HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: sociology & soc. anthropology

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Marcy Brink-Danan

Coordinator Email: Marcy.bd@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Tues 12:30-14:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Marcy Brink-Danan

Course/Module description:
Although most of our days are spent reading, writing and talking, we often take language itself for granted.
Communication is the most human form of behavior, and the investigation of the ways language and culture interact is one of the most fascinating aspects of the study of human beings. Linguistic anthropology investigates how humans create meaning through the use of language and communicative behavior. Throughout the semester, our readings will be augmented by discussions of ethnographic and linguistic methods. This course topic ties into debates current in
anthropology, sociolinguistics, narrative studies, communication, semiotics, modern culture and media.
We also will learn about the linguistic basis for many sociological and anthropological theories.

Course/Module aims:
Class goals include: understanding the role of language in society and focusing – theoretically and methodologically - on language as a source of rich ethnographic data;

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Students will possess the anthropological know-how to see language as key to social organization in the world around us. They will become more careful and critical interviewers, be able to transcribe spoken discourse and undertake critical discourse analysis of text and speech;

Attendance requirements(%):
100

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Discussion-based instruction. This is a graduate-level course, so it is crucial that ALL students participate in the class discussion. In general, the quality of questions and comments will be valued more than the quantity.

Course/Module Content:
INTRO AND SCOPE OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, LANGUAGE AND THEORIES OF CULTURE, LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY,
ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS, INTERVIEW LANGUAGE, TRANSCRIBING SPOKEN LANGUAGE, SEMIOTICS AND MEANING, CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Required Reading:
Reading schedule (Note: This syllabus is subject to REVISION!)

All readings are available as PDFs on moodle

Throughout the course we will use a book called "Linguistic Anthropology" (A. Duranti), a comprehensive textbook (on our moodle), in parallel to a collection of classic, ethnographically rich articles that focus on language and theories of language.

DURANTI, SCOPE OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Hall, K. 1995 Lip Service on the Fantasy Lines.

DURANTI, THEORIES OF CULTURE

Bucholtz, Mary 2001 The Whiteness of Nerds: Superstandard English and Racial Markedness

Monaghan, L. Ed. Ebonics Debate

DURANTI, LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

Golden, D. 2001 "Now, like Real Israelis, Let's Stand Up and Sing": Teaching the National Language to Russian Newcomers in Israel.

DURANTI, ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS

Briggs, C. 2007 Anthropology, Interviewing, and Communicability in Contemporary Society.

DURANTI, TRANSCRIPTION

Bucholtz, M. 2000 The politics of transcription.

DURANTI, MEANING

De Saussure, F. Course in General Linguistics (selections))

DURANTI, SPEAKING AS SOCIAL ACTION

Austin, J. How To Do Things With Words 1962 (selection)(

Bourdieu, P. Economics of Linguistic Exchanges (selections)

Irvine, J. 1989 When talk isn’t cheap: language and political economy.

DURANTI, CONVERSATIONAL EXCHANGES

Noy, C. 2002 "You MUST go trek there:" The Persuasive Genre of Narration among Israeli Backpackers.

DURANTI, CONCLUSIONS

DURANTI, PRACTICAL TIPS FOR RECORDING

Spitulnik, Debra, Media and Anthroplogy

Hill, J. 2002 "Expert Rhetorics" in Advocacy for Endangered Languages: Who Is Listening, and What Do They Hear?

Jones, G. and Schieffelin, B. 2011 Talking Text and Talking Back: ‘‘My BFF Jill’’ from Boob Tube to YouTube.

Doodstar, A. “The Vulgar Spirit of Blogging”: On Language, Culture, and Power in Persian Weblogestan

Sonntag, S. Appropriating Identity or Cultivating Capital? Global English
in Offshoring Service Industries

Fairclough, N. 2012. Critical discourse analysis

Additional Reading Material:
Lakoff and Johnson, Metaphors We Live By

Bakhtin, M. Selections from The Dialogic Imagination;

Cody, F. 2009 "Inscribing Subjects to Citizenship: Petitions, Literacy Activism, and the Performativity of Signature in rural Tamil India." Cultural Anthropology 24(3): 347-380.

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 40 %
Presentation 20 %
Participation in Tutorials 30 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 10 %
RAPPORTEUR

Additional information:
Class Presentation: Each student will be responsible for giving a short presentation (about 15-20
minutes) at least once in the term. The presentation will be based on the week’s readings. Since everyone
will have read the required readings before coming to class, detailed summaries of the readings are
unnecessary. Rather, presentations should focus on drawing out the key ideas and common themes
covered in the readings. Presenters should ask questions, register agreements and disagreements, and
offer interpretations of the week’s readings. Each presentation should conclude by offering a few critical
questions for the class to discuss collectively. The presenter is responsible for distributing an outline of the presentation to the class on our moodle. 20%

Rapporteur: Each student will act as ‘rapporteur’ for at least one seminar meeting. This involves
providing comments, reflections, and elaborations on the discussion from the previous seminar meeting. The rapporteur’s report should be one page and will be made available to all seminar participants at the
beginning of the following seminar via moodle. 10%

All students are expected to complete the required readings (approximately 1-2 articles or chapters per week), think carefully about them before coming to class, and take an active part in the discussion. One cannot actively participate in discussions if one is not present, so attendance is mandatory; if you cannot attend, please let me know in advance. %30

Final exam (take home) %40 This exam will cover each of the major areas of content outlined in the syllabus. Short essays will respond to exam questions, not longer than 5 double spaced pages.

Class Presentation: 20%
Rapporteur: 10%
Participation: 30%
Final take home exam 40%