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Spring 2002

Anthropology 358/ WOST 358

T-Th 2:00-3:15 Hamilton 201

Professor Kasakoff

Brettell, Caroline B. and Carolyn F. Sargent 2001 Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. (3rd ed) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Abu-Lughod, Lila 1993 Writing Women’s Worlds: Bedouin Stories. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.

Ahearn, Laura 2001 Invitations to Love: Literacy, Love Letters, and Social Change in Nepal. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.

Course Content: This class will introduce students to gender roles and their "cultural construction" in several cultures including American cultures today. We will ask what factors influence these roles. There will be three overarching themes: gender, i.e. the complementary relationship between ideas about femininity and those about masculinity in every society; the importance of viewing customs alongside those of other cultures so that they are seen as culturally determined instead of natural; and "agency", the possibilities for resisting powerful forces which structure gender within every society. We will read two ethnographies which situate women in the family in two cultures: Bedouins in Egypt and Nepali villagers. Both stress individuals, how they live within and sometimes resist the dominant gender roles. We will reflect upon our ability, as outsiders but world citizens, to draw parallels between these lives and the issues we face in our own lives and ways , as members of a powerful culture, we might fruitfully encourage change around the world.

Course Presentation: There will be lectures, discussion, and films. The ethnographies are the core readings. Readings from them will be interspersed with readings from the Brettel and Sargent reader.

Midterms: There will be a combination of a long essay given in advance but written in class without notes (5 paragraphs), shorter essays (2 paragraphs) and identifications.

Commentaries: During weeks when the class is reading several articles from the Reader each student will write a commentary on one of them (to be assigned) and bring it to class where it will be the basis for discussion. Each student will take on the role of group facilitator once during the semester. No late commentaries will be accepted.

Reports: Students will choose an issue from the list below. I will consider other suggestions as well. There will be oral reports by the group at the end of the class, as well as an individual written report. The written report must show how the principles for approaching gender I use in this class would apply to that issue, and make use of at least two sources outside of class materials to illuminate some particular aspect of the issue. Be adventurous: these may be web sites, intervirews, news articles, or videos.

Evaluation:

Midterms…………………………………. 50% (25% each)

Report……………………………………….30 %

Commentaries…………………………….15 % (best 3 out of 4)

Attendance, Class Discussion……….. 5 %

Issues for Reports: 1. Gender in Islamic Societies: Are Women Oppressed ? 2. Female Genital Operations in Africa: Should they be eliminated and, if so, how ? 3. AIDS and Gender in Africa: How can the epidemic be slowed ? 4. AIDS and Gender in the USA: How can the epidemic be slowed ? 5. Rape on College Campuses in the USA: How to stop it ? 6. Are Boys (or girls) short changed in the USA today ? 7. The Beauty Myth: Is Physical Appearance too Important in the USA today ?

Extra Credit: Students may get up to 5 % extra credit in the class by attending outside lectures or events and turning in a commentary on them. (Usually 2 points each.)

Attendance: I will take attendance several times during the semester. Students will lose points from their final grades after 3 unexcused absences. Work is not a valid excuse for missing class.

Make Ups: Students who miss an exam must make it up as soon as possible. They will need a medical excuse.

Getting in Touch with Dr. Kasakoff: My office is Hamilton 307. My Office Hours: T-T 11:00-12:15, W 11:15-12:05, or by appointment. Call 7-6979 or leave a message at 7-6500. Best way is to email me at Kasakoff@sc.edu.

Class Courtesy: This class deals with controversial topics. We will not all agree but I would like us all to learn from each other. I would like you to treat everyone, including those who express views with which you do not agree, with respect. If you have to leave early, I would like to know before class begins.

Audience: No prior anthropology is required. Students in all fields welcome. However, we will be employing an anthropological approach and every student is expected to learn what this is before the first mid-term.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Introduction: Culture and Biology

Week 1 (January 15, 17): Women, Men and Anthropology: An Evolving Relationship; Some Principles for Discussing Gender and Culture

Abu-Lughod, Preface, Introduction

First Group Meeting for Report

Week 2 (January 22, 24): Culture and Biology: Violence, Hunting

Brettel & Sargent : Smuts, Griffin and Griffin

Film: Sex Games

Week 3 (January 29, 31): Domestic Worlds and Public Worlds, Gender, Household and Kinship: Multiple Perspectives

Week 4 (February 5, 7): Domestic and Public Worlds, the Family: Bedouin Case

Abu-Lughod, Chapters 1 & 2

Film: A Veiled Revolution

Second Group Meeting for Report

Week 5 (February 12, 14): Parenting : Multiple Perspectives

Brettel & Sargent: Etienne, Scheper-Hughes, Hewlett, Townsend, Ragone

Week 6: (February 19, 21): Parenting: Bedouin Case

Abu-Lughod, Chapter 3

Second Group Meeting for Report

Film: Masaai Women

Week 7: (February 26, 28): Gender in Rituals

Abu-Lughod, Chapter 4

Brettel & Sargent: Abu-Lughod, McIntosh

Part Two: Gender, Development and Change

Week 8: (March 5, 7): Change: Bedouin Case

Abu-Lughod, Chapter 5

Film: My Journey, My Islam

Week 9: (March 19, 21): Nepal Introduction

Ahearn, Chapters 1-3

Film: Man to Man

Third Group Meeting for Report.

Week 10: (March 26, 28): Gender, Marriage and Sexuality: Multiple Perspectives

Brettel & Sargent: Watson, Herdt, Blackwood, Yelvington, Gilmore

Films: A Joking Relationship, Beauty Before Age

Week 11 ( April 2, 4): Gender, Marriage and Sexuality: Nepal Case

Ahearn, Chapters 4-6

Film: My Husband Doesn’t Mind if I Disco

Fourth Group Meeting for Report

Week 12: (April 9, 11): Development and the Global Economy: Multiple Perspectives

Brettel & Sargent: Van Allen, Lockwood, Cairoli

Film: The Women’s Bank of Bangladesh

Week 13: (April 16, 18): Development: Nepal Case

Ahearn, Chapters 7-10

Weeks 14, 15 (April 23, 25, 30): Group Reports

The above list is tentative and subject to change.

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