First-Year Seminar (101-6-21)
Topic
Law and Disorder
Instructors
Robert Launay
847/491-4841
1810 Hinman Ave., Room #205, EV Campus
Office Hours: By appointment
Robert Launay is Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University. He has conducted extensive field research among Muslim traders in Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. He has published two books and numerous articles, particularly on the anthropology of Islamic societies. He is currently editing a volume on Islamic education in Africa.
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 223: Wed, Fri 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
Anthropologists are committed to understanding other cultures in their own terms. One way of developing such an understanding is to read works that they have written or recited. This class will focus on two such works from cultures as different from each other as they are from ourselves. Njal's Saga is a medieval Icelandic story of a series of revenge killings that spins further and further out of control. Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is a fictional account of how a real 8th century magistrate solves three mysterious Through each of these books, we will explore the different ways in which cultures understand and implement law and lawlessness, justice and injustice, loyalty and treachery.
Registration Requirements
Freshman/Sophomore Only
Class Materials (Required)
Njal's Saga, translated and edited by Robert Cook, Penguin
ISBN 978-0140447699
Jesse Byock, Viking Age Iceland, Penguin
ISBN 978-0140291155
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, translated by Robert Van Gulik, Dover
ISBN 978-0486233376
Jonathan Spence, The Death of Woman Wang, Penguin
Class Materials (Suggested)
Booth, Wayne, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. 2008. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. 2021. They Say/ I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. 5th edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Class Attributes
WCAS First-Year Seminar
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for First Year & Sophomore only
Add Consent: Department Consent Required
Drop Consent: Department Consent Required