January 25, 2017
ANTH 740:
Theories of the Past and Accomplishments of Archaeology
Spring 2017, 3 Credits
Professor: Mark P. Leone
Meeting Time/Place: Tuesdays, 3:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Woods (WDS) 1130
Office Hours: Most afternoons, 1124 Woods Hall, or by email.
Course Rationale:
The purpose of this course is to show some of the ideas in critical postmodern thought in the social sciences, especially anthropology, that guide us through examining how the past is a symbolic, cultural creation that exists in the present. We will attempt to learn how to answer the questions: Who does the interpretation of the past serve? And, are there authentic archaeological and historical data that can be used to rectify masking pasts?
The class will be structured as a seminar, with the once-weekly meetings focused on the analysis of assigned readings. Small student teams, rather than the professor, will lead the seminar discussions. The grade will be based on assignments (20%), class participation (20%), term paper (50%) and its presentation in class (10%). This paper will be the culmination of a semester’s worth of investigation into an historical environment that the student enjoys, or disagrees with strongly. From the point of view of the readings, students will analyze this environment and deconstruct it in order to find the masked stories behind, or alternatively, those excluded by interpretation. The final project will consist of a description of the historical environment, its deconstruction, and suggested recreation.
During the course, each student will give his or her term paper research and conclusions in a 10-12 minute presentation to the class. There will be a discussion of the paper by the class after each presentation. Students will lead discussion after the presentation. Times for the presentations will be organized beforehand.
Beginning with week 5 (February 28), each student will write a one page, single-spaced presentation of the main argument(s) in each of the readings. One assignment is due to me each week, starting with week 5. Write out the arguments. We will discuss and critique the readings in class.
Direct quotes should not be used. All assignments are due by the start of class and sent to the course website. Also, they may be handed in to me at the start of class.
These assignments are to help formulate your understanding of the readings and must be used to help you focus on what you want to say about the readings in class, as well as the questions you have about their meanings. You must speak in class.
There are seven (7) of these assignments. I will give each a letter grade, A-F. These seven assignments will be 20% of the course grade. The term paper is 50% of the course grade. Grade components: assignments (20%), class participation (20%), term paper (50%) and its presentation in class (10%).
Course Grade:
Final grades will be based on the assignments, course participation, the final term paper and its presentation. The final paper will be about 20 pages, and will be mailed in on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Papers must be fully and properly cited. The University Honor Pledge should also be handwritten and signed at the end of the document. The Pledge reads: “I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination.” The term papers will be turned in by mail to Dr. Leone’s house: 5057 Overlook Rd., NW, Washington DC, 20016. If you would like the paper returned, please include an addressed envelope.
Readings:
There are two main texts for the course, In the Museum of Maya Culture and Re-Constructing Archaeology, as well as articles. All readings will be available through “Course Documents” on Elms. (**Note: You must use Adobe 9.0 or newer to view these articles online)
Go to https://myelms.umd.edu/login
1. Log in with your Directory ID and password (the same as you would to access your campus email).
2. Click on this course under "Courses."
3. Click “Files" once you are in the course site.
4. All Readings for the Course should be found here.
Week 1 (January 31): Course Introduction
Wacquant, Loïc
2012 Three steps to a historical anthropology of actually existing neoliberalism. Social Anthropology 20:66-79.
Week 2 (February 7): pp. 1-93, Week 3 (February 14): pp. 97-174, Week 4 (February 21): pp. 175-297
Quetzil, Casteñada E.
1996 In the Museum of Maya Culture: Touring Chichén Itzá. University of
Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Week 5 (February 28): pp.7-99, Week 6 (March 7): pp. 103-171
Shanks, Michael and Christopher Tilley
1993 Re-Constructing Archaeology. Routledge Press, New York.
Week 7 (March 14):
Althusser, Louis
1971 Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. In Lenin and Philosophy, trans. Ben Brewster, pp. 127186. Monthly Review Press, New York.
Buck-Morss, Susan
1992 Aesthetics and Anaesthetics: Walter Benjamin’s Artwork Essay Reconsidered. October 62:3-41.
Frisby, David
1996 Walter Benjamin’s Prehistory of Modernity as Anticipation of Postmodernity? Some Methodological Reflections. Pp. 18-24. In ‘With the Sharpened Axe of Reason’ Approaches to Walter Benjamin. Ed. Gerhard Fischer. Berg. Oxford. Washington D.C.
Spring Break: March 20-24
Week 8 (March 28):
Bhabha, Homi
2002 The Location of Culture, Chapters 1, 2, 5, 7, 12.
Gourgouris, Stathis
1993 Notes on the Nation’s Dream-Work. Qui Parle 7(1): 81-101. University of Nebraska Press.
Week 9 (April 4)
De Certeau, Michel
1984 The Practice of Everyday Life, pp. xi-42. University of California Press
Handler, Richard and William Saxton
1988 Dyssimulation: Reflexivity, Narrative, and the Quest for Authenticity in ‘Living History’. Cultural Anthropology, 3 (3): 242265.
