ITS:

Abstract :

AN308  Topics in Anthropology

Expressive Culture and Language in Everyday Life

Block 3, 2017-2018

Full Message :

     This course considers the extent to which expressive culture is central to
human life, as both an orienting force in culture writ large, but also as a
force for individual engagements with the cultural forces that shape their
lives. The course investigates how language use and linguistic resources, along
with other expressive resources, shape our sociocultural experiences.  Looking
globally, we consider the use of expressive practices like music, museum
exhibits, and popular media to explore the interactions between the individual,
society, and culture. Important questions for the course include: 

  	 What is the relationship of gender to expressive art forms?    	
		
           What larger social value is there in popular/vernacular musical forms? 

	       What do discourses about the “proper” or “right” ways to eat, parent,
talk, or otherwise use our bodies say about other cultural systems of 
value?

     Dr. Aimee J. Hosemann is a linguistic and sociocultural anthropologist with
emphases in Latin American indigenous languages, soundscapes, and cultures,
especially in Lowland South America. She is also interested in bilingual
education issues and has been investigating the rise of veganism/whole-foods,
plant-based eaters in the United States.