Course Overview

Course Information

ANTH 567A: Theory in/of Sociocultural Anthopology

Faculty Instructor

Raphaëlle Rabanes (she/her/Dr.) rabanes@uw.edu

Office Hours: Thursdays 3:30-5:30 pm PST and by appointment, in this Zoom meeting room.

Course Meetings

Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:30-3:20pm PST in Denny Hall 313

Course Overview

ANTH 567 is the third of three core graduate seminars. It is a reading and writing intensive seminar meant to orient graduate students in scholarship that shapes sociocultural anthropology today. This iteration of the course was designed as the third part of a sequence of core courses, coming after those of by Professors Lowe and Bilaniuk who engaged more with the history of the discipline.

A first section of the course revolves around forms of power: Can we think about humanity beyond the colonial construction of “Man”? What is the role of historical legacies in our present social formations? How do racial formations shape forms of governance and understandings of sovereignty? A second section of the course examines what I call key turns in 21st century anthropology: What tools and modes of interventions are generated by medical anthropologists’ understanding of social stratification? How are theories of being/ontology reflexive of broader debates in anthropology? How is our understanding of affect informed by theories of power? How does thinking through the bodies reshape theory? Finally, we’ll examine openings in recent ethnographies: What forms of exploration and space for insight are generated by an attention to thresholds, futurity, and desire? To grapple with these questions, we will draw from ethnographic material, anthropological theory and critical theory from broader academic fields such as Black studies, Indigenous studies, Postcolonial Studies, or Critical Theory. Throughout the quarter, our goal will be to explore how ethnography helps us ground and re-envision broad theoretical questions.

This course is designed to help graduate students build solid theoretical foundations as well as inspire you to think about your own research interests and questions and to start exploring how you will build your ethnographic project to attend to these.

Course Objectives

During this term, students will:

  • Explore, recognize and explain major trends and debates in recent sociocultural anthropology and in connected academic fields.
  • Describe, analyze, and compare theories and approaches.
  • Think through and articulate historical, social, and geographic linkages.
  • Engage in discussions.
  • Develop written arguments.
  • Connect the course content to students’ broader research questions and concerns.