ANT 280R-002: Anthro. Perspectives: The Caribbean (Spring 2010)

Semester Details: Beneath the glossy and uniform tourist brochures depicting pristine beaches, smiling "natives" and sun-tanned visitors, the Caribbean is a region of great cultural and historical diversity.  Some have argued that the Caribbean is quintessentially modern, indeed "modern" even before Europe was modern, and yet the region is typically seen as a smattering of "underdeveloped" islands and part of the 'third world.'  In fact, defining what is distinctively "Caribbean" is not a simple task. As a departure from a traditional "survey" course, this class foregrounds both ethnography as a methodological and epistemological approach, and gender as a lens on Caribbean social, cultural, and economic life.  In so doing, we will both examine and re-interpret some of the "master narratives" that have constituted Caribbean anthropology; kinship/gender relations and the centrality of "matrifocality"; the significance of "mati", the "creole" vs. "plural society" debate surrounding of race, ethnicity, class, in the formation of Caribbean societies, and the cultural paradigm of "reputation" and "respectability".  The course will engage ethnography, fiction, and film in examining a wide range of social, political and economic issues, historical underpinnings, and contemporary transformations. Active participation by all students in this course is essential and each student will be responsible for contributing to discussions in class.  In addition to providing an introduction to aspects of Caribbean culture, this course is aimed at sharpening students' analytical skills and discussions and written work will be geared toward this goal.