Course Description and Policies
Synopsis
The traditional medium of anthropological scholarship is the written word, and yet the written word is not itself the medium of exchange of the vast majority of human interaction. Photography, soundscapes, and ethnographic film afford distinct possibilities for both understanding and depicting varieties of human experience. This course will play with these different modalities as we explore possibilities of anthropological knowledge beyond the written word. We will transgress the boundaries between the creative fields of photography, film, audio production, and empirical social science. Students will engage in multimodal ethnography (photo, sound, and film) through a variety of course projects, mastering technical skills and deploying these to think about the work of anthropology in new ways.
Details
The traditional medium of anthropological scholarship is the written word.* Written words can do many things—elicit emotional responses, project imaginary scenes, draw one’s mind to focus acutely on particular details, and so on. And yet the written word is not itself the medium of exchange of the vast majority of human interaction—very far from it. Other media more closely approach—although never replicate precisely—the sensory modalities of human experience. Still images freeze a scene for close inspection. Audio recordings provide emotional immersion that words cannot. Film draws on multiple modalities to immerse and portray. Each of these media afford distinct possibilities for both ‘capturing’ ethnographic data and portraying the insights that the ethnographer is seeking to develop. This course will dive deeply into these distinct modalities of both capturing and conveying ethnographic insights into varieties of human experience. We will compare, contrast, and play with these different modalities, and push the boundaries of anthropological knowledge and experience beyond the written word.
More practically, this course entails an overview of visual/sonic (multimodal) anthropology methods and scholarship, including ethnographic film, photography, sound, art, and other methods used in anthropology. We will simultaneously study, deploy, and critique these methods of ethnographic data collection and conceptual communication, as we collectively consider of how distinct media allow new ways of understanding what it means to be human. We will become familiar with current theoretical and critical approaches to anthropology that focus on visual and sonic media. Students will learn to critically analyze the strengths and limitations of distinct media (photo, video, audio, text, art) in producing and conveying anthropological insights.
In this course, we will study a range of contemporary and historical cultural groups through visual and sonic anthropology scholarship. This will include gaining the capacity for cultural critique based on distinct media portrayals of various communities and societies. We will collectively learn to make the medium of exchange a more central consideration to developing, articulating, and debating theoretical perspectives. We will further apply various theoretical ideas to and test them with a variety of visual anthropological materials, all while seeking to develop theoretical lines of coherence from these different accounts rooted in distinct media..
Students will gain experience in a wide variety of modes of communication by completing not just writing assignments, but also audiovisual forms of data presentation including photographic essays, soundscapes, and a short ethnographic film. Students will be trained in the basic skills of photo, video, and audio editing, and will undertake a major project as the culminating assignment for the course. Students will learn these technical skills—blended with critical theoretical analysis—in order to produce unique anthropological insights using distinct media.
* Yes, much anthropological scholarship is transmitted through the spoken word, which arguably more closely approximates the media of social exchange in the communities that anthropologists study. And yet, even in verbal academic exchange, so often the “verbal” is a mere performance of a pre-composed written form.
Course and University Policies
Honor Code
In keeping with the principles of the BYU Honor Code, students are expected to be honest in all of their academic work. Academic honesty means, most fundamentally, that any work you present as your own must in fact be your own work and not that of another. Violations of this principle may result in a failing grade in the course and additional disciplinary action by the university. Students are also expected to adhere to the Dress and Grooming Standards. Adherence demonstrates respect for yourself and others and ensures an effective learning and working environment. It is the university's expectation, and my own expectation in class, that each student will abide by all Honor Code standards. Please call the Honor Code Office at 422-2847 if you have questions about those standards.
Sexual Harassment
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The act is intended to eliminate sex discrimination in education and pertains to admissions, academic and athletic programs, and university-sponsored activities. Title IX also prohibits sexual harassment of students by university employees, other students, and visitors to campus. If you encounter sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination, please talk to your professor or contact one of the following: the Title IX Coordinator at 801-422-2130; the Honor Code Office at 801-422-2847; the Equal Employment Office at 801-422-5895; or Ethics Point at http://www.ethicspoint.com, or 1-888-238-1062 (24-hours).
Student Disability
Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability which may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the University Accessibility Center (UAC), 2170 WSC or 422-2767. Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified, documented disabilities. The UAC can also assess students for learning, attention, and emotional concerns. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the UAC. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures by contacting the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895, D-285 ASB.
Academic Honesty
The first injunction of the Honor Code is the call to "be honest." Students come to the university not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist them in their life's work, but also to build character. "President David O. McKay taught that character is the highest aim of education" (The Aims of a BYU Education, p.6). It is the purpose of the BYU Academic Honesty Policy to assist in fulfilling that aim. BYU students should seek to be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be evaluated based upon that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, cheating, and other academic misconduct.
Plagiarism
Intentional plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft that violates widely recognized principles of academic integrity as well as the Honor Code. Such plagiarism may subject the student to appropriate disciplinary action administered through the university Honor Code Office, in addition to academic sanctions that may be applied by an instructor. Inadvertent plagiarism, which may not be a violation of the Honor Code, is nevertheless a form of intellectual carelessness that is unacceptable in the academic community. Plagiarism of any kind is completely contrary to the established practices of higher education where all members of the university are expected to acknowledge the original intellectual work of others that is included in their own work. In some cases, plagiarism may also involve violations of copyright law. Intentional Plagiarism-Intentional plagiarism is the deliberate act of representing the words, ideas, or data of another as one's own without providing proper attribution to the author through quotation, reference, or footnote. Inadvertent Plagiarism-Inadvertent plagiarism involves the inappropriate, but non-deliberate, use of another's words, ideas, or data without proper attribution. Inadvertent plagiarism usually results from an ignorant failure to follow established rules for documenting sources or from simply not being sufficiently careful in research and writing. Although not a violation of the Honor Code, inadvertent plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct for which an instructor can impose appropriate academic sanctions. Students who are in doubt as to whether they are providing proper attribution have the responsibility to consult with their instructor and obtain guidance. Examples of plagiarism include: Direct Plagiarism-The verbatim copying of an original source without acknowledging the source. Paraphrased Plagiarism-The paraphrasing, without acknowledgement, of ideas from another that the reader might mistake for the author's own. Plagiarism Mosaic-The borrowing of words, ideas, or data from an original source and blending this original material with one's own without acknowledging the source. Insufficient Acknowledgement-The partial or incomplete attribution of words, ideas, or data from an original source. Plagiarism may occur with respect to unpublished as well as published material. Copying another student's work and submitting it as one's own individual work without proper attribution is a serious form of plagiarism.
Use of Generative AI in this course
Generative artificial intelligence platforms are useful for many problem solving and general data analysis and management tasks. However, anywhere where the production of prose, photography, sound, or edited film is required in this course, students are not, per this course policy, allowed to use generative AI at any stage to produce prose, images (moving and still), or sound that will be turned in for credit, including papers, book reviews, miscellaneous assignments, and the final project. This includes a prohibition on generative AI tools for outlining, developing your argument, and figuring out how to ground your argument in academic sources. This also includes using AI tools to edit your multimodal products for each assignment. Using generative AI in any of these ways will constitute a violation of this course policy and any assignments based on generative AI - produced products will not be given credit. Serious cases will be reported to the Honor Code Office.
Please also consult the University statement about generative AI and academic integrity.
It is also important for you to understand what generative AI models do, and what they do not do. We will talk about this and what it means for understanding Hmong culture in particular. But for a more general background of the current state of these types of models, consider this summary at the end of 2025: From prophet to product: How AI came back down to earth in 2025 (Ars Technica)