Anth 109a
Syllabus Draft 8/31/2015
Anth 109a:
Children, Parenting, and Education in a Cross-Cultural Perspective
Instructor:
Keridwen N. Luis
[email protected]
Office Hours: Wed 1-3
Office:
Brown 220
Time:
Mon, Wed, 5:00-6:20
Location:
Class Site:
https://moodle2.brandeis.edu/course/view.php?id=4199
Course Description
Childhood is often portrayed in the United States as an idyllic and innocent time of life.
However, beneath this portrait we can find a more dangerous and carefully-negotiated story. Using a
multitude of sources ranging from anthropological theory to biographical essays, this class will
explore the ways in which childhood is culturally constructed, bounded, and spoken about. We will
consider how children are disciplined, taught, and constrained; the ways in which adults conceive of
childhood and how these affect the lives of children; whether children are considered "people," and
how culturally-constructed images of childhood are presented to children. Texts will include
Scheper-Hughes and Sargent's Small Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood; personal essays on
childhood by Maya Angelou and Sherman Alexie, among others; and anthropological, sociological,
and education studies articles about childhood, parenting, and education.
Using the disciplines of social science, we will consider the ways in which children and
childhood differ across cultures, what those cultural differences mean, and what childhood means in
a larger cultural and developmental sense. One of the main themes of this course will be discussion
of discipline and ways in which children are taught their "place in the world:" among the issues we
will discuss are race, class, and gender; ways in which children are policed and punished and why; the
creation of fully-acculturated adults from "raw" children; and how adults teach children what they
should be and reflect upon the experiences of their own childhoods. How do ideas about childhood
and proper parenting differ in different cultures? Is the concept of childhood itself a cultural
construction? What factors affect the experience of children and how children are considered by
adults? Can we draw any cross-cultural conclusions about childhood?
Required Readings: Books will be available at the bookstore and on reserve at the library. For
purchasing, I recommend trying the Advanced Book Exchange, at http://www.abebooks.com, a
consortium of independent used booksellers which I have found very useful in the past for finding
multiple copies of used books (in varying conditions and prices).
Additional required articles--marked in the syllabus with the word reserve in bold print--will also be
available to students via the library and via our course website. These articles are essential to the
course. A link to the library reserves is available via our course website.
Required Books (will also be on reserve in the library):
Briggs, Jean L. 1998. Inuit Morality Play: The Emotional Education of a Three-Year Old. New Haven:
Yale University Press. ISBN: 978-0300080643. Marked on the syllabus as Inuit.
Pascoe, C.J. 2007. Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Berkeley: University of
California Press. ISBN: 978-0520271487 (An e-book version of this is available). Marked on the
syllabus as Dude.
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Syllabus Draft 8/31/2015
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, and Sargent. 1998. Small Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood. Berkeley:
University of California Press. ISBN: 0520209184 Marked as SW in the syllabus.
Recommended Books:
Bernstein, Robin. 2011. Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights. New
York: New York University Press. ISBN: 978-0-8147-8708-3
Delpit, Lisa. 1995. Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: The New
Press. ISBN: 978-1595580740 (an e-book version is available).
Reserve readings available through the library and on our course site. (Listed on the syllabus)
Course Requirements:
Attendance and participation in class discussion:
In-class assignments/reading responses
Midterm Essay
Final Essay
15%
25%
25%
35%
General Requirements: Class attendance and participation are both essential to this class. For this
reason, unexcused absences will impact your grade; the discussion we do in class cannot be
replicated by simply doing the reading. Also, this is a seminar class, and so it is necessary to do the
reading beforehand to participate in the discussion. It also makes the class more engaging if we
have things to talk about. Although this is not a writing intensive course, the papers are another
vehicle for you to reflect on the reading topics and to introduce your own ideas; creativity, critical
thinking, and good analysis are all highly encouraged. Please note that reading must be completed before
class.
Required Statement: Four-Credit Course (with three hours of class-time per week)
Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum
of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections,
preparation for exams, etc.). Please note that you may need to spend more than 9 hours of study time depending the varying
amount of reading, writing, assignments, etc. per week.
No cell phones, pagers, or other communication devices will be permitted in class, unless
you are an EMT or other medical professional on call. Laptops will also not be permitted
without my prior consent. Students observed using cell phones will be marked absent; this will have an effect
on the final course grade.
Specific Assignments: Please note that more detailed assignment sheets will be available on our website in the
folder marked "Class Assignments."
