Syllabic Cycles—Reflexivity (a)

On this date on Round and Square's History 

23 August 2013—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-23
23 August 2013—From the Geil Archive: Orator
23 August 2012—The New Yorker and the World: Course Description (b)
23 August 2011—Displays of Authenticity: Sacred Objects

Click here for the other half of this two-part syllabus post:

HIST 310/ANTH 375: Weeks 1-8                  HIST 310/ANTH 375: Weeks 9-16

[a] Bridges to understanding RF

Reflexivity
History 310/Anthropology 375
Autumn 2014
TTh 7:10-11:00 PM

Robert André LaFleur                                                             Office Hours:

Morse Ingersoll 111                                                                 Tuesday           12:00-1:30

363-2005                                                                                   Thursday         12:00-1:30

lafleur@beloit.edu                                                                    …or by appointment

Required Books           
         Come to class before buying books!
Malinowski, Bronislaw, A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term
Moran, Dermot. The Phenomenology Reader
Rosaldo, Renato. Culture and Truth
Bourdieu, Pierre. An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Tristes Tropiques
Riesman, Paul. Freedom in Fulani Social Life
Stoller, Paul. In Sorcery's Shadow
Trosset, Carol. Welshness Performed
Jackson, Michael. Between One and One and Another
Harline, Craig. Connections
Kohut, Thomas. A German Generation
Brekus, Catherine. Sarah Osborne's World 
Levin, Roger. A Living Man From Africa
Sachs, Aaron. Arcadian America 

Reserve Books (available for purchase, but multiple copies are on reserve)  
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. Confessions

Course Description 

Is the researcher and writer of history or anthropology a part of the “analytical” story s/he tells? What about other disciplines, ranging from economics and art history to biology and linguistics? In this advanced seminar, we will examine the role of the researcher plays in her research, and the narrative conventions developed in several fields (but particularly in cultural anthropology) that give explicit recognition to her place in both the inquiry and the eventual publication. We will study the history of reflexivity in the field of anthropology, noting in particular the profound change that took place between roughly 1955 and 1975, which led several writers to emphasize their research roles in their published work. From there, we will examine ethnographies and histories that test the “borders” between “explanation,” “interpretation,” and “self-absorption.” Finally, we will consider the larger question of whether various academic fields should consider the role of the researcher in their own publications. The approach will be historical and anthropological in the widest senses. Students from all disciplines are welcome, and those with an interest (but who lack the prerequisites) should consult the instructor well in advance for permission and background readings.

Evaluation

Quizzes                       15% 

Reflexivity Letter         15%
Short Assignments     10%
Extended Topics         15%
Seminar Paper            45%
Class attendance and participation is expected.  

See my class attendance and participation policy.

Late assignments will be penalized—see my late assignment policy.

Reflexivity
HIST 310/ANTH 375

Week I 

(August 26)

Film: Geil of Doylestown (in-class Tuesday)
From the Geil Archive (read all nine posts)  
     Introduction 
     1-Southern Mountain Museum
     2-Sacred Mountain Map
     3-Hat and Cattle
     4-Seeking Anthropology
     5-Curly Fives
     6-How to Write the Book
     7-Mortarboard Man
     8-Orator
Malinowski, A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term
     Selections 

Round and Square      Syllabic Cycles:Introduction (a-d)  
     Read all four posts, not just “a.” 
New York Review of Books
    Read the cover, the "front matter," and the first essay

Week II 

Bourdieuvian Reflexivity

(September 2)

Moran, The Phenomenology Reader, 1-77 
     Editor's Introduction
     Franz von Brentano: Intentionality and the Practice of Descriptive Psychology
          Introduction
          Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint
          The Distinction Between Mental and Physical Phenomena
          Descriptive Psychology or Descriptive Phenomenology
          Letter to Anton Marty
     Edmund Husserl: Founder of Phenomenology
            Introduction
            Introduction to the Logical Investigations
Bourdieu, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology
          Toward A Social Praxeology
          The Purpose of Reflexive Sociology
          The Practice of Reflexive Sociology
          Appendices
Round and Square 
Quotidian Quizzes:Introduction (a-h) 
Read all eight posts, not just “a.” 
New York Review of Books See separate New York Review of Books syllabus 
 

Week III

Lonely Tropes
 (September 9)

Moran, The Phenomenology Reader, 78-133
     Edmund Husserl: Founder of Phenomenology (continued)
          Consciousness as Intentional Experience 
          The Phenomenology of Internal Time Consciousness
          Pure Phenomenology, its Method, and its Field of Investigation
Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques
          An End to Journeying
          Travel Notes
          The New World
          The Earth and Its Inhabitants
          Caduveo
          Bororo
          Nambikwara
          Tupi-Kawahib
          The Return
Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus 
New York Review of Books See separate New York Review of Books syllabus 

Read the Reflexivity Letter Assignment (due September 28)

See my Late Assignment Policy

Week IV

Fulani Freedom
(September 16)

Moran, The Phenomenology Reader, 134-196
     Adolf Reinach: The Phenomenology of Social Acts
          Introduction
          Concerning Phenomenology
     Edmund Husserl: Founder of Phenomenology (continued)
          Noesis and Noema
          The Way into Phenomenological Transcendental Philosophy...
Riesman, Freedom in Fulani Social Life
          Preface by Paul Stoller
          Introduction
     The Tawaangal of the Jelgobe
          Climate and Technology
          The Social Organization of Jelgoji
          Fulani Social Structure
          Life in the Wuro: Categories of People and Tasks
          Authority Relations in the Wuro
          Religion
          Pulaaku and Semteende: Fulani-ness and Shame
     Life as Lived
          Jelgobe Attitudes Toward Life
          Keeping Society Going
          Relations Between People
          How to Resist Others
          Wuro and Ladde: The Village and the Bush
Riesman, First Find Your Child a Good Mother
          Preface, by David Szanton
          Prologue: Burkina Faso, 1974-1976: A Personal Memoir by Suzanne Riesman
          Reflexivity in Humanistic Anthropology, by Lila Abu-Lughod
          Introduction
Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus 
New York Review of Books See separate New York Review of Books syllabus 

Read the Reflexivity Letter Assignment (due September 28)

See my Late Assignment Policy 

Week V

Sorcery's Shadow
(September 23)

Moran, The Phenomenology Reader, 197-242
     Max Scheler, Phenomenology of the Person
          Introduction
          The Being of the Person
     Edith Stein: Phenomenology and the Interpersonal
          Introduction
          On the Problem of Empathy
Stoller, In Sorcery's Shadow
          Prologue
          Acknowledgments
          Personae
     I—1976-1977
          Mehanna
          A Lesson in Survey Research
          Discussion in Groups
          Guided Interpretations
          Two Birds in the Rafters Are Better Than One in the Bush
          Sorko Djibo
          An Apprentice's First Mission
          Immersed in Texts
          Wanzerbe
          Initiation
          Witches
          A Tonic For Work
          Between Sound and Shadow
          Tillaberi
          The Young Souhanci
          Asking Questions
          Prison Years
          The Coming of Serci
          Words of Protection
          Vengeance For the Powerful
     II—1979-80
          Frightening Discoveries
          Evidence of Power
          Repelled By the Cold in Ayoru
          An Interpretation
          The Path to Wanzerbe
          A Test of Hardness
     III—1981
          Rites of Clairvoyance
          Sohanci Business
          Journey Under The River
          Amadu Zima
          An Invitation From Kassey
          A Father and His Son
          Fatouma
          Kassey
     IV—1984
          Power in the Compound
          A Lecture on Medicine
          Mehanna Revisited
          The Way of the Cowry
          Showdown With Djibo
          Last Stand in Wanzerbe
          Epilogue: In Sorcery's Shadow
Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus 
New York Review of Books See separate New York Review of Books syllabus 

Reflexivity Letter Due in my Office by 10:00 p.m. on September 28

See my Late Assignment Policy 

Week VI

Welshness Performed
(September 30)

Moran, The Phenomenology Reader, 243-308
     Martin Heidegger: Hermeneutical Phenomenology and Fundamental Ontology
          My Way to Phenomenology
          The Fundamental Discoveries of Phenomenology
          The Phenomenological Method of Investigation
          The Worldhood of the World
Trosset, Welshness Performed
          Introduction
          Degrees of Welshness
          Alternative Sectarian Loyalties
          The Sources of Status
          Egalitarian Personal bonds
          Acting for the Group
          Persons as Performers
          Being and Emotional Person
          Welsh Senses of Self
Round and Square 
     See separate Round and Square syllabus
New York Review of Books 
     See separate New York Review of Books syllabus*
     *Review the "Questions to Ask of Every NYRB Essay" regularly.

Week VII

In-Between
(October 7)

Moran, The Phenomenology Reader, 309-374
     Hans Georg Gadamer: Phenomenology, Hermeneutics and Tradition
           Introduction
           Elements of a Theory of Hermeneutic Experience
     Hannah Arendt: Phenomenology of the Public World
           Introduction
           What is Existenz Philosophy?
           Labor, Work, Action
Jackson, Between One and One Another
          The Philosopher Who Would Not Be King
          Hermit in the Water of Life
          Writing Workshop
          How Much Home Does a Person Need?
          Clearings in the Bush
          The Gulf of Corinth
          It's Other People Who Are My Old Age
          Objects in the Mirror are Closer Than They Appear
          I Am an Other
          Reading Siddhartha to Freys at Forest Lake
          On the Work and Writing of Ethnography
Round and Square See separate Round and Square syllabus 
New York Review of Books See separate New York Review of Books syllabus 

Week VIII

(Midterm Break)

Recommended Reading

Rousseau, Confessions

Click here for the other half of this two-part syllabus post:

HIST 310/ANTH 375: Weeks 1-8                  HIST 310/ANTH 375: Weeks 9-16 

[b] Windows RF