Semester 2

Geethika Dharmasinghe

Office hours: After class and by appt. SOC 630. 

gdharmasinghe@soc.cmb.ac.lk

Overview

This course will examine conceptual issues on how identity is formed and how it is related to culture and politics. It will also examine issues of identity related to Sri Lankan culture and politics in its diverse manifestations in class, caste, gender, ethnicity, and generational division. Drawing from films, videos, and selected readings, students will be confronted with different representational forms that portray peoples and communities in Sri Lanka and various parts of the world. Students will be asked to examine critically their own prejudices as they influence the perception and evaluation of cultural difference and in relation to inequalities.

What will you get from this course?

• Understand the social processes involved in the formation of human identities

• Understand and critically evaluate key analyses in social theory in relation to the formation of personality or character and social identity  

• Identify historical, social and political processes that lead to the formation of identities in Sri Lankan society

Text Book 

Woodward, Kath. (ed.). 2004. Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity. London: Routledge. 

Additional readings will be distributed.

Grading-Labor Contract

This course will be taught on two tracks: background material on the theoretical categories such as identity formation, society and culture will be presented in lecture; discussions will focus on the readings.

Attendance in discussions is required. Always bring the relevant text to discussion.

Class Contribution: 20%: This portion of your grade will depend on your contribution to the class environment and will be assessed based on your engagement with lectures and discussion sessions. This means: engagement in discussions, presentations, listening to your peers and incorporating/building off their insights in your own comments, being prepared for class and formulating questions about the readings and lectures.

Reading Response (RR): 30%: Contribute weekly reading responses of 300 words (single-spaced) and bring it to the discussion section. These will relate to the readings, and may be structured in one of two ways (or a combination).

a. Identify a “golden line” or quotation that you believe is significant and reflects the

author's major point(s). You will then note why it is an important point (contextualize it), and finally raise any comments, questions, or disagreements with the author that you may have.

b. Alternately, you can structure your response around a challenging question, very brief personal story, or a visual that you are reminded of (e.g. photograph). You should show how you understand the author’s main arguments or points, and what you find provocative, challenging, difficult, or affirming. What do the readings and your story, question or visual inspire you to do or think about?

RRs are preparation for discussion, not freestanding assignments. Always bring the relevant text to discussion. The response needs to engage with the readings and ask an analytical (not yes/no) question. It must end with a question that can generate productive conversations. It is necessary to demonstrate through your response that you have read/watched and understood the material assigned.

Midterm 20%: Annotated Bibliography: 20% Find three articles that discuss the connections between culture, identity and politics and create an annotated bibliography for following the annotated bibliography workshop. Describe your understanding of the article and whether you like the authors’ arguments or not. 

Final essay (8-9pp): 30% Complete the Engaging Publics Project. 

This project asks you to engage a local/global issue or topic that you care deeply about, and that is inspired by the questions and approaches in this course. You will have the opportunity to learn from the broader Colombo campus, including academic talks and events sponsored by the many organizations on campus and in the local community.

You will also research two journal length articles on the topic. The final product will be a blog page to share with the class. It should include four pages of text that is geared toward captivating a public audience, and would include art, photographs and/or video. You can be as creative as you like! Do think about this project as a tool for raising awareness, inspiring action or simply offering a different way to understand an important issue. The project is DUE on the exam date (will provide later).

Diversity and Inclusion

Building an inclusive and respectful learning community is at the center of this course. Our diverse backgrounds and perspectives enrich our conversations. I am committed to providing an atmosphere for learning that respects our diversity and life experiences. While working together to build this community in the lecture hall and discussion sections, I ask all members to:

• Share their unique experiences, values and beliefs

• Be open to the views of others

• Honor each other’s uniqueness

• Appreciate the opportunity that we have to learn from each other in this

community

• Value each other’s opinions and communicate in a respectful manner

• Keep confidential discussions that the community has of a personal (or

professional) nature

Course Schedule (Subject to Modification) 

Week 01: Distribution of syllabi and introduction to the course.

Watch: Danger of a Single Story  

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en (Links to an external site.)

Week 02: What do we mean by culture, identity? How do we create differences? 

Geertz, Clifford.1966. Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 22 (4): 2-8. 

Week 03: Human Rights and Cultural Politics 

Turner, T. (1997). Human Rights, Human Difference: Anthropology's Contribution to an Emancipatory Cultural Politics. Journal of Anthropological Research, 53(3):273-291. 

Week 04: Questions of Identity (Chapter 1)

Week 05: Workshop: Analyzing an Article  

Obeysekere, Gananath. 1979. The Vicissitudes of the Sinhala Buddhist Identity through time and Change. In Collective Identities, Nationalisms and Protest in Modern Sri Lanka. ed. Michael Roberts. MARGA Institute: Colombo. Pp. 279-312.

Week 06: Identity and gender (Chapter 2) 

Week 07: Culture and the Individual: Agency and Practice  

Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Lila Abu-Lughod: West ‘saving’ the rest of the world- Can we accept that there might be different ideas about justice and that different women might want, or choose, different futures from what we envision as best?

Week 08: Identity, inequality and social class (Chapter 3)

Week 09: Are we so different? ‘Race’, ‘ethnicity’ and identity (Chapter 4)

Workshop: Annotated Bibliography

Week 10: ​​Classic Constructions of Culture 

Kottak, Conrad. 2017. Religion. In Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity. Seventeenth Edition.  New York: McGrow Hill Publishers.

White, Leslie A. 1940. The Symbol: The Origin and Basis of Human Behavior. Philosophy of Science 7:451-463. 

Week 11: Modern Political Identities 

Rogers, John. 1994. Post-Orientalism and the Interpretation of Premodern and Modern Political Identities: The Case of Sri Lanka 

Midterm is due 

Week 12: Appreciation of Diversity: Who owns Culture?

Week 13: Mechanism of Cultural Change; Globalization: Its Meaning and Its Nature

Week 14: Politics and Power

Mead, Margaret. "Warfare is Only an Invention -- Not a Biological Necessity

Week 15: Concluding Remarks