ANSO 205(S) Ways of Knowing
An exploration of how one makes sense of the social world through fieldwork. Some of the key questions of the course are: What are the philosophical and epistemological underpinnings of social inquiry? How does one frame intellectual problems and go about collecting, sifting, and assessing field materials? What are the uses and limits of statistical data? What is the importance of history to sociological and anthropological research? How can one use archival and other documentary materials to enrich ethnographic research? What are the empirical limits to interpretation? What is the relationship between empirical data and the generation of social theory? How does the social organization of social research affect one's inquiry? What are the typical ethical dilemmas of fieldwork and of other kinds of social research? How do researchers' personal biographies and values shape their work? We will approach these problems concretely rather than abstractly through a series of case studies of how men and women in the world of affairs, ranging from detectives, prosecutors, epidemiologists, and corporate lawyers, make sense of their worlds in order to act responsibly. We will also draw upon the field experiences of departmental faculty in settings as diverse as the jungles of Guatemala and Peru, the mountains of Sumbawa, Gujarat, the seat of ongoing communal violence in west India, Afghan refugee camps, Russian kitchens, the halls of Congress, big city police departments and district attorney offices, corporate offices on Madison Avenue and Wall Street, and criminal drug courts across America and the United Kingdom. There will also be some practical training in basic field methods, census and survey interpretation, and archival research.
Format: seminar. Requirements: a series of short papers and a final exam.
Prerequisites: Anthropology 101 or Sociology 101 or permission of instructor. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 20).
Hour: JACKALL