Households: Past and Present
As the basic unit of social and economic organization, the household is the context within which culture is passed down and transformed. Our gendered, ethnic, class, economic, and social behavioral patterns are shaped through our experiences in this most private, but critical cultural setting. Taking theoretically broad perspectives from readings in archaeology, cultural anthropology, urban studies, women’s studies, and sociology, we will tackle issues concerned with household architecture, forms of the family, wealth and status differences, the organization of labor, and gender and age-based social divisions, among others.
Through our readings, writing projects, and class discussions, we will practice increasingly sophisticated methods of deconstructing and critically evaluating arguments. We will also employ peer-critique workshops of student work that aims to critically test models of human behavior with multiple lines of evidence. Writing assignments include a series of short essays testing models of sociopolitical change against archaeological remains and contemporary household patterns, and a conference-style presentation. Students will also collect data for a final research project through service-learning or volunteer opportunities, direct observation or interviews, or archival research on some aspect of the archaeology or anthropology of households.
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