Cognitive Anthropology . . . sample syllabus
Anth 376 / SSP 461-011. Dr. John B. Gatewood
Culture and the Individual 10C Price Hall #40
Spring, 2008 ("Writing Intensive") 758-3814 / JBG1
OUTLINE
This course is about the relation between culture and the individual. The
question to bear in mind is: How does the cultural milieu into which an
individual is born influence that person's personality development and
cognitive processes? During the semester, we shall survey the literature in
two sub-fields of anthropology -- the culture and personality school and
cognitive anthropology -- to see how anthropologists have tried to answer these
questions.
The course is divided into three parts. First, we briefly discuss what is
meant in speaking of "culture" and of "personality." This brief introductory
section is intended to deepen your grasp of basic concepts. Second, we take up
the work of the culture and personality school in anthropology. Studies of
this genre were done mostly between the 1930's and the early 1960's, although
there is a contemporary revival. Third, we move to the cross-cultural study of
cognition, or thought processes, which is an active research area involving
anthropologists, psychologists, and linguists. After an historical overview of
the major currents in cognitive anthropology, we will learn some of the
specialized data collection techniques now in vogue in the field. Following
the methodological digression, we shall focus more deeply on a few specific
topics: the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, cultural models inherent in folk
classification systems, personal versus collective representations, and
intracultural variability.
The format of this course is mostly discussion. Some days, however, especially
during the first few weeks of the semester, I will lecture in order to
introduce topics not in the readings or to speed coverage of the culture and
personality material. Whether a given period turns out to be primarily
discussion or lecture, you are responsible for carefully reading the
assignments, sifting out their important points, and evaluating their
arguments BEFORE coming to class. Of course, I shall be helping you, but I
want you to learn to read primary literature by yourself.
MATERIALS
There are two "course packets" and two paperback books required for this
course. The two books are available from the University Bookstore, whereas the
two course packets will be distributed in class (with reimbursement for
xeroxing costs to be collected). Listed in the order we will use them, the
materials are as follows:
COURSE PACKET #1. Barnouw, Victor (1985) Culture and Personality, 4th
Edition. Belmont, Ca.: Wadsworth Publishing. [chapters 1 through 10,
plus references and glossary]
D'Andrade, Roy G. (1995) The Development of Cognitive Anthropology. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
Weller, Susan C., and A. Kimball Romney (1988) Systematic Data
Collection. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
COURSE PACKET #2. About 17 articles, book chapters, and papers by
various authors.
REQUIREMENTS
Your grade in the course will be determined by a variety of assignments.
Briefly, the course requirements are as follows:
One short essay (early in semester) 20 points
In-class exam covering Course Packet #1 readings 200 points
Take-home exam covering D'Andrade's book 100 points
Article critiques (2 x 20 points each) 40 points
In-class exam covering Course Packet #2 readings 200 points
Research paper (about 15 pages) 200 points
Class participation 40 points
Total = 800 points
Note that attendance is required. Also, you should read all assignments in
advance of the period for which they are assigned. In this way, our discussion
of them is more profitable.
SCHEDULE OF TOPICS
Part I: Psychological and Cultural Levels of Behavior
1. Jan 14 (M) Introductory Remarks
Barnouw (1985), pp. 3-4 & 8-11
2. Jan 16 (W) Personality and Culture as Phenomenal Levels
Barnouw (1985), pp. 4-8
3. Jan 18 (F) Personality and Culture as Analytical Perspectives
Barnouw (1985), pp. 4-8
4. Jan 21 (M) Models of "Core of Personality" and How Each Views the
Relation between Culture and Personality
Barnouw (1985), pp. 11-33
5. Jan 23 (W) Models of "Core of Personality" (continued)
Barnouw (1985), pp. 11-33
Part II: Culture and Personality
6. Jan 25 (F) History of the Notion of Social Character
Barnouw (1985), pp. 34-55
7. Jan 28 (M) Configurationalist Approaches: Ruth Benedict
Barnouw (1985), pp. 59-75
8. Jan 30 (W) Configurationalist Approaches: Morris Opler and
E. Adamson Hoebel
Barnouw (1985), pp. 72-73
9. Feb 1 (F) Configurationalist Approaches: Margaret Mead
Barnouw (1985), pp. 94-109
10. Feb 4 (M) Configurationalist Approaches: Gregory Bateson
Barnouw (1985), pp. 74-75 & 120-127
11. Feb 6 (W) Cultural Relativism versus Human Nature: Sigmund Freud,
Bronislaw Malinowski, and the Universality of the Oedipus
Complex
Barnouw (1985), pp. 76-93
12. Feb 8 (F) Basic and Modal Personality Structure: Abraham Kardiner,
Ralph Linton, and Cora DuBois
Barnouw (1985), pp. 110-120
13. Feb 11 (M) Crisis in Culture and Personality Studies
Barnouw (1985), pp. 131-145
14. Feb 13 (W) The Cross-Cultural Correlational Method
Barnouw (1985), pp. 153-169, & 188-202
15. Feb 15 (F) Critique of the Cross-Cultural Correlational Method
Barnouw (1985), pp. 145-150
16. Feb 18 (M) - - - - - IN-CLASS EXAM - - - - -
Part III: Culture and Cognition
17. Feb 20 (W) Historical Background to Cognitive Anthropology
Barnouw (1985), pp. 170-187
D'Andrade (1995), Preface and Chapter 1
18. Feb 22 (F) Toward an Analysis of Meaning
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 2
19. Feb 25 (M) The Classic Feature Model
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 3
20. Feb 27 (W) Extension of the Classic Feature Model
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 4
21. Feb 29 (F) Folk Taxonomies
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 5
22. Mar 10 (M) The Growth of Schema Theory
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 6
23. Mar 12 (W) Models and Theories
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 7
24. Mar 14 (F) Cultural Representations and Psychological Processes
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 8
25. Mar 17 (M) Cognitive Processes and Personality
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 9
26. Mar 19 (W) - - - - - TAKE-HOME EXAM DISTRIBUTED - - - - -
Data Collection Methods: Free Listing [and Pairded Comparisons]
Weller & Romney (1988), pp. 9-20
27. Mar 21 (F) Data Collection Methods: Pile-Sorts
Weller & Romney (1988), pp.20-31
28. Mar 24 (M) - - - - - TAKE-HOME EXAM DUE - - - - -
Data Collections Methods: Triadic Comparisons
Weller & Romney (1988), pp. 31-37 & 49-55
29. Mar 26 (W) Analyses and Discussion of the Class's Data Collections
Gatewood, John B. (1999) Culture... One Step at a Time. The Behavioral
Measurement Letter 6(2):5-10.