In-class assignments/reading responses: Students will either bring assignments to class or will do
short class exercises responding to the reading. These exercises will vary from a short writing
exercise about the reading, to assignments asking the students to collect examples of toy advertising
or respond to online discussions. Extension days may not be used for these assignments.
Midterm and Final Essay: Students will be asked to write short (5-page) essays based on the
course reading. Prompts for these essays will be posted on our class website ahead of time.
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Email Policy: Emails will be answered within 24 hours, except for weekend days (when I cannot
guarantee to check my email as regularly). I do not check email between the hours of 9 pm and 8
am. Please keep emails short and to the point; longer commentary may be better discussed during
office hours.
Written Work: Assignment sheets will be made available on the class website, and due dates are
specified in the syllabus. Written work submitted later than fifteen minutes after the beginning of
class on the due date will be lowered by a third of a grade for each day late, except in cases of illness
or emergency. All sources MUST be cited. Please use in-text citation. For example:
American teenage girls seem to be in a liminal state, for "as a society, we discarded the
Victorian moral umbrella over girls before we agreed on useful strategies and programs--a kind of
'social Gore-Tex' to help them stay dry" (Brumberg 1997: 201).
Works Cited:
Brumberg, Joan. 1997. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York:
Random House.
NOTE. Proper anthropological citation utilizes the LAST NAME of the author, the YEAR
of the publication date, and the PAGE number, in that order (Chicago in-text citation). I will also
accept MLA citation.
Be sure to include the works cited page. All papers must be word-processed, spellchecked, doublespaced, and possess reasonable margins and page numbers. I highly encourage you to proofread as
grammar and punctuation are essential parts of writing well, and writing is one of the main tools of
the social sciences. Clear and readable prose is also highly esteemed! We will be using LATTE to
turn in papers this semester.
Latedays/Extension Days: I use a system with my upper-level classes that works like this: You are
granted one week (seven days) of extension at the beginning of the semester. You do not have
to ask ahead of time to use these days, you may simply exercise this privilege of being a little flexible
about due dates. You may divide them up however you wish -- turn one paper in a week late, or
three papers in each two days late. Please note the following rules:
1.
You may divide your days up however you wish.
2.
When you turn in any paper that uses latedays/extension days, you MUST note at
the top of the paper that "X extension days" or "Y latedays" were used. Otherwise I will mark
your paper as late, assuming that you do NOT wish to use your latedays. You may not
retroactively use latedays.
3.
Papers must be turned in electronically to the class website; this will timestamp your
papers automatically. Email may only be used in the event you cannot reach the class website.
4.
Weekend days count. For example, if you turned your paper in on a Monday after
it was due on a Tuesday, you would need to use six latedays, not four.
Class Participation and Courtesy:
--I require and expect all students to treat each other with courtesy. Courtesy includes being
prepared, being on time, and being respectful of the material and your colleagues' work with it.
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--Harassment, whether physical, sexual, or verbal, will not be tolerated in this class. We may be
discussing some sensitive and sometimes upsetting topics; I expect this classroom to be a safe space
for students to express their views.
--It is possible to disagree respectfully: rather than telling people that they are wrong, do what is
called "reflecting" before responding. For example, "You seem to be saying that X is Y," (reflection)
"however, I have a different opinion, which is that X is Z, because of A." Also, be sure not to
disagree with people (i.e. "you are wrong,") but with their actual statements ("I do not agree with X
equalling Y").
--Speak up in class. I don't expect every student to volunteer an opinion in every class, but your
opinions count -- be sure to share them in most classes. As an adjunct to this, share the floor! Let
others speak (and if you are afraid that you will forget your point, write it down).
--Respect confidentiality. If you want to adduce examples which do not come from the texts, don't
give names: we will be discussing sensitive subjects (this goes as well for your papers, if you are
giving personal experiences or doing fieldwork). A friend gave me this excellent advice for talking
about issues, and not individuals: "plots, not characters."
--Use "I statements" for your opinions rather than assuming that what you think should be universal.
This can also be helpful for distinguishing between personal opinion and facts which can be backed
up by documented scholarly evidence.
--Expressions of bias are hurtful even if unintended. However, even if you did not mean to step on
my foot, it's best if you move when I tell you that it hurts. Similarly, when someone says something
that another person finds biased and hurtful, it's best to cease and apologize, even if that's not what
the first person intended. Intent is not magic and will not prevent bias from happening; we all carry
around unconscious misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, racism, and a host of other
prejudices because of how society is. I encourage all students to try to be graceful about listening
when their bias is brought up (and I promise to do my best, myself).
