ANTH 122. Urban Ethnographies (M)

As key players in the global economy, cities are the focus of a rich body of literature that explores how urban life is shaped by the complex interplay between global, national, and local processes. How to best understand this interplay and how it shapes daily life in cities? How can we understand the inequalities that structure daily life in urban centers around the globe? How to analyze the different identities, spaces, and subjectivities that are being constituted under changing economic, social, and political conditions? In this seminar, we read ethnographies from and about cities around the globe and analyze how scholars, particularly anthropologists, have studied cities, their cultures, and social groups. We pay attention to the forces (such as neoliberalism, modernism, nationalism, and globalization) and inequalities (such as class, race, and gender) that shape urban life. The texts we read explore current pressing issues such as poverty, violence, policing, gentrification, and homelessness. Alongside our investigation of city life, students also will have the opportunity to develop their skills in ethnographic research methods by closely analyzing how different authors accessed and wrote about cities as well as by conducting their own mini-ethnographies.
Methods course.
Social sciences.
2 credits.
Eligible for GLBL-core
Fall 2024. Ghannam.
Catalog chapter: Sociology and Anthropology
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/sociology-anthropology

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