soci/anth 44
TRANSCRIPT
Week 1 — IntroductionSOCI/ANTH 441 Material CultureAlexandre Enkerli
Today
•Get to know each other•Introduce the course•Give ideas for project•Talk about things
Podcast
•Audio recording•Automatic•Posted online after class•On-record•Can pause•Would prefer to leave on-record
Getting to Know Each Other
Alex
•Ethnographic disciplines (cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, ethnomusicology, folkloristics, sociology)
•Constructive, collaborative learning•Adapting•Informal
History of the Course
•Bart Simon's course•Short notice in 2008•Got deeper into issues (anthro/soci of
tech, consumer research, Miller, affordances...)
•Adapted
Upper-Level
•Advanced Course•Not necessarily grad school1•More autonomous•Less required material•Project focus
Attitude Toward Material Culture•Somewhat detached, pragmatic•Geek culture•Not gadget freak•More aural than visual•Not full of “purty pickters” (pretty
pictures)•Navigate abstract and concrete•Sensory aspects
•Background▫Academic▫Personal
•Material culture•Favourite thing?•Anything else?
Introductions
Talking About Things
Terms
•Thing, object, entity, stuff, matter, substance, item, artefact, property
•Possessions, belongings, commodities, goods, products
•It, this, that•Material, physical, virtual, imagined•Natural, manufactured, crafted,
processed
Some Themes
Inequality, Gender, Domesticity, Public/private dichotomy, Class, Technology adoption, Science, Engineering, Postmodernism, Industrialization, Consumption, Globalization, Commodification. Environmentalism, Gift economy, Property rights, Intellectual property, Ethnic identity, Cultural diversity, Cultural heritage, Tradition, Appropriation, Personalization/customization, Fetishism, Value, Purity, Trash, Subjectivity, Embodiment, Agency, Materialism, Aesthetics...
Interdisciplinary
•Sociology and Anthropology (half-and-half)
•Architecture•Folkloristics•Technology•Archæology
Interdisciplinary (list)
•Psychology, cultural studies, engineering, history, market research, folkloristics, architecture, economics, archaeology, popular culture, art history, gender studies, semiotics, political science, museum studies, consumer research, American studies, etc.
•Focus on anthropology and sociology
Own Approach to Course
•Ethnography•Folkloristics•Music•Sensory anthropology•Semiotics
Course Outline
•May change•Bit of lecture•Mostly seminar discussions•Presentations•Attendance required, even during
presentations•Seminar participation outside of class•Come prepared•“Prewrite”
Readings
•Online (links to PDF Files)•RefWorks•On-Campus•Bookstore coursepack
Coursepack
•Short•Comment from student•Actively working with texts•Adapted from previous
Additional content
•Further understanding•Project•Online sources
▫MCU (mcu.sagepub.com)▫Material World
(http://blogs.nyu.edu/projects/materialworld/)
Required Readings
•September 16▫Dant: Mainstream issues in material culture▫Latour: Classic, Important author▫Both with non-humans, both in Bart's
•September 23▫Naji&Douny: Roundup issues, Making and
doing UCL workshop, Francophone anthro•September 30
▫Miller: Important author, Address sad, Mobility, Carribean
•October 7▫Gordon: Neat approach, Folkloristics▫Pascali: talian-Canadians, Material culture
in behaviour▫Both previous coursepack, well-received,
both place, domesticity, gender
Required Readings•October 14
▫Larson: Pharmaceuticals, Minaturization, Museums, biography
•October 21▫Pinch & Bijker: in Bart Simon's, Classic
approach, Large field•October 28
▫Smith & Bugni: in previous coursepack, Classic approach, Architecture. November 4
▫Jackson: Commodities, in my previous coursepack
•November 11▫Bickford: Had MP3 texts (from Bart Simon's
coursepack), Blogged, Immateriality
Online
•Moodle and BuddyPress•Readings•Assignments•“Handouts”•Slides•Podcast•Forums•Podcasts
Project
Social analysis of an object
Three parts
•Description of a Thing (20%, due October 1)
•Presentation (30%, November 5—26)•Final Paper (40%, Due December 5)
Project Guidelines
•Social science on thing•People through objects•From thing to society/culture•Focus on anthropology/sociology•Multiple angles•Can be on thing-related behaviour (e.g.
unboxing)
Choosing a Thing
•Leaving open•Some advice•If need help, can discuss•No ideal thing, no impossible thing•Accessible literature
• Not too specialized• Not overwhelming
Example Things
•Computer keyboard, cellphone, vinyl record, vitamin tablets, Aeron chair, vibrator, statue
•Hood (UofT): blackboards, hats, political buttons, music boxes, dress, chocolate, tattoo, postcards, mirrors...
•Other examples: rock, bumper stickers, stamp, t-shirts, car, bicycle
Previous Projects
•AK-47•Backpack•Barber pole•Bedroom door•Cigarette•Counterfeit handbag•Drum•Dumpster•Engagement ring•Eyeglasses•Fixie•GPS unit•Hair relaxer•Hockey stick•Housekey•Rose•Student bicycle•Teddybear•US $1 bill•Videogame•Wristwatch
Thing Characteristics
•Bounded or boundless•Unique (Statue of Liberty) or category
(pills)•Durable or transient/ephemeral•Technology
Choosing Approach
•Named theory (SCOT, ANT, Symbolic Interactionism...)
•Scholars•Field/domain•Background•Other work
Method
•Description (including sensory)•Genealogy (history, genesis)•Ethnography (including
autoethnography/introspection)•Social/cultural analysis (adoption,
implications, impacts, meanings...)
Questions to ask
•Dimensions from Joseph Dumit’s Artifact Project http://web.mit.edu/dumit/www/artifact-long.html
•Symbolic, Labour, Professional/Epistemological, Material, Technological, Political, Economic, Bodily/Organic, Historical, Contextual/Situated, Educational, Mythological
Presentation
•More than “show and tell”•Plan ahead•From “work-in-progress” to “almost done”•“Office hour presentations”
Paper
•Bring together•Sociology/anthropology of thing•Case studies