Course syllabus

Welcome to Culture and War

The course will be run by Sverker Finnström. Besides Sverker Finnström, anthropologists Per Ståhlberg, Emma Rimpiläinen, and Carl Rommel will lecture. Language of instruction is English. If you have any questions about the course content ahead of the course start, contact Sverker Finnström. For questions about admission etc., contact course administrator Angelika Holm. But first, please read from beginning to end the below overview information.

Course start is Tuesday Aug 29 at 13.15-15.00, room 6-0022, Campus English Park. Note that session 2 will be held the same first week, Wednesday Aug 30 at 10.15-12.00, hall 1, University main building. Thereafter, sessions are planned to be held weekly on Tuesdays at 10.15-12.00, with a few sessions instead at 13.15-15.00. The last session is on Oct 24. See TimeEdit for schedule.

 

Outcome: An anthropological perspective on the study of war

Using ethnographic work, the course documents the everyday processes that characterize, precede and succeed war or armed conflict. After completing the course, students will possess an in-depth understanding of a selection of contemporary wars and armed conflicts, which will help them:

• Apply anthropological perspectives in the study of other wars and armed conflicts;
• Broaden their understanding of culture and everyday life in times of war and armed conflicts, an understanding pertinent in humanitarian aid, journalism, and conflict resolution;
• Relate local phenomena, such as changing gender roles, children and youth in war, lived vulnerabilities, and displacement, to global phenomena, such as media coverage, humanitarian and military intervention, and arms trade.

 

Before/between/during/after wars around the world

The four mandatory course books, listed below, offer a regional and thematic distribution over four continents/countries: Asia/Cambodia, Europe/Ukraine, Africa/Uganda, and North America/USA. The Ukraine book takes place before and between wars, the Uganda book during war; the books on USA and Cambodia after war.

 

The teaching

Study plan and expectations, sessions 1-10

Sessions 1-2 are conventional 2x45 min lectures that will introduce the students to the course, the reading, and course’s key arguments and concepts.

In preparing for sessions 1 and 2, students are to read the introductory chapters to all four course books, as well as Handelman's article (references below).

Sessions 3-9 generally consist of a lecture (first hour) and a seminar/group discussion (second hour). In the seminars students will discuss, in groups and in plenary, the literature they have read ahead of the class.

Session 10 will summarize the course and prepare for the final assignment.

 

Written seminar responses, sessions 3-9

For sessions 3-9, based on the reading ahead of class, students are to submit written responses to the readings, one day before each session. The written responses should be no more than 300 words. No written responses are to be submitted for sessions 1, 2 and 10. Detailed instructions will be provided when the course starts.

 

Final review essay

On Oct 31, a final written review essay of some 3000 words (excluding references) is to be submitted. Instructions will be provided when the course starts.

 

Mandatory course books: Cambodia, Uganda, Ukraine and USA

Bolin, Göran, and Per Ståhlberg. 2023. Managing meaning in Ukraine: Information, communication, and narration since the Euromaidan revolution. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Finnström, Sverker. 2008. Living with bad surroundings: War, history, and everyday moments in northern Uganda. Durham: Duke University Press.

Hinton, Alexander Laban. 2005. Why did they kill? Cambodia in the shadow of genocide. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Wool, Zoë Hamilton. 2015. After war: The weight of life at Walter Reed. Durham: Duke University Press.

All books are all available as e-resources from the Uppsala University Library. Bolin &  Ståhlberg's book is also fully open access from the publisher's webpage. The books by Finnström, Hinton and Wool are also available as physical library copies. All books are available from various (off/online) bookstores.

 

Mandatory course literature, articles

Finnström, Sverker, and Carolyn Nordstrom. 2015. War: Anthropological Aspects, Historical Development of. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), edited by J. D. Wright. Oxford: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.12235-4

Handelman, Don. 2010. What is happening to the anthropological monograph? (The onslaught of the journal article). Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale 17 (2):218-223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8676.2009.00062_2.x (Handelman's article is also available from his ResearchGate profile page)

Shweder, Richard A., and Les Beldo. 2015. Culture: Contemporary Views. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), edited by J. D. Wright. Oxford: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.12050-1

 

That's it! Thank you for reading, and see you in August.

Rebel attack (northern Uganda). Painting by Omotex Prof Designer, 1998.