Gatewood, John B. (2000) Culture... One Step at a Time (Part 2). The
Behavioral Measurement Letter 7(1):20-24.
30. Mar 28 (F) The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
* Whorf, Benjamin Lee (1956) The Relation of Habitual Thought and
Behavior to Language. In John B. Carroll, ed., Language, Thought, and
Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Pp. 134-159.
Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press. [Essay originally published in 1941.]
Von Bertalanffy, Ludwig (1968) The Relativity of Categories. In General
Systems Theory, Revised Edition. Pp. 222-250. New York: George
Braziller. [Chapter originally published in 1955.]
31. Mar 31 (M) The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (continued)
Berlin, Brent and Paul Kay (1969) Basic Color Terms: Their Universality
and Evolution. Berkeley: University of California Press.
32. Apr 2 (W) The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (continued)
Lucy, John A. and Richard A. Shweder (1979) Whorf and His Critics:
Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Influences on Color Memory. American
Anthropologist 81:581-615.
33. Apr 4 (F) Systems of Folk Classification
D'Andrade, Roy G. (1985) Character Terms and Cultural Models. In J.
Dougherty, ed., Directions in Cognitive Anthropology. Pp. 321-343.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Gatewood, John B. (1997) Semantic Models and Survey Research: What Do
Respondents Respond to? Presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the
American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C., Nov 19-23.
34. Apr 7 (M) Systems of Folks Classification (continued)
Dougherty, Janet W. D. and Charles M. Keller (1985) Taskonomy: A
Practical Approach to Knowledge Structures. In J. Dougherty, ed.,
Directions in Cognitive Anthropology. Pp. 161-174. Urbana: University of
Illinois Press.
35. Apr 9 (W) Personal versus Collective Representations
Gatewood, John B. (1985) Actions Speak Louder Than Words. In J.
Dougherty, ed., Directions in Cognitive Anthropology. Pp. 199-219.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
36. Apr 11 (F) Personal versus Collective Representations (continued)
Gatewood, John B. (1983) Loose Talk: Linguistic Competence and
Recognition Ability. American Anthropologist 85:378-387.
Gatewood, John B. (1994) Personal Knowledge and Collective
Representations. Presented at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American
Anthropological Association, Atlanta, GA., Nov 30-Dec 4.
37. Apr 14 (M) Intra-Cultural Variability
* Boster, James S. (1985) "Requiem for the Omniscient Informant": There's
Life in the Old Girl Yet. In J. Dougherty, ed., Directions in Cognitive
Anthropology. Pp. 177-197. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
38. Apr 16 (W) Intra-Cultural Variability (continued)
Romney, A. Kimball, Susan C. Weller, and William H. Batchelder (1986)
Culture as Consensus: A Theory of Culture and Informant Accuracy.
American Anthropologist 88:313-338.
39. Apr 18 (F) Intra-Cultural Variability (continued)
Boster, James S. and Jeffrey C. Johnson (1989) Form or Function: a
Comparison of Expert and Novice Judgments of Similarity among Fish.
American Anthropologist 91:866-889.
Gatewood, John B. (1996) Ignorance, Knowledge, and Dummy Categories:
Social and Cognitive Aspects of Expertise. Presented at the 95th Annual
Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, CA.,
Nov 19-23.
40. Apr 21 (M) Intra-Cultural Variability (continued)
PRESENTATION: Gatewood & Lowe's (2005) credit union study
Gatewood, John B. (1993) Intracultural Variability and Problem-Solving.
Presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological
Association, Washington, D.C., Nov 17-21.
41. Apr 23 (W) Intra-Cultural Variability (continued)
Garro, Linda C. (2000) Remembering What One Knows and the Construction
of the Past: A Comparison of Cultural Consensus Theory and Cultural
Schema Theory. Ethos 28:275-319.
42. Apr 25 (F) Course Summary and Student Evaluations
D'Andrade (1995), Chapter 10
Reminder: The THIRD EXAM will be held during the time assigned us in the
"Final Exam Period." The third exam is not cumulative, but rather covers only
the readings in Course Packet #2.