Benin 2014 Philosophy of Culture Reading Schedule

Return to Philosophy of Culture: Benin

Thursday June 5, 2014

• LC Packet: Reader, The Atlantic Slave Trade (pp. 377-403)
• Culture: Coates, Tim, "King Guezo of Dahomey, 1850-52" (1-23, 79-83, 161-167, 185-195)

Monday June 9, 2014

• Culture: Geertz, "Thick Description"

• Geertzs argues "for a narrowed, specialized" concept of I culture. What methodological strategies does he propose to arrive at this; what should, in his view, be the nature and purpose of anthropological studies?
• What would make this concept of culture "theoretically more powerful" than previous ones?

Tuesday June 10, 2014

• Culture: Hessling O'Neil, "The Person who does you wrong..."
• Culture: Hammer, Joshua, "On the Vodun Trail"

• What do you find curious about the origins and practices of vodun?
• What distinguishes Vodun from the faith(s) you are most familiar with, what similarities can you see?

Wednesday June 11, 2014

• LC Packet: Gardinier and Beierschenk -- Francophone Africa and Benin Politics

Thursday June 12, 2014

• Culture: Blier, "Chapter 1: Vodun Art, Social History and the Slave Trade" (23-54)

Tuesday June 17, 2014

• Rosenthal, Judy, "Religious Traditions of the Togo and Benin Ewe" (182-196)

Monday July 7, 2014

• LC Packet: Millenium Development Goals for Benin and Easterly reading. Browse links on Learning Community site and look up other health and development data, and save notes for in country discussion.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

• Sachs, Jeffrey, The End of Poverty, Chapter 3, "Why Some Countries Fail to Thrive"

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

• Easterly (from LC Packet), "Seekers vs. Planners"
• Easterly, Chapter 2, "The Legend of the Big Push"

Thursday, July 10, 2014

• Karlan and Appel, More than Good Intentions, Chapters 4

Monday July 14, 2014

• Karlan and Appel, More than Good Intentions, Chapters 6 and 7

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

• Acemoglu and Robinson, from Why Nations Fail

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

• Songhai Self-Study
• Review of Millenium Development Goals and updated indicators of well-being from your research.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

• LC Packet: Easterly, William. 2006. excerpt from The White Man's Burden. Chapter 1, "Planners vs. Seekers,"
• LC Packet: Nzamujo, Fr. Godfrey. "Using agriculture to challenge Africa's triple threat." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Caw2htKiT0I

IN COUNTRY

• LC Packet: Viewing and discussion of Mama, Kpai, Hass
• Sharing of individual research