Course Description
The methods used by anthropologists to reconstruct the history of preliterate societies from archaeological evidence, documentary evidence, and oral traditions. The ethnohistory of southeastern United States.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Required to attend mini-seminar in conjunction with course. Write research paper.
Athena Title
ETHNOHISTORY
Prerequisite
ANTH 1102 or permission of major
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The purpose of the course is to examine the concepts and methods which may be used to reconstruct the social experience of people in the past, particularly people who were non-European, alien, ancient, exotic, rural, poor -- in short people whose world-view or way of life was significantly different from the scholar who investigated them. This course focuses on the social experience of Indians, black slaves, and 18th-century deerskin traders in the American South.
Topical Outline
1. Introduction 2. A flawed synthesis and its aftermath 3. Anthropology and history 4. Why social anthropology must become historical 5. Ethnohistory: a critique 6. Social History: a new synthesis 7. The problem of narrative in social history
Syllabus