Lahore University of Management Sciences

ANTH 280/EDU 2XX - Ethnography of Pakistan

Spring 2018

Instructor Anjum Alvi

Office 216, New HSS Wing
Office Hours TBA
Email anjum.alvi@lums.edu.pk
Extension

DESCRIPTION

In our daily lives we express our culture. The way we talk, the activities we engage in, the expectations
to which we aspire to live up to, what we think we should be doing, the way we perceive how other
people, also in other countries live, all this is culture. This course is concerned with analyzing aspects
of our daily life (such as marriage strategies, biradari and politics, caste and qaum, family, self and
person, gift-exchange, participation in rituals concerning death, birth, marriage) so that we may discuss
them scientifically.

We take aspects of our own culture as self-understood and natural, that is, we think our way of living is
how one should live. Yet within Pakistan there are very different ways of being. Generally a Punjabi
person’s world view differs from the way how a Sindhi, Pakhtun, Balochi, Chitrali, or Kalasha,
perceives his or her life. Even within one province very different kinds of people are found, and they
have different views about their existence (such as dowry or bridewealth). Nevertheless there are also
basic similarities between the different people of Pakistan which, for instance, allow us to categorize
certain areas of Pakistan as belonging culturally to South Asia, whereas others belong to the Middle
East or nomadic cultures in general.

• Please note that it is important to be present (after the add and drop period) from the very first
session because we will start with important lectures, and this day will be counted in the bonus
for attendance.

• Therefore please read the topic which is going to be under discussion. In other words, get hold
of the reading package at least two weeks before the start of the semester.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• It will show how different people of Pakistan view themselves,

• how different views may be related,
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

• how the concepts of biraderi, caste, politics, and religion are interrelated,
• how far the caste system is relevant to Muslim contexts.
• It will explore issues relating to identities in contexts of religion, diaspora, and specific regions,
• how women create social relations for themselves and for men despite being separated from the
male gender in daily life,
• how concepts of love, marriage and cultural identity are interlinked.
• In general the course is about what anthropology tells us about the culture of different regions
of Pakistan.

FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES OF THE DISCIPLINE WILL BE MET

Through the instruments of essay-type exams and extensive presentations accompanied by a viva it is
aimed to develop and enhance the students' capacity for understanding and critical analysis. The
following goals of the discipline are met:
Goal # 2: Familiarize students with the basics of academic ethics and research strategies used
by social scientists in their attempts to understand and analyze the world in a systematic
manner.
Goal # 3: Train students to use social scientific theoretical concepts and research methodologies
with an emphasis on selective sub-fields of specialization. These sub-fields include
both academic and applied sub-disciplines.
Goal # 4: Equip students with the ability to engage with and reflect on arguments in a critical
manner, develop their own arguments systematically, and polish their academic
writing skills.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

• There will be no midterm or final exam as such. Instead there will be three main exams
distributed evenly through the course. They will consist of questions demanding short and long
answers. Each exam will check what you learned since the previous exam.

• You are expected to search in the library and in Internet the different topics discussed in lectures
and seminars.

• It is very important that you do not miss your exams because there will be no retakes.

• It is expected that you will come to my consulting hours to talk about your weaknesses
in exams so that you can perform better for the next ones.
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

• One author from the literature list will be assigned to a group of students consisting of 2 to 3
members depending on the number of students in the class. Each member of the group is
expected to understand the full text and should be in a position to talk on any part of it.
However, the presentation outline will be written as one piece by all the students together, but
each student has to make clear which part has been written by him or her, and he or she will be
individually graded.

GUIDELINE FOR PRESENTATION

Please start preparing your presentations early enough, because there will be no extension of time
given. Please take care of the following points:

A presentation has to be prepared by each student in collaboration with other students. 10 to 12 days
before the date of the presentation students are expected to send their outline to me which we will
discuss in the consulting hours. In other words, the outline should be submitted always on Saturday
evening, and should be discussed with me in my next consulting hours. For not submitting in time
the outline will be given at the most C plus. It is expected that on the day of your presentation you
will provide the whole class the modified outline of your presentation.

IMPORTANT: Each student will be individually graded for the outline as well
as for the presentation.

• The followings points concerning the structure should be taken regard of when writing an
outline or when giving a presentation:

• An introduction which includes the following headings: About the author( biography, work,
picture etc.)

• The author's intention?

• Theoretical Framework: against or in favor of which other authors does he or she argue? Which
authors are important for him/her?

• People, place, map.

