Kinship and Family, Structure and Intimacy (ANT332)
In this course we examine the relationships and roles, structures and institutions, sentiments and experiences that constitute kinship and family. The course is designed to accomplish three interlinking goals:
< 1 > study core anthropological theories and concepts of kinship;
< 2 > problematize the assumptions inherent in many discourses on "kinship" by use of comparative ethnographic materials that illustrate
variation in kinship and its meanings across time and in different places;
< 3 > utilize the tools of kinship analysis in two original research projects.
We examine kinship in both vertical and horizontal dimensions, as social relations are constructed both as “given” through the inalterable “facts” of one’s descent and inheritance, and as “created” through the choices of alliance that individuals make throughout their lives. Students read and engage with classic social science literature on core concepts of kinship study. Through a wide selection of ethnographic materials, we will challenge the “givenness” of such categories as "father," "mother," and "child." Students debate the ongoing tensions between kinship as structures based on biological reproduction and tied to hierarchies of power, and family as socially constructed, meaningful relationships based on reciprocity and intimacy.
Fundamentally, the course ponders what belonging means in varying contexts of intimate social groups. How do people think about what it means to “belong”—to oneself, to a domestic place, to (or within) a particular group of people? Looking at issues of belonging compels us to examine social boundaries of inclusion and exclusion; we analyze kinship as both a way of experiencing and shaping intimate interactions, and as an ideological system to which individual people may be expected to conform.
In this course we examine the relationships and roles, structures and institutions, sentiments and experiences that constitute kinship and family. The course is designed to accomplish three interlinking goals:
< 1 > study core anthropological theories and concepts of kinship;
< 2 > problematize the assumptions inherent in many discourses on "kinship" by use of comparative ethnographic materials that illustrate
variation in kinship and its meanings across time and in different places;
< 3 > utilize the tools of kinship analysis in two original research projects.
We examine kinship in both vertical and horizontal dimensions, as social relations are constructed both as “given” through the inalterable “facts” of one’s descent and inheritance, and as “created” through the choices of alliance that individuals make throughout their lives. Students read and engage with classic social science literature on core concepts of kinship study. Through a wide selection of ethnographic materials, we will challenge the “givenness” of such categories as "father," "mother," and "child." Students debate the ongoing tensions between kinship as structures based on biological reproduction and tied to hierarchies of power, and family as socially constructed, meaningful relationships based on reciprocity and intimacy.
Fundamentally, the course ponders what belonging means in varying contexts of intimate social groups. How do people think about what it means to “belong”—to oneself, to a domestic place, to (or within) a particular group of people? Looking at issues of belonging compels us to examine social boundaries of inclusion and exclusion; we analyze kinship as both a way of experiencing and shaping intimate interactions, and as an ideological system to which individual people may be expected to conform.