This course explores the negotiation of sociocultural selfhood across
a range of international settings. It
approaches this broad issue in a very specific way.
Each week, a body of ethnographic writing as well as international
literary works -- a novel, short stories, poems, a memoir --  are
explored for what they might reveal about the constitution and
negotiation of social identity within a given
social scene.  Among the regions represented in the course are Africa,
Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States.  Among the experiences
represented are those of women and ethnic minorities living under
politically repressive regimes; immigration in its various guises; and
individual and collective efforts to come to terms with the legacy of
colonialism, war, and other forms of violence. The potential and
limitations of ethnography and literature (as "opposed" to, for
instance, orality) as means by which to understand the sociocultural
self are considered throughout the course. As a final project each
student produces either an ethnographic work or body of fiction
focused on a key issue raised in the course.