If you have any problems or questions, I encourage you to bring them to me, or to the
Director of Studies of the Anthropology department.
Regrade Requests: In the event of a grade dispute, I will re-evaluate the entire work according to
my grading rubric. A higher grade is not guaranteed.
Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is expected of all students. All work turned in must be the
work of the student whose name appears at the top of the paper, except where you have specifically
requested and received permission for a collaborative effort. All students are expected to cite their
sources fully (whether from texts, interviews, or online). If you have any questions on when or
whether to cite, please do not hesitate to ask. You may not turn in work for this class which you
have previously turned in for other classes. Plagiarism will be dealt with according to the Academic
Honesty Policy; plagiarized work will result in a failure of the class and further sanctions, at the
discretion of Brandeis University, may result.
If you are a student with a documented disability on record and wish to have
accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately with your letter from
Academic Services. All communications will be kept confidential.
Credits: Many thanks to Hanne Blank, whose proposed class courtesy rules have been invaluable to the creation of
this syllabus.
***************
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Schedule of Readings and Due Dates
Week 1: The Anthropology of Childhood
8/31 No reading: introduction to the course
9/2
Attard, Sharon. 2008. "Emerging Perspectives in the Anthropology of Childhood,"
Anthropology Today 24(5): 24. Reserve.
Bluebond-Langer, Myra, and Jill E. Korbin. 2007. "Challenges and Opportunities in the
Anthropology of Childhoods: An Introduction to 'Children, Childhoods, and Childhood Studies'"
American Anthropologist 109(2): 241-6. Reserve.
LeVine, Robert A. 2007. "Ethnographic Studies of Childhood: A Historical Overview,"
American Anthropologist 109(2): 247-60. Reserve.
Week 2: The Anthropology of Childhood: The Classics
9/7
No Class.
9/9
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, and Carolyn Sargent. 1998. "Introduction: The Cultural Politics of
Childhood," in Small Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood, Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Carolyn
Sargent, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 1-33. SW.
Foucault, Michel (tr. Alan Sheridan). 1995. "The Means of Correct Training" in his Discipline
and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books. Pp. 170-194. Reserve.
Recommended: Foucault, Michel (tr. Alan Sheridan). 1995. "Docile Bodies" in his Discipline and
Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books. Pp. 135-169. Reserve.
9/10
(Monday Schedule)
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 2008 [1929]. "Childhood in the Trobriand Islands, Melanesia," in
Anthropology and Child Development: A Cross-Cultural Reader. Robert A LeVine and Rebecca S. New,
eds. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Reserve.
Mead, Margaret. 2008 [1928]. "The Ethnography of Childhood," in Anthropology and Child
Development: A Cross-Cultural Reader. Robert A LeVine and Rebecca S. New, eds. Malden, MA:
Blackwell. Reserve.
Weeks 3-4: Inuit Emotional Education
9/14 No Class.
9/16 Briggs, Jean L. 1998. Inuit Morality Play: The Emotional Education of a Three-Year Old. New
Haven: Yale University Press. (Introduction recommended for students unfamiliar with anthropology, Chapters
1-3 required) Inuit.
9/21 Briggs, Jean L. 1998. Inuit Morality Play: The Emotional Education of a Three-Year Old. New
Haven: Yale University Press. Chapters 4-6 required, Conclusion recommended) Inuit.
9/23 No Class.
Week 5: Parenting in Cross-Cultural Perspective
9/28 No Class.
9/29 (Monday Schedule)
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1997. "Lifeboat Ethics: Mother Love and Child Death in Brazil"
in The Gender/Sexuality Reader: Culture, History, Political Economy, Roger N. Lancaster and Micaela di
Leonardo, eds. New York: Routledge. Reserve.
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Gammeltoft, Tine M. 2008. "Childhood Disability and Parental Moral Responsibility in
Northern Vietnam: Towards Ethnographies of Intercorporeality." Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute 14: 825-842.
Park, Hye Jun, and Grace H. Chung. 2015. "A Multifaceted Model of Changes and
Adaptation among Korean Mothers of Children with Disabilities." Journal of Child and Family Studies
24:915–929.
9/30 Geinger, Freya, Michel Vandenbroeck and Griet Roets. 2014. "Parenting as a Performance:
Parents as Consumers and (De)constructors of Mythic Parenting and Childhood Ideals." Childhood
21(4): 488–501. Reserve.