Handler, Richard
1991 Who Owns the Past? In The Politics of Culture, ed. by Brett Williams, pp. 6374. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C.
Week 10 (April 11)
Scott, David
2004 Conscripts of Modernity: The Tragedy of Colonial Enlightenment, pp. 98-131 (Chapter 3, Conscripts of Modernity)
Lazzarato, Maurizio
2014 Signs and Machines, Introduction. Blog post. Electronic document, https://anarchistwithoutcontent.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/maurizio-lazzarato- signs-and-machines-introduction/.
Week 11 (April 18)
Anderson, Benedict.
1991 Imagined Communities, pp. 178-206. Verso.
Friedman, Jonathan
1992 The Past in the Future: History and the Politics of Identity. American Anthropologist, 94:4: 837859.
2003 Globalizing Languages: Ideologies and Realities of the Contemporary Global System. American Anthropologist, 105:4: 744-752.
Kemp, Ray
1988 Planning, Public Hearings, and the Politics of Discourse. In Critical Theory and Public Life, ed. by John Forester, pp. 177201. MIT Press, Cambridge.
Zizek, Slavoj
2012 Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism.Verso:
London. Pages: 225-226; 440; 666-677; 900-903; 999-1010.
Week 12 (April 25), Week 13 (May 2), Week 14 (May 9)
Student Presentations
Final Paper due by May 11, 2017
FOR YOUR INTEREST:
Cotter, Holland
2012 MET Reimagines the American Story. New York Times. 16 January
Rothstein, Edward
2011 French Museums Atone For a Colonial History. New York Times. 26 November: C1, C5. New York
Williams, Gisela
2010 Luxury Transforms Caves and Farms in Italy. New York Times 21 November:TR9. New York.
Ouroussoff, Nicolai
2010 Preserving Heritage, and the Fabric of Life, in Syria. New York Times 27 December: C1, C5. New York
Ouroussoff, Nicolai
2010 New Look for Mecca: Gargantuan and Gaudy. New York Times 29 December, New York.
Myers, Steven Lee
2011 A Triage to Save the Ruins of Babylon. New York Times 2 January, New York.
HONOR CODE:
The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html.
Term Paper for Theories of the Past, ANTH 740
Your term paper should be a major piece of research that shows you understand the core of Marxist post-modern thought when applied to a historical situation of your interest.
The object of this course is to use pertinent literature and your own growing anthropological expertise to understand the political and economic consequences of a particular historical setting. In order to do this you should begin by picking a setting that you are deeply interested in that will be accessible to you physically throughout the spring term. Once you have chosen a setting that you believe will be productive of appropriate analysis, there is a two part process to your work which will then be described in both your oral presentation to the class and written up in your term paper.
Doctoral students in the Department of Anthropology should use the term paper in this course to develop some aspect of their long term research. This is an invitation, not a demand. Frequently historical backgrounds are required in anthropological dissertations and sometimes a political analysis of settings is also called for. If a doctoral student in this department has an idea for a dissertation topic, some aspect of that topic will be welcome as part of the subject matter for the term paper in ANTH 740.
After choosing a setting, the first thing to do is a deconstruction of its masked meaning. A major portion of the literature in this course attempts to show a student how to look behind the givens of archaeological and historical presentations so that one can see the implications and meaning that are beyond their surface intention. This is known as a deconstruction. It is a learned skill and should not be difficult for you. Both Castaneda and Shanks and Tilley are filled with well-worked out examples of how to look behind surface meanings. See deconstructions in reviews from the New York Times listed on page 4 of the syllabus. They are on the course website.
Because many scholars have felt that deconstructions have tended to be destructive, your job in the second half of your term paper will be to design a reconstruction of the exhibit or historical setting that you have been studying. The purpose of the paper is to show that you can use your knowledge of the material in the setting, as well as the constituents for the setting, well enough to rewrite the exhibit in such a way that its hidden agenda is both exposed and illustrated for a population that may not have been served well by being subject to the historical presentation as you first saw it.
Some of the eminent social theorists who are currently used to guide modern anthropological research are included in this course. Normally, a combination of these would not be particularly useful in constructing a term paper. Rather, a student should focus on one main theorist, not more than two, and become more familiar with that person’s work and use it to guide the deconstruction and reassembly of material for the term paper in this course. Many of the major theorists have much more work available than is included in the readings for this course and you may want to become more familiar with a particular theorist than this course’s readings provide.
There is at least one good example of a term paper online courtesy of Dr. Diane Gardsbane from several years ago. The paper is on ELMs.
Your paper needs a substantial bibliography which shows your use of the theory in the course, as well as your understanding of the historical background you have researched for the reconstruction.
Aim for 20 pages, more or less.
Mark P. Leone
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