Course Offerings 2005-06
 

Fall 2005	Language, Culture and Thought  (separate graduate and undergraduate sections)
Winter 2006	On Leave
Spring 2006	On Leave
Autumn 2006	On Leave
Autumn 2006	Spoken Yucatec Maya  (on leave, but will supervise this year-long course)

Course Descriptions
 

Language, Culture, and Thought  (HD 219/319, Psych 219/319, Anthro 276/376)  (Recent Syllabus)  This is a survey course exploring the role of natural language in shaping human thought. The topic will be taken up at three levels: semiotic-evolutionary (the role of natural language in enabling distinctively human forms of thinking--the rise of true concepts and self-consciousness), structural-comparative (the role of specific language codes in shaping habitual thought--the "linguistic relativity" of experience), and functional-discursive (the role of specialized discursive practices and linguistic ideologies in cultivating specialized forms of thought--the pragmatics, politics, and aesthetics of reason and expression). Readings will be drawn from many disciplines but will emphasize developmental, cultural, and critical approaches. Class time will be divided between lecture and discussion.

Advanced Topics in Language, Culture, and Thought  (HD 41900/Anthro 47605) This course examines more intensively one or more of the topics discussed in HD 319, Language, Culture, and Thought.  The focus in Winter 2005 will be on the relationship between the development of narrative and discursive skills in middle childhood (roughly ages 6-12) and the emergence of higher order intellectual skills.  Among the topics to be considered will be reported speech, metapragmatic skills, temporal and perspectival structure of narratives, hypothetical/counterfactual reasoning, and theory of mind. Readings will include theoretical proposals, literature reviews, and case studies.

Language Socialization  (HD 354, Psych 255/355, Anthro 276/356)  (Recent Syllabus)  The course surveys research on language socialization with an eye toward understanding the role of language structure and use in shaping psychological and cultural functioning. Examples of research from a wide variety of languages and cultures and across different ages illustrate the diversity of issues that an adequate theoretical perspective must encompass. Two full ethnographic case studies serve to illustrate how the different topics intersect with each other and with other aspects of culture. Finally, the course considers the implications of this avenue of research for current problems in our own society.

Theories of Self  (HD 427) (Recent Syllabus)  This course examines influential theories of self formation and functioning especially with respect to how the theories handle social interaction and verbal communication. The course emphasizes close reading, analysis, and discussion of basic texts representative of major approaches.

Self, Culture, and Society I  (SS 12100)  (Recent Syllabus)  In this quarter we explore the nature and development of modern society through an examination of theories of capitalism. The classic social theories of Smith, Marx, and Weber, along with contemporary ethnographic and historical works, serve as points of departure for considering the characterizing features of the modern world, with particular emphasis on its social-economic structure and issues of work, the texture of time, and economic globalization.

Spoken Yucatec Maya  (Anthro 27901-2-3, 47901-2-3, Ling 47901-2-3)  (Recent Syllabus) Top  |  Home Instructor:  J. Lucy,  Co-instructors: G. Bevington, S. Gaskins Basic introduction to the modern Yucatec Maya language, an indigenous American language spoken by about 750,000 people in southeastern Mexico. Three consecutive quarters of instruction will be offered for those aiming at basic and intermediate proficiency. Students receiving FLAS support must take all three quarters. Others may elect to take only the first quarter or first two quarters.  Students wishing to enter the course midyear (e.g., those with prior experience with the language) must seek explicit permission from the Instructor.  Materials exist for a second year of the course; interested students should consult with the Instructor.  Students wishing to continue their training with native speakers in Mexico may apply for FLAS funding in the summer to support such efforts. Structure of the Course. The emphasis will be on learning the rudiments of the contemporary spoken language to enable further work on the language (or related ones) or to facilitate the use of the language for other historical or anthropological projects. Regularly scheduled class time will be evenly divided between practice in speaking and hearing the language and discussion of the language. A workshop hour will be devoted to more intensive discussion of particular topics. Discussions in the autumn quarter will outline the basic grammar, introduce the most useful existing resources (grammars, dictionaries, text collections, etc.), and provide some brief introduction as necessary to the Mayan language family, Yucatecan culture, and colonial history. Discussions in the winter quarter will treat the grammar in much greater detail focusing on salient linguistic problems posed by Yucatec especially in the areas of morphology and semantics. Discussions in the spring quarter will consider pragmatic or usage issues as well as practical research work with the language. When possible, arrangements will be made in the spring term for involvement of a native speaker and of  visiting linguists.

Intensive Study of a Culture: Lowland Maya History and Ethnography (Anthro 21230/30705, HD 20400/30401)        (Syllabus) Top  |  Home This seminar surveys patterns of cultural continuity and discontinuity in the lowland Maya area of southeastern Mexico from the time of Spanish contact until the present.  The survey encompasses the dynamics of first contact, long term cultural accommodations achieved during colonial rule, disruptions introduced by state and market forces during the early postcolonial period, the status of indigenous communities in the twentieth century, and new social, economic, and political challenges being faced today by the contemporary peoples of the area.  A variety of traditional theoretical concerns of the broader Mesoamerican region will be stressed, for example, the validity of reconstructive ethnography, theories of agrarian community structure, religious revitalization movements, and the constitution of identity categories such as indigenous, Mayan, Yucatecan, etc.  In this respect, the course can serve as a general introduction to the anthropology of the region.  The relevance of these areal patterns for general anthropological debates about the nature of culture, history, identity, and social change will also be highlighted.