 Lahore University of Management Sciences

• Restructuring the contents: the contents of the essay/book should be formulated in points
consisting of full sentences. Order the information under different headings.

• conclusion of the work

• significance of the work and also in relation to the other presentations or upcoming
presentations or lectures

• IMPORTANT: some extra research to support your presentation

• your opinion, what do you think about the work? (Please base your argument on an
interpretation of the text rather than stating any personal opinion.)

• critique of the work: are there any contradictions in the work? Has something relevant been
missed out?

• IMPORTANT: Each participant should discuss presentation in her or his own words,
that is, orally.

• Direct formulations of the author should be avoided. Please do not show quotations from the
essay/ chapter through power-point. Use power-point only to show the structure of your
presentation, or points which you are concentrating at, your extra research work, and pictures
or videos of the concerned people.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

• Attendance is obligatory. Up to two absences are allowed even if they are not wishful, but any
further absence, no matter for what reason, will result in a reduction of marks for attendance.
Thus for each of the first two further absences 2% will be deducted, and after that 3% per
absence.

• It is expected that you come a few minutes earlier in the class. There will be a 2% grade
reduction on entering the class after the lecture has started, no matter whether a few seconds or
a few minutes have passed. It is expected that if you come you will attend the whole session.
Leaving the class earlier will also be marked with a 2% reduction.

• Please switch off your mobile-phones. Receiving, sending or reading any message will result in
a 2% reduction of your grades.

• Students who fail to appear for the outline of their presentation and for the consultation in the
office hours, will be marked zero on those works. Only on a doctor's attestation, or because a
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

participation in sports activities for LUMS missed work may be repeated.

• You can discuss your class-work with me if you want to improve your performance in
next exams, or if you think I have miscalculated the numbers, but you may not just argue
that you deserve more numbers than what I have already given to you.

• There will be no discussion on the very last exam.

• Students who miss classes are responsible for the material they have missed. Teachers
are not obliged to review the contents of lectures and repeat announcements, or repeat the
content in the office hours.

GRADE DISTRIBUTION

Presentation 25% (10% presentation outline, 15% presenting it in the class,

that is, both your understanding and your communication
skill counts)
Exam-1 15%
Exam-2 15%
Exam-3 15%

Regular short-answer Questions I 15%

(before mid term; the worst ten percent of these questions will be excluded)

Regular short-answer Questions II 15%

(after mid term; the worst ten percent of these questions will be excluded)

GRADING

Absolute Grading

Outstanding Work
A+ 100 ———— 96
A 95 ———— 91
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

A- 90 ———— 86

Good work, distinctly above average

B+ 85 ———— 81
B 80 ———— 76
B- 75 ———— 71

Average Work
C+ 70 ———— 66
C 65 ———— 61
C- 60———— 56

Work distinctively below average

D 55 ———— 50

Inadequate
F 49 and below

COURSE ETHICS

• Please arrive on time in order not to disturb the concentration of the other students.

• Please switch off your mobile phones before entering the class.

• Please note that sometimes, due to the given amount of time for each session, I will short
questions or to limit them to the topic under discussion. Such an act under no circumstances
reflects on the discussant.

• Please have respect for different opinions. Anthropology is a study of differences as well as of
similarities between various people, and not an imposition of one's own world view on others.

• Please respect your class fellows' opinions also when they differ from your own, even when
they trigger strong feelings in you. This should not lead to the interruption of a student or the
instructor, or to a dismissal of anyone's opinion out of hand. In brief, it is expected to deal with
differences in a well-behaved manner worthy of your own self-respect.

• Please keep silence during the class-work or exam. It is expected that students will neither talk,
nor help, nor cheat. Transgressions will affect everybody involved irrespective of who did what.
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

• In accord with institutional policy, there will be no discrimination in this course on the basis of
race, ethnicity, sex/gender, ability/disability, religion/spiritual beliefs or class. Your political
beliefs and moral values will not be considered relevant for your grading and evaluation.

• Cheating and Plagiarism: If you take an idea from any text, book, newspaper, or any other
source, you have to give the author credit. Furthermore, changing one or two words in a
sentence is not acceptable as a substitution for quotation marks. All assignments must represent
original work not previously or simultaneously handed in for credit in another course. Cheating,
plagiarism, or any other violations of the honor code will be dealt with according to LUMS
policy.

• Other serious ethical violations include re-use of essays, improper use of the Internet and
electronic services, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded essays, forgery, lying, and
unfair competition. For further instructions please check with the latest Student Handbook.

