ANSO 402(S) Senior Seminar: Culture and Violence*
This course is the capstone seminar, required of all department majors, but open to interested seniors and juniors in any department. Each year we will use a single analytical topic to explore in depth the theoretical and methodological foundations of the discipline. In 1999-2000, the Senior Seminar will consider two major propositions related to the relationship between culture and violence. The first is that, although violence is generally viewed as antithetical to society, violence (as institution and experience) is the foundation of society and the social order. The second proposition is that there exists a structural and symbolic continuity between the elementary forms of violence found in so-called primitive societies and those that exist in complex societies, including our own. In examining these propositions, we will look at a number of case studies to determine how violence is implicated in the constitution of society and whether violence itself can be said to have its own meaning, logic, and order. Among the questions we will consider are the following: How are individuals conditioned to act in violent ways? How is violence ritually patterned and culturally sanctioned in simple and complex societies? What is the relationship between gender, sexuality, and violence? Class format: discussion seminar. Requirements: a series of short papers and a final take-home exam. Prerequisite: any upper-level course in Anthropology or Sociology or permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to 20.