Kremer-Sadlik, Tamar, and Marilena Fatigante. 2015. "Investing in children’s future: Crosscultural perspectives and ideologies on parental involvement in education." Childhood 22(1): 67–
84. Reserve.
Weeks 6-7: A Gender Education
10/5 No Class.
10/7 Montgomery, Heather. 2005. "Gendered childhoods: a cross disciplinary overview," Gender
and Education 17(5): 471-82. Reserve.
Anggard, Eva. 2005. "Barbie princesses and dinosaur dragons: narration as a way of doing
gender." Gender and Education 17(5): 539-53. Reserve.
Wenger, Martha. 2008. "Children's Work, Play, and Relationships among the Giriama of
Kenya," in Anthropology and Child Development: A Cross-Cultural Reader. Robert A LeVine and Rebecca
S. New, eds. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Reserve.
10/12 Keddie, Amanda. 2003. "Little Boys: Tomorrow's Macho Lads." Discourse: Studies in the
Cultural Politics of Education 24(3): 289-306. Reserve.
Phoenix, Ann, Stephen Frosh, and Rob Pattman. 2003. "Producing Contradictory
Masculine Subject Positions: Narratives of Threat, Homophobia and Bullying in 11–14 Year Old
Boys," Journal of Social Issues 59(1): 179-95. Reserve.
Sedaris, David. 2002 "Go Carolina," in his Me Talk Pretty One Day. Abacus. Reserve.
in-class film: Film: Berliner, Alain. 1999. Ma Vie En Rose (feature film). Columbia TriStar.
10/14 Malmquist, Anna, Anna Möllerstrand, Maria Wikström and Karin Zetterqvist Nelson. 2014.
"A Daddy Is the Same as a Mummy’: Swedish Children in Lesbian Households Talk About Fathers
and Donors." Childhood 21(1): 119–133. Reserve.
Biblarz, Timothy J., and Judith Stacey. 2010. "How Does the Gender of Parents Matter?"
Journal of Marriage and Family 72: 3-22. reserve
Week 8: School, Gender, and Adolescence
10/19 Pascoe, C.J. 2007. Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Berkeley:
University of California Press. Please read Preface, and Chapters 1-3. Dude.
10/21 Pascoe, C.J. 2007. Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Berkeley:
University of California Press. Please read Chapters 4-6. Dude.
Midterm Essay Due
Week 9: Serious Play
10/26 Eyerman, Suzanne. 2011. "Children Learning to Negotiate Unwritten Social Rules through
Play." Childhoods Today 5(2). Reserve.
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Falcão, Christiane Rocha. 2014. "Playing at Possession: How Do Children Come to Grips
with Spirit Possession?" Childhoods Today 8(1). Reserve.
10/28 Bernstein, Robin. 2011. "Introduction: Playing Innocent: Childhood, Race, Performance," in
her Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights. New York: New York
University Press. Reserve.
Bernstein, Robin. 2011. "The Scripts of Black Dolls," in her Racial Innocence: Performing
American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights. New York: New York University Press. Reserve.
Week 10-11: Savage Inequalities: Race and Education
11/2 Kozol, Jonathan. 1991. "The Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York," Savage
Inequalities, Chapter 3. New York: Harper-Collins Publishers. Reserve.
McIntosh, Peggy. 2003. "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," in Applying
Cultural Anthropology: An Introductory Reader, Aaron Podolefsky and Peter J. Brown, Eds. Mountain
View, California: McGraw-Hill. Pp. 125-128. Reserve.
Recommended: Fine, Michelle, Reva Jaffe-Walker, Pedro Pedraza, Valerie Futch, and Brett Stout.
2007. "Swimming: On Oxygen, Resistance, and Possibility for Immigrant Youth under Siege."
Anthropology & Education Quarterly 38(1): 76–96. Reserve.
in-class film: Weyer, Hannah. 2002. Escuela. Women Make Movies
11/4 Delpit, Lisa. 1995. Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: The
New Press. Please read: "Introduction," "The Silenced Dialogue," "Language Diversity and
Learning" and "The Vilis Tokples Schools." Reserve.
11/9 Whalen, Kevin. 2014. "Finding the Balance: Student Voices and Cultural Loss at Sherman
Institute." American Behavioral Scientist 58(1): 124-144. Reserve.
Alexie, Sherman. 2003. "Indian Education," in Crossing Cultures: Readings for Composition,
Anne Knopler et al, eds. New York: Longman. Pp. 89-93. Reserve.
