The Politics of Nature: Modernity and Its Others
ANTH 397
Spring 2013
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
SISP 397 |
| Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory |
This seminar explores the ways in which imaginations of nature-culture anchor particular regimes of living and power. Our larger query will concern ontology and cosmology--the worlds and worldviews we inhabit--and what happens when there is basic disagreement about what "nature" is. For example, do rocks, mountains, and glaciers "listen" as some indigenous peoples claim? Or are these claims a matter of cultural belief? Conversely, how do scientists listen to and relate to their natural objects? What social, historical, and intellectual practices make their visions of nature? And why do some visions appear more "real" than others? What circumstances decide? We will read across histories of science, philosophy, anthropology, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, and feminist science studies to probe the politics, meanings, and materialities of "nature" and the "natural" in a variety of contexts, from natural history in the 18th and 19th centuries to current struggles over the management of natural resources and bioprospecting initiatives. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS ANTH |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ENVS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
| Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
| Examinations and Assignments:
Short reading responses, a midterm analytical response, and a final research paper and/or presentation that can include an ethnographic component. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Some prior familiarity with Anthropology and/or interdisciplinary studies desirable. |
| Instructor(s): Goslinga,Gillian Times: ...W.F. 11:00AM-12:20PM; Location: ALLB004; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 20 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 2 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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