MEDS 360 - Problems in Cultural Analysis

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Covers a variety of current issues in modern anthropology in terms of ongoing discussion among scholars of diverse opinions rather than a rigid body of fact and theory.

May be repeated for credit if topic has changed.

Topic for 2023/24: Visual Ethnography, Ethnography of the Visual. (Same as ANTH 360 ) This seminar concerns ways of knowing that are made available through the visual. In it we explore ethnographers’ use of media to represent what they come to know as well as how the visual is used in various cultures to make meaning. We examine multiple visual media including illustration, photography, film, and video produced by ethnographers as well as by communities who are often the subject of ethnographic study. Exploring visual ethnographic representation enables us to reflect on the process of ethnographic representation more generally, and to address issues of subjectivity, ethnographic authority, situated knowledge, and meaning-making embodied in these forms of communication. Exploring the visual in other cultures expands our understanding of sensory world-making and demonstrates the power of visual media in claims for self-representation and visual sovereignty. Course materials include an ethnographic graphic novel, ethnographic photographs and films, and indigenous art, films and videos. These materials are critically engaged through discussion, written critiques, and the use of various visual media themselves to produce an ethnographic representation. Colleen Cohen.

One 2-hour period plus outside screenings.

Course Format: CLS