anthro 133r syllabus

8/6/2019 Anthro 133R Syllabus

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Anthropology 133R

Aesthetic Systems

Summer Session A

MW 9-11:05 a.m.

No class July 4, 2011

Angela Orlando

e-mail: [email protected]

Course Description:

In a tangible but sometimes cryptic manner, visual art and ethnographic artifacts convey information about people’s

cultural identity and values, their individual interpretations of the world, and their personal expressions of ideas and

emotions. In this class, we will learn to read Western and non-Western art objects as “texts,” and to better understand

the significance they hold for the people who make and/or use them. Then, we will examine art and ethnographic

artifacts as social objects, considering their creation, acquisition, display, and eventual discard to be events in the

objects’ life histories. Finally, we will discuss issues of authenticity and appropriation, museums, and the roles of art

and ethnographic artifacts in the global market.

Our intent is to both deepen our understanding of theoretical discussions and examine the application of these insights

in our own research. Each student will generate a response paper to critically assess the course’s concepts, and will

write another paper about an individual piece of art or ethnographic artifact and its role in its social context.

Required Books:

Anderson, Richard and Karen L. Field 1992 Art in Small-Scale Societies: Contemporary Readings. Prentice Hall.

Myers, Fred 2002 Painting Culture: The Making of an Aboriginal High Art. Duke University Press.

Highly recommended:

Tilley et. al

All other readings will be available on the course website.

Course Website: I will use our private class website to communicate important announcements and to post readings.The course website address is located above. Make sure you have an email account on file with UCLA or you will not

receive correspondence.

Academic Integrity: Please consult UCLA’s academic honesty code at

http://www.deanofstudents.ucla.edu/conduct.html. I expect honest participation in this course, and for everyone to

take responsibility for his or her actions.

Accommodation: If you feel you have trouble writing or taking notes, please contact the Office of Students with

Disabilities and myself to request a disability-related accommodation. The web site is http://www.osd.ucla.edu.

Attendance and Participation: Your participation in the course makes it

I do not allow texting or Internet use in class.

Assignments: This class has one response paper (7-10 pages) and one 7-10 page written take-home final. The

response paper counts for 40 percent of your grade (40 points possible). A typed hard copy is due in class on July

11.The final is a take-home essay exam. I will administer it to you on July 18. You will type your essay and bring it to

class on July 27. There are 60 points (60 percent of your grade) possible on the final. The final will be

cumulative, asking you to synthesize course concepts.

I don’t accept late papers, but I DO accept early papers if you know you have to miss the day it is due. Even if you

have a valid reason for missing a class, you are still responsible for submitting hard copies of the assignments on the

http://www.osd.ucla.edu/

http://www.osd.ucla.edu/



date that they are due. I take 10 percent off for every day they are late.

Grading: There is no curve for the class. There are 100 points possible.

Scale:

97-100 = A+

93-96 = A90-92 = A-

87-89 = B+

83-86 = B

80-82 = B-

77-79 = C+

73-76 = C

70-72 = C- and so on



Date Before Class In Class Topic and/or

Assignments Due

Monday,

June 20

(Week 1)

Get the textbooks and familiarize yourself with the website Go over syllabus

Course Introduction: What areaesthetics?

Wednesday,

June 22

(Week 1)

Read & be able to discuss

Coote, Jeremy. Marvels of Everyday Vision: The Anthropology

of Aesthetics and the Cattle-Keeping Nilotes. (in Morphy)

Munn, Nancy. Visual Categories: An Approach to the Study of

Representational Systems. (in Morphy)

Witherspoon, Gary. The Semiotical Geometry of Navajo

Weaving . (in Anderson and Field)

Anthropological Perspectives of

Aesthetic Systems

Monday,June 27

(Week 2)

Read & be able to discussKuhn and Steiner. 1998 Middle Paleolithic ‘Creativity’:

Reflections on an Oxymoron? in Mithen, ed. Creativity in

Human Evolution and Prehistory

Koss, Joan D. Artistic Expression and Creativity in Puerto

Rican Possession Cults. (in Anderson and Field)

Layton, Robert. The Anthropology of Art. Chapter 5: Creativity

of the Artist. pp. 193-239

Creativity, Cognition andExpression

Wednesday,

June 29

(Week 2)


Morphy, Howard. From Dull to Brilliant: The Aesthetics of

Spiritual Power among the Yolngu.

Smith, Kenneth W. The Kites of Santiago Sacatepequez (in

Anderson and Field)

Myers, pages 1-54

Art, Ethnographic Artifacts, and

Cultural Meaning

Get Response Paper Topic

Museum Trip!

Monday,

July 4

(Week 3)

NO CLASS NO CLASS

Wednesday,

July 6

(Week 3)


Salvador, Lynn. “The Art of Being Kuna” (pages TBD)

Chibnik, Michael. 2003. “Crafting Tradition: The Making and

Marketing of Oaxacan Wood Carvings.” Austin: University of

Texas Press (pages TBD)

Myers, pages 55-80

Art, Ethnographic Artifacts, and

Cultural Meaning (Continued)



Monday,

July 11

(Week 4)


Foster, Hal “The Artist as Ethnographer?” in Marcus and Myers

Cohadas, Marvin. Elizabeth Hickox and Karuk Basketry: A

Case Study in Debates on Innovations and Paradigms of

Authenticity. In Phillips and Steiner

Ettawageshik, Frank. My Father’s Business. In Phillips and

Steiner.

Myers, pages 81- 119

Individual Artists’ Lived

Experiences

Paper 1 Due in Class

Wednesday,

July 13

(Week 4)


Kopytoff, Igor 19XX “The Cultural Biography of Things.”

Bourdieu. 1988 “Distinction” (Pages TBD)

Myers, pages 120-208 (SKIM Chapters 5 and 7)

Art and Ethnographic Artifacts

as Social Entities

Film: “Herb and Dorothy.”

Monday,

July 18

(Week 5)


Price, Sally. “Primitive Art in Civilized Places.” University of

Chicago Press.

Steiner, Christopher. “On the Creation of Value and

Authenticity in the African Art Market” (in Marcus and Myers)

Sullivan, Nancy. “Inside Trading: Postmodernism and the Social

Drama of Sunflowers in the 1980s Art World”

Myers, pages 230-254

External Determinations of

Value: The Art Market

Get Final Paper Topic

Wednesday,

July 20

(Week 5)

Read and be able to discuss

Silverman, Eric Kline. “Tourist Art as the Crafting of Identity in

the Sepik River (Papua New Guinea).” In Phillips and Steiner

Nicks, Trudy. “Setting the Stage for Tourist Souvenir Sales.” In

Phillips and Steiner.

Graburn, Nelson. The Evolution of Tourist Arts. In XXXXX

Myers, pages 255-277

External Determinations of

Value: Tourism and

Appropriation

Monday,July 25

(Week 6)

Hobswam on Andean weaving co-ops

Lachmann, R. 1988 “Graffiti as Career and Ideology.” American

Journal of Sociology.

Ivory, Carol S. “Art, Tourism and Cultural Revival in the

Marquesas Islands.” In Phillips and Steiner

Indigenous Agency in the ArtWorld

Wednesday,

July 27

Work on paper Film: “Exit through the Gift

Shop.”



(Week 6)

Potluck!

Final Paper Due in Class

(Typed)

Course Evaluations

anthro 133r syllabus

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