A Hands-On Anthropological Introduction: Health, Politics, and Culture of Contemporary China

Catalog description

This five-unit seminar will be a geographically focused introduction to a domain of scholarly inquiry. The intersection of health, culture, and politics has been a fount for significant study over recent decades. An especially generative region for this form of inquiry has been Asia and more particularly China. In this course, students will pursue two main learning goals: (1) acquiring the competency to evaluate new scholarly research conducted by anthropologists on topics pertaining to health and politics in Chinese cultural contexts and (2) gaining hands-on experience conducting ethnographic inquiry on allied topics. Class will meet twice a week and will promote learning goals in a two-step choreography. Part one of each session will entail two students (a) presenting prepared reflections on that day's assigned reading, (b) raising pertinent questions about the text, and (c) guiding discussion (with help from the instructor). These presentations will prime every student not only to delve deeply into our readings but also hone their presentation and leadership skills. Prof. Kohrman will fill out class meetings with brief lectures where necessary. The second half of each class session will be devoted to skill acquisition fundamental to conducting ethnographic research. These will include designing research questions, choosing and deploying qualitative methods, writing field notes, analyzing and presenting findings, and grappling with ethics of academic inquiry. Note: Same as ANTHRO 248, ANTHRO 148, CHINA 155A, CHINA 255A. Students may not earn credit for both OSPBEIJ 55 and ANTHRO 248, ANTHRO 148, CHINA 155A, CHINA 255A.