2021 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Cultural Anthropology B
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Rieko Tanaka
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 1-2 Mon (W621) / 1-2 Thu (W621)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.H203
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2021
- Offered quarter
- 4Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
What does "feeling = thinking" mean? This lecture will focus on human activities, such as “to see, to read and to hear”, and study cultural events and artistic activities around the world. The purpose of this work is to reconsider "sense" from the perspective of cultural anthropology. Therefore, we will focus on historical development of theories, etc., but will include many case studies of artistic field. This class will broaden the range of world that can be imagined.
Course description and aims
1. To acquire the basic concept of cultural anthropology
2. To gain a deep understanding of arguments about "feeling = thinking (sense, emotion, body, etc., as a way of thinking)"
Keywords
Art and anthropology, image, words, music, sense、experience
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Three lectures are given on each theme, accompanied by writing response papers based on reading or visual materials.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction | Overview of Anthropological thinking |
| Class 2 | Art and anthropology (1) | Explore the problem of "art and anthropology" in premodern society |
| Class 3 | Art and anthropology (2) | Explore the problem of "art and anthropology" in modern society |
| Class 4 | Art and anthropology (3) | Understand the arguments over sense, art, and anthropology |
| Class 5 | the act of representing by IMAGE (1) | Media theory of Marshall McLuhan and others |
| Class 6 | the act of representing by IMAGE (2) | Learn the theory of sense from Martin Heidegger and other philosophers |
| Class 7 | the act of representing by IMAGE (3) | How can we understand Cine-Anthropology? |
| Class 8 | the act of representing by WORDS (1) | Explore the Oratory of Walter Ong's theory about Epic |
| Class 9 | the act of representing by WORDS (2) | Understand Eric Havelock's theory about texts and poets |
| Class 10 | the act of representing by WORDS (3) | Semiotics, what is "to read"? |
| Class 11 | the act of representing by MUSIC (1) | Consider Murray Schafer's Soundscape |
| Class 12 | the act of representing by MUSIC (2) | Explore John Cage's music and his arguments about "mushroom's life" |
| Class 13 | the act of representing by MUSIC (3) | From studies of auditory culture, what is "to hear"? |
| Class 14 | Review and looking forward: sense and experience | Confirm the results learned in the lecture |
| Class 15 | Final exam | Confirm the results learned in the lecture |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
We focus on the following documents, but we distribute and introduce necessary sections.
Morphy, Howard and Morgan Perkins, eds. (2006) "The Anthropology of Art: A Reader". Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Attendance (25%), response papers and exercises during the lectures (25%), midterm and final exams (50%).
Those failing to attend more than 2/3 of the lectures will fail the class.
***Update August 2021***
In this course, an online exam will be held on 7th February during the make-up classes and final exam period.
Students who have face-to-face exams / make-up classes before and after this course can choose their own attendance time from the viewpoint of safety.
Related courses
- LAH.H103 ： Cultural Anthropology A
- LAH.H303 ： Cultural Anthropology C
Prerequisites
No prerequisites. Active participation in the course is expected.