Angelou, Maya. 1998. "Graduation," in Crossing Cultures: Readings for Composition, 5th ed.
Henry Knepler et al, eds. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Pp. 13-24. Reserve.
Highly Recommended: Margolis, Eric. 2004. "Looking at discipline, looking at labour:
photographic representations of Indian boarding schools." Visual Studies 19(1): 72-96. Reserve.
In-Class Film: Richie, Chip. 2008. "Our Spirits Don't Speak English." Rich-Heape Films.
11/11 Heath, Shirley Bryce. 1986. "What No Bedtime Story Means: Narrative Skills at Home and
School." Language Socialization Across Cultures, Bambi Scheifflen and Elinor Ochs, eds. Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press. Reserve.
Damrow, Amy. 2014. "Navigating the Structures of Elementary School in the United States
and Japan: An Ethnography of the Particular." Anthropology & Education Quarterly 45(1): 87–104.
Reserve.
Weeks 12-13: Class and Poverty; Compassion and Exploitation
11/16 Brettell, Caroline. 1998. "Historical Perspectives on Infant and Child Mortality in
Northwestern Portugal" in Small Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood, Nancy Scheper-Hughes and
Carolyn Sargent, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 165-185. SW.
Bourgois, Phillipe. 1998. "Families and Children in Pain in the U.S. Inner City," in Small
Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood, Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Carolyn Sargent, eds. Berkeley:
University of California Press. Pp. 331-351. SW.
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Recommended: Morrison, Lynn. 2004. "Ceausescu's Legacy: Family Struggles and
Institutionalization of Children in Romania." Journal of Family History 29(2): 168-182. Reserve.
11/18 Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, and Daniel Hoffman. 1998. "Brazilian Apartheid: Street Kids and
the Struggle for Urban Space," in Small Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood, Nancy ScheperHughes and Carolyn Sargent, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 352-388. SW.
Horton, Sarah. 2008. "Consuming Childhood: “Lost” and “Ideal” Childhoods as a
Motivation for Migration," Anthropological Quarterly 81(4): 925-43. Reserve.
11/23 Uehling, Greta Lynn. 2008. "The International Smuggling of Children: Coyotes,
Snakeheads, and the Politics of Compassion," Anthropological Quarterly 81(4): 833–71. Reserve.
Terrio, Susan J. 2008. "New Barbarians at the Gates of Paris? Prosecuting Undocumented
Minors in the Juvenile Court—The Problem of the ‘Petits Roumains’" Anthropological Quarterly 81(4):
873–901. Reserve
Joyce, Kathryn. 2013. "Orphan Fever: The Evangelical Movement's Adoption Obsession."
Mother Jones (May/June 2013). [http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/christianevangelical-adoption-liberia?page=1 ] Reserve/Online.
in-class film: Briski, Zana. 2004. Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (documentary film).
Thinkfilm.
Break 11/25-11/27
Week 14: Child Labor: Opposed to Education?
11/30 Nieuwenhuys, Olga. 1996. "The Paradox of Child Labor and Anthropology," Annual Review
of Anthropology 25: 237-51. Reserve.
Okyere, Samuel. 2012. "Re-Examining the Education-Child Labour Nexus: The Case of
Child Miners at Kenyasi, Ghana." Childhoods Today 6(1). Reserve.
12/2 Raj Giri, Birendra. 2007. "An Autobiography of Child Work: a reflexive account."
Childhoods Today 1(2). Reserve.
ten Brinke, Sara. 2014. "Imagining, Appropriating and Silencing: Street-working Children’s
Strategies of Home-making in Public and Private Space." Childhoods Today 8(1). Reserve.
Week 15: Violence in Childhood
12/7 Korbin, Jill E. 2003. "Children, Childhoods, and Violence," Annual Review of Anthropology
32: 431-46. Reserve.
Weiss, Meira. 1998. "Ethical Reflections: Taking a Walk on the Wild Side," in Small Wars:
The Cultural Politics of Childhood, Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Carolyn Sargent, eds. Berkeley:
University of California Press. Pp. 149-162. SW.
12/9 Rosen, David M. 2007. "Child Soldiers, International Humanitarian Law, and the
Globalization of Childhood," American Anthropologist 109(2): 296-306. Reserve.
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1998. "Institutionalized Sex Abuse and the Catholic Church," in
Small Wars: The Cultural Politics of Childhood, Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Carolyn Sargent, eds.
Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 295-317. SW.
Final Essay Due
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