EDFS 354 - 3 Graduate Credits
Meeting Dates: Online Thursdays from 7:00 - 8:00 PM from January 20 - April 7, 2010
Travel dates: February 20 - 28, 2010
Good ethnography is an intellectual exorcism in which, forced to take the perspective of the other, we are wrenched out of our self. We transcend ourselves, and for a brief moment we wonder who we are, whether we are animals, barbarians or angels, whether all things are really the same under the sun, whether it would be better if the other were us, or better if we were the other. (Shweder, 1986, New York Times Book Review, 21: 38)
Anthropology of Education is an area of study that has grown actively in the last several decades. It is not only a field in which anthropology and education converge, but also one that has created bonds with psychology, sociology, linguistics, and cultural studies. Therefore, a one-semester course in "Anthropological Perspectives of Education and Social Services" could take a variety of approaches. This course will focus on Mexico and the relationships between culture and knowledge transmission; on struggles of indigenous groups in Mexico to gain (or maintain) control over their lives and to shape their own education; on the implications of migration for issues of culture and education in Mexico and in the United States; and on students’ experiences in Mexico from socio-cultural perspectives.
The experiential component of this course—a week in Oaxaca, Mexico—will be complemented by readings, on-line discussions, and sharing of projects both previous to and after the trip. In Mexico, we will spend time in both Oaxaca City and in near-by villages and towns hearing from and interacting with scholars, governmental officials, non-governmental organizations, indigenous activists, and local residents. We will hear from indigenous teachers about ways in which they work to keep their cultural heritage from being eroded by public schooling systems taught in Spanish; with indigenous women about ways in which they are both working to maintain and to challenge cultural traditions; with people working to assist those who are economically impoverished to find ways to remain in their communities and not have to migrate; with activists involved in the teacher strike that closed down the Oaxacan government several years ago; and many more.
