Syllabus for Roster(s):
- 13F ANTH 3590-003 (CGAS)
Anthropology of Time and Space
ANTH 3590-003 (19555) Frederick H. Damon
MW 5:00-6:15 New Cabell Hall 268 206 Brooks Hall
Monday, December 16, 2013, 12 Noon 924-6826//fhd@virginia.edu OH: M&F: 11-13 & by appointment
Anthropology of Time and Space
Syllabus
All societies position themselves in space and time. This course samples the anthropological discussion of the ways social systems have configured spatiotemporal orders. We will consider both internalized conceptions of time and space and the way an analyst might view space and time as external factors orientating a society’s existence. Class discussion will go from classic considerations to current work, from small to large scale social systems, “pre-modern” and “modern” societies. What are the differences between these scales and kinds of societies? Students will be responsible for producing up totwo short essays (4-5 pages) about texts considered by the class as a whole and a research paper (approximately 20 pages [18-30]) devoted to a single society or part of the world. Joint projects are encouraged. Class time will be divided between lecture format and discussion, increasingly turning to the latter as we move towards the end of the semester and each student concentrates on his or her own project. This course should satisfy the second writing requirement. Quizzes may be given for attendance purposes and to move you towards your final research project.
Books Available for Purchase
Primitive Classification, Durkheim and Mauss, U Chicago Press 9780226173344
At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky: An Andean Cosmology (1982) Gary Urton 10: 0292704046
ETERNAL FRONTIER – 1999 Timothy Flannery 0-8021-3888-8
BY NOON PRAYER: The Rhythm of Islam (2008) El Guindi, Fadwa 978 1 84520 097 8
I. INTRODUCTION—anthropological foundations
A. Introduction to course scope, history and potential projects. 8/28
B. Considering Durkheim and Mauss’s Primitive Classifications (1903)? 8/28-9/16
Granet, Marcel, "The right and left in China" (1933)
C. The Next Steps
Claude Lévi-Strauss , “Do Dual Organizations Exist” (ca. 1956) 9/18-9-23
Gary Urton At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky: An Andean Cosmology (1982) 9/25-10/7
October 9, Class Discussion of 1st paper drafts
October 11, 5pm First Papers Due
II. ‘EXTERNALITIES’?
A: Totalizing the environment? 10/16-10/28
Tim Flannery ETERNAL FRONTIER (1999)
B. Totalizing Social Systems? 10/30-11/11
On the work of G. William Skinner and Immanuel Wallerstein
1). G. William Skinner 1964 “Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China: Part I” in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 24(1): 3-43.
2). Alfred Gell 1982 “The Market Wheel: Symbolic Aspects of an Indian Tribal Market” Man n.s. 17(3) 470-491.
3).
4). Charles D. Piot 1992 “Wealth Production, Ritual Consumption, and Center/Periphery Relations in a West African Regional System” American Ethnologist, Vol. 19(1): 34-52.
11/13 Open Class Discussion of 2nd Papers
2nd Papers Due
III. ‘INTERNALITIES’
Nancy Munn 1992 “THE CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF TIME: A CRITICAL ESSAY. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTHROPOLOGY Volume 21, 1992: 93-123.
- Calendars
1). El Guindi, Fadwa BY NOON PRAYER: The Rhythm of Islam (2008)
2). “Monsoon in Traditional Culture” (South Asia) by Francis Zimmermann MONSOONS EDITED BY Jay S. Fein, Pamela L. Stephens National Science Foundation. New York: A Wiley-Interscience Publication of John Wiley & Sons.
3). Helmer Aslaksen Mathematics of the Chinese Calendar, Department of Mathematics, National University of Singapore, March 2006 draft.
- Production Systems
1). E.E. Evans-Pritchard Chapter 3, “Time and Space” from The Nuer.
2). D. P. Thompson 1967 “Time, Work-discipline, and Industrial Capitalism” Past and Present, #38:56-97.
- From the Villages to the Cities (…and across the waters?): Transportation systems and Time and Space
1). Tba about transportation systems and time and space.
FINAL RESEARCH PAPER
15-30 PAGES
DUE, 12/16/13 12 NOON