• Recommendation letters will be written only for students who have attended at least
three of my courses at three different levels, that is, I, II, III, IV.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Sess Lectur Author Text Theme People and

i e/
Presen Place
on tion

1st Add and Drop (introduction to

and methodology, evaluation, criteria,
2nd
organization, the subject matter)

3rd Lecture Gilmartin, 1994. Biraderi and Bureaucracy: The How politics Punjab
David Politics of Muslim Kinship Solidarity and biraderi
in Twentieth Century Punjab.
International Journal of Punjab form and
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 1-29. influence each

other.

4th Lecture
To be continued......

5th Lecture Eglar, 1960. A Punjabi Village in Pakistan. The Punjab

Zakiye New York, Columbia University constructing Gujrat
Press. Part II, pp 105-173.
of a social district
space by
women through
the exchange
of gifts,
vartan bhanji

6th Lecture Alavi, 1972. Kinship in West Punjabi Meaning and Punjab
Hamza villages. Contributions to Indian kinds of Sahiwal
Sociology 14: 6, 1-27.
biraderi district

7th Lecture
and
Kurin, 1985. Patterns of solidarity in a Which one Punjab
Present Richard & Punjabi Muslim village. takes the lead: Okara district
ion Carol Contributions to Indian Sociology
Morrow 19/2: pp. 235-250.1960. A Punjabi Muslim
Village in Pakistan. New York, identity or
Columbia University Press. Part II, kinship
pp 105-173. identity?

8th Lecture Alvi, 2001. The Category of the Person in How Punjab
Anjum Rural Punjab. Social Anthropology categories of Salt Range
Vol 9/1. pp. 45-63.
person and Punjab
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

self are
conceptuali-
zed

9th Lecture
E x a m - 1 15%

10th Lecture Mines, 1972. Muslim Social Stratification in Caste system Muslims in
Mattison India: The Basis for Variation. in general India
Southwestern Journal of
Anthropology, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Winter,
1972), pp. 333-349.

11th Lecture
and
Haller, 2005. Let it flow. Economy, Creating, Sindh
Present Dieter spirituality and gender in the Sindhi performing, (Sindhis in
ion network. Anthropological Theory
Vol 5(2): 154–175. and Gibraltar)
maintaining
identity in a
Diaspora
context

12th Lecture
and
Khan, 2008. Jhulelal and the Identity of Sindhi cultural Sindh
Present Dominique Indian Sindihis. In: M. Boivin (ed.) heritage and
ion -Silla Sindh through History and
Representations: French problems of
Contributions to Sindhi Studies, integration in
Karachi. Oxford: Oxford University India
Press, pp. 72-81.
 Lahore University of Management Sciences

13th Lecture
and
Boivin, 2010. Sufism, Hinduism, and Social An identity Sindh
Present Michel Organization in Sindh: The Forgotten beyond the (Thar Parkar)
ion Tradition of Pithoro Pir. In:
Interpreting the Sindhi World: Essays categories of
on Society and History, edited by M. 'Muslim' and
Boivin and Matthew A. Cook. 'Hindu'
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

14th Lecture
and
Marsden, 2007. Love and elopement in The Chitral
Present Magnus northern Pakistan. JRAI (Journal of reflections on (Northern
ion the Royal Anthropological Institute)
(N.S.) 13, 91-108. love affairs Areas)
expose deeper
values of the
Chitrali people

15th Lecture
and
Rao, 1988. Levels and Boundaries in The indigenous Jammu and
Present Aparna Native Models: Social Groupings understanding Kashmir
ion among the Bakkarwal of the Western
Himalayas. Contributions to Indian of home and (Northern
Sociology 22; 195. family among Areas)
the Bakkarwal

16th Lecture
and
Parkes, 1987 Livestock Symbolism and How the the Kalasha
Present Peter Pastoral Ideology Among the Kafirs sexual division of Chitral,
ion of the Hindu Kush. Man, New
Series, Vol. 22, No. 4; pp. 637-660. of labor is (Northern
related to Areas)
sexual
antagonisms

17th To be continued.........
 Lahore University of Management Sciences
18th E x a m - 2 15%

19th Lecture
and
Pehrson, 1977. Marriage and the relation Love, rivalries, Baluchistan
Present Robert N. between man and woman. In: The suicide, (extreme
ion Social Organization of the Marri
Baluch. Karachi: Indus Publications. husband-wife northeastern
Chapter V, pp. 52-70. antagonism, area)
Marri Baluch

20st Lecture
and
Pastner, 1981. The negotiation of bilateral Marriage Baluchistan
Present Carroll endogamy in the Middