Fall
2003
Professor: Dr. Vicki Bradley Teaching
Assistant: Julie Coones
Office: 260D McElhinney Office: 258 McElhinney
Office Hours: TTH 10:30-11:15am Office
Hours:M1-2:30p;TTH2:30-3:30p
To Contact Professor: vbradley@uh.edu
To Contact TA: jcoones@uh.edu
Anthropology Dept: 233 McElhinney
(mailboxes for messages); (713) 743-3780
Important Notes:
1) This syllabus is subject to
modifications. It is each student’s responsibility
to attend class or otherwise obtain information on all changes.
2) No e-mailed
assignments will be accepted.
3) Late
assignments will be accepted no later than one
(1) class day after assignment is due and
grade will be reduced by 1/5th.
4) Make-up exams may be taken during the three school days after the exam. Make-up
exams
will cover the same material as the in-class exam.
5) If reasonable accommodations are required due to disabilities as defined in the
Disabilities
Act
of 1990, please notify the professor to discuss such
consideration.
In this course we will explore childhood as a phase in the life
cycle. Our main focus will be the ethnographic
study of childhood. We will read and discuss historical and contemporary
studies of children, families, and children’s caregivers in multiple societies.
We will seek to understand how anthropological
theories and methods influence ethnographic accounts of childhood. Of
particular importance will be the exploration of how societies enculturate children through the transmission of
culture from one generation to the next. We will investigate how culture shapes
childhood and how children shape culture. We will read and discuss the readings
critically, not to criticize, but to inform ourselves about the author’s
perspective and other contextual information.
Students will have the opportunity to reflect on and
share their own knowledge and experiences of childhood both from the
perspective of their past and as agents
of enculturation now (if applicable). The primary
goal of this course is to promote students’ practice of cultural relativism as
they compare and contrast cross-cultural differences of how children are
nurtured to become members of their particular societies.
Students are encouraged to make
comments and ask questions concerning the course content and format in three
ways: by asking questions during class, by placing written
comments and questions in the box in the
classroom and by e-mail to the
professor.
Readings – See this syllabus for the
course reading list. The objective of the readings is to become familiar with
childhood from an anthropological perspective.
Exams – There will be four exams
covering the following material: 1) Anthropology and Childhood; 2)
Ethnographies; 3) Chapter/Article Reports; 4) Interview Reports. The format and
content of the exams will be decided during the exam reviews held on the class
day before each exam. The objective of the exams is to provide students with a
procedure for learning the course material.
Journal Assignment – Students will keep a
journal about their subjective/emotional reactions to the reading assignments.
The journal will consist of twelve (12) entries and will be due each day before
class discussion begins and, to be graded on, after the reading assignments are
completed. The objective of the journals is to compare/contrast your own
knowledge and experiences with the information in the readings.
Chapter/Article Assignment – Students will read, complete
a one-page typed assignment, and report to the class on an article about
children in a non-Western culture. The assignment must be relevant to the
students’ own knowledge and experiences of childhood. The objective of the
assignment is to apply previously learned course material and to gain
experience in writing and reporting for the upcoming Interview Assignment.
Interview Assignment – Students will conduct an
interview using closed and open-ended interviewing techniques. Students will
choose a person to interview who was raised in a non-Western culture. The
assignment will include a write-up of the interview including a transcript of
the notes and an oral report to the class. The objective of the interview is to
discover firsthand about enculturation that differs from your own and to
practice the anthropological field method of interviewing.
Grades will be figured on a
100 point system:
100-93 = A; 92-90=A-;
89-87=B+; 86-83= B; 82-80=B-; 79-77=C+; 76-73=C; 72-70=C-, 69-67=D+, 66-63=D;
62-60=D-; 59-0 = F
Anthropology
and Childhood Exam 15
Ethnographies
Exam 15
Chapter/Article
Exam 10
Interview-Report
Exam 10
Journal
Assignment 12
Chapter/Article
Assignment
Written assignment 10
Report to the class 8
Interview
assignment
Transcript notes/written report 10
Report to the class 10
TOTAL 100
* Read the assignments before the day they are listed on the course outline*
* Readings are available at
the third floor Reserves Desk in the M.D. Anderson Library*
*”Japanese Lessons” and
“Street Children in Kenya” are also available at the bookstore*
Hirschfeld, Lawrence A.
2002 Why
Don’t Anthropologists Like Children? American Anthropologist 104(2):611-627.
Call # GN1.A5
UH main campus users only: Full text from General Science Full Text, Mar 1998-Dec 2002.
UH main campus users only: Full text from Social Sciences Text, Mar 1998-Dec 2002.
Schwartzman, Helen B.
2001 Children
and Anthropology: A Century of Studies. In
Children and Anthropology:
Perspectives for the 21st Century. Helen B. Schwartzman, ed.
Pp. 15-37. Westport, CN:
Bergin & Garvey.
Benedict, Ruth
1946 The
Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin
Company.
Singleton, John
1967 Nichu:
A Japanese School. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
* Reading to be announced.
LeVine, Robert A. and Barbara B. LeVine
1966 Nyansongo: A Gusii Community in
Kenya. New York: Wiley.
* Reading to be announced.
Benjamin, Gail R.
1997 Japanese
Lessons: A Year in a Japanese School through the Eyes of an
American Anthropologist and Her Children. New York: New York
University Press.
*See course outline for assigned readings.
Kilbride, Philip, Collette Suda,
and Enos Njeru
2001 Street Children
in Kenya: Voices of Children in Search of a Childhood.
Westport, CN:
Bergin & Garvey.
*See course outline for assigned readings.
* Read the assignments
BEFORE the day they are listed on the course outline*
Date
|
Day
|
Topic
|
Assignment
|
August 26
|
T
|
Introductions
|
Read syllabus
|
28
|
TH
|
Anthropology and Childhood
|
Hirschfeld
|
September 2
|
T
|
Classic Ethnographies
|
Schwartzman
|
4
|
TH
|
National Character Studies
|
Benedict
|
9
|
T
|
Case Studies Series
|
Singleton
|
11
|
TH
|
Six Cultures Series
|
LeVine and LeVine
|
16
|
T
|
Exam Review
|
Review
|
18
|
TH
|
EXAM
|
Exam
|
23
|
T
|
Japanese Lessons
|
Chapters 1-3
|
25
|
TH
|
Japanese Lessons
|
Chapters 4-6
|
30
|
T
|
Japanese Lessons
|
Chapters 7-9
|
October 2
|
TH
|
Japanese Lessons
|
Chapters 10-12
|
7
|
T
|
Street Children in Kenya
|
Chapters 1-4
|
9
|
TH
|
Street Children in Kenya
|
Chapters 5-7
|
14
|
T
|
Street Children in Kenya
|
Chapters 8-10
|
16
|
TH
|
Exam Review
|
Review
Journals
due
|
21
|
T
|
EXAM
|
Exam
|
23
|
TH
|
Chapter/Article Assignment
|
Overview
|
28
|
T
|
Interview Assignment
|
Overview
|
30
|
TH
|
Chapter/Article
|
Reports
|
November 4
|
T
|
Chapter/Article
|
Reports
|
6
|
TH
|
Exam Review
|
Review
One-Page
Reports due
|
11
|
T
|
EXAM
|
Exam
|
13
|
TH
|
Interview
|
Reports
|
18
|
T
|
Interview
|
Reports
|
20
|
TH
|
Student Work Day
|
Students complete
Interview assignments
|
25
|
T
|
Interview
|
Reports
Interview
assignment due
|
27
|
TH
|
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
|
NO CLASS
|
December 2
|
T
|
Exam Review
|
Review
|
4
|
TH
|
EXAM
|
Exam
|