Anthro 402

The Anthropology of China

Professor Erik Mueggler

Course Description

The late twentieth century has been a time of dramatic social change in the People's Republic of China. The ownership of property, the organization of space in towns and cities, the foundations of social life in work and family, political possibilities, the care of bodies and minds, sex, food, religion: all this changed enormously for people in nearly every walk of life. How have people in China experienced and responded to all of these transformations? In the last few years a rich anthropological literature on China has begun to answer this question in rich detail. In this seminar, we take an anthropological approach to social change in the "reform era" in the PRC -- around 1978 to the present.

The first goal of this course is to build a rich understanding of daily life for China's diverse populations throughout this period. In addition, you will learn to identify and compare different theoretical and methodological approaches to studying social change in ordinary life and to develop a hypothetical research project of your own to study an aspect of social change that especially interests you.

Course Requirements

1. Active class participation. (20%). This course is a seminar. Its success depends on your doing the readings, reflecting upon them, and participating actively in class.

2. One-page commentary on the readings each week (20%). What was the main point of each reading? What did you think of the author's argument and approach? How do the readings relate to one another? One informal page in which you note down some of your thoughts on the readings will help prepare you for class discussion each week. Commentaries are due at the end of each class. Handwritten or late commentaries will not be accepted.

3. Presentation. (20%) You will sign up to make one presentation on one day's readings for class. Presentations should be between five and ten minutes in length. Your presentation should not be a summary of the readings. Instead, it should describe some of the analytical arguments made by the authors and reflect on how these readings relate to other readings or themes covered in class. You should be prepared to comment on how future research might extend or reframe our knowledge of this theme.

4.Critical essay (8-10 pages) (20%). For this essay you will draw on class readings and outside texts to discuss a specific aspect of social change in China of interest to you.

5. Research prospectus (6-8 pages)(20%). In this prospectus, you will propose to investigate, from a defined perspective, a specific aspect of social transformation in China. You will draw on course readings and outside texts to ground your proposed investigation in the literature on this aspect of social change in China. And you will identify a research methodology that would both appeal to you and be effective for examining this aspect of social transformation.

Department of Anthropology | Doctoral Program in Anthropology and History | Center for Chinese Studies