretical and methodological issues concerning the relationship of people to the things they make, use and exchange; the relationships among people that these productions and transactions generate and feed off; and not least, whether we can meaningfully talk about relationships among those objects we make, or the environments we shape, without there always having to be a human mediator.

By the end of the course, in addition to having a strong grasp upon a cross-section of critical literature on material culture in all its dimensions, I hope that students will have found ways to incorporate some new theory and practice into their own projects.

Although the “turn” to material culture in the US dates back to the 1980s, it is Europe that is generally farther ahead in the theorization of body, object, and practice at the moment. The literature covered in this class falls under a “material culture” heading that mostly diverges in some obvious ways from other areas of the discipline that are dubbed “materialist.” Archaeology, for example, frequently gravitates more towards quantitative methods, while Marxist-inspired studies of production in socio-cultural anthropology are primarily concerned with relations of production, wealth disparities and so forth. That said, scholars who combine the many threads that COULD potentially exist within “material culture” (labor relations, commodity fetishism, heritage ideology) do this in many different ways. A certain theoretical eclecticism is not unusual, in which elements of political economy, say, and scientific anthropology can certainly appear.

My hope in this class, aside from facilitating robust discussion of the many topics that material culture touches (e.g. reciprocity, inequality, the body in the landscape, the anthropocene) is to enhance your individual projects by giving you the structure and context in which to investigate the uses and meanings of objects in your project. To this end, while I want to keep Tilley and Clarke as our core texts, I hope you will bring findings from the readings you do for your own projects to class discussion as well.

Readings

C. Tilley et al. Handbook of Material Culture

A J. Clarke ed Design Anthropology

Readings from week one onwards will also be uploaded into the WSU Vancouver Anthropology website (which you can access using the password anth591wilkinson. This is so we can then use hypothes.is collaboratively, which is a hosting service that allows a class to comment on pdfs privately.

Our group in hypothes.is is “Anth 591.” No-one but us can see these annotations. Here is the special invite to the group so you can sign up.

https://hypothes.is/groups/yynrWxZY/anth-591

Requirements

1.  Regular attendance, active and engaged participation in class, including preparing questions, discussion points and so on for each class. I expect all of you to be ready to come to class with something to START the class off with as a discussion point (you don’t need to hand anything in). We will all die of boredom if it’s just me droning on for two class sessions. Your ideas for a contribution can come from the annotations in hypothes.is. Failing that, use the template below to help you get started (20 points).

2.  One term paper – this will be a substantial essay that will give you the opportunity to pursue a line of inquiry that is particularly relevant to your own research program. Topic will be discussed in detail with me before you start, and at regular intervals as you proceed (50 points)

3.  Presentation on the papers in the final week of class (30 points)

*The points here are more of a guideline to the weight of each item rather than a strict allocation of marks. As graduate students, I expect commitment and engaged inquiry, rendering the points for “attendance” etc. somewhat redundant. However, I include these here to give you a sense of the different ways in which I will be evaluating your performance in the class.

Other important issues:

Students with Disabilities: Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a disability and need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please either visit or call the Access Center (Washington Building 217; 509-335-3417) to schedule an appointment with an Access Advisor. All accommodations MUST be approved through the Access Center.

Campus closure and emergencies: http://police.wsu.edu/InclementWeather.html

Finally…

Goals – in terms of the larger goals of graduate education, this class will be helpful in developing skills in methods, analysis and communication.

Reading response template

1.  Taking all the readings for the week into consideration, what was MOST striking or surprising to you?

2.  What questions do you have about any of the content?

3.  What other readings in this class or other ones does the current reading connect to and how?

4.  Where is there a possible connection to your own work (optional).

Class schedule

Week / Date / Topic / Reading (recommended in italics)
1 / Jan 12 / Some course themes: thinking about materiality, and objects in fieldwork inquiry / Introductions to Tilley and Clarke
2 / Jan 19 / Theoretical trends, core issues / Küchler in Clarke; Olsen, van Dommelen in Tilley
3 / Jan 26 / Forms of inquiry / Bezaitis and Robinson, Molotch in Clarke; Eastop in Tilley
4 / Feb 2 / Prehistory/humanity: evolution and the role of culture / Lane in Tilley; Vaesen pdf (Mauss pdf recommended)
5 / Feb 9 / Body and senses / Choose two: Farquhar, Howes, in Tilley; Suri in Clarke; Hogle (pdf)
6 / Feb 16 / Persons and personhood / Carrier in Tilley; EITHER Miller and Parrott pdf OR Fortis pdf
7 / Feb 23 / Makers, craft and their discontents / Garvey, Makovicky in Clarke; Cant (pdf)
8 / Mar 2 / Flow, collections and collectors: the construction of things and the people who make them / Kopytoff pdf; Foster, and either Myers or Strathern
9 / Mar 9 / Designs for living – the human scape / Choose two: Schneider, St. George, Blier, Buchli; Miller and Young in Clarke
Mar 16 - SPRING BREAK
10 / Mar 23 / Landscapes and substances – shaping and remembering with the environment / Bender in Tilley (recommended: Connerton in Tilley); A. Moore (pdf) Davies et al (pdf)
11 / Mar 30 / Curation, conservation, and memorialization – the material culture of public memory / Choose two: Belk, Butler, Shelton, Rowlands and Tilley (in Tilley);
12 / Apr 6 / Immaterial things? / DeNicola in Clarke; Eglash in Tilley; Belk (pdf) plus short articles by Fish (pdf) and Lehdonvirta (pdf)
13 / Apr 13 / Life and death of the object / Lock; Harmanşah; TBD
14 / Apr 20 / PRESENTATIONS OF PROJECTS
15 / Apr 27 / PRESENTATIONS OF PROJECTS
16 / FINAL PAPERS DUE BY END OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY MAY 2