CEUS U798 0688 Shahrani
Seminar on Central Asian Nomadic Pastoral Societies
The main focus of the seminar will be on the anthropological representations of Islam and
Muslims in the ethnographic literature of the Middle East and former Soviet Central Asia.
Orientalism by Edward Said and a selection of ethnographies by Western and native authors will
be read and critically discussed in light of some recent critiques of the nature, purpose and
direction of traditional practices in the social sciences. The central aim of the seminar is to
explore relationships between ethnographers (producers) and their ethnograhic representations
(products) of the peoples and cultures they study. In particular the significance of place (of
ethnographers culture of orientation, of education and graduate training, of employment, of
research and fieldwork), gender, and voice (e.g. speaking of or for people studied, institutions
funding the research, and governments and agencies supporting the research efforts) within the
broader sociopolitical and intellectual environment, and their impact upon the ethnographic
accounts will be examined and assessed.
Course Requirements: A critical written report of the reading assignments for each week (about
2-3 double spaced typewritten pages) highlighting the most significant points (positive and
negative) about the authors' approach in the text(s). These brief weekly reviews are due in my
office by 1:00 pm on Wednesdays. Students are also expected to actively participate in class
discussions, lead class discussions, make an oral presentation of the term project, and submit a
term paper on the term project. The term project will consist of a review essay consisting of: 1)
critical reading, detailed assessment and synthesis of all required readings for the seminar; and 2)
serious and reasoned reflection on how the theoretical, conceptual, methodological and
substantive issues covered in this seminar will (or will not) be useful to your own specific topics
or fields of research interests and why. The final essay should be about 20 typed pages
(double-spaced).
Days and Time: Thursday, 2:30-5:00.