ANTH 240 - Cultural Localities

Detailed study of the cultures of people living in a particular area of the world, including their politics, economy, worldview, religion, expressive practices, and historical transformations. Included is a critical assessment of different approaches to the study of culture. Areas covered vary from year to year and may include Europe, Africa, North America, and India.

May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.

Topic for 2016/17a and b: The Pacific. An introduction to the contemporary cultures and complex histories of peoples of the Pacific, and to important anthropological insights that have resulted from research in the Pacific (including, e.g., gender, interpretive ethics, environmental challenges, anti-colonial political religious movements, and the powers of gifts and commodities). The course explores the diversity of indigenous Pacific societies, from  chiefly kingdoms such as Fiji, Tonga and Hawaii, to  egalitarian societies in New Guinea, with attention as well to Asian diaspora histories in Hawaii and Fiji. The course analyzes the European cultural fascination with the “exotic” or “Edenic” Pacific, as well as Pacific islanders’ own visions and versions of their history and goals. Martha Kaplan.

Two 75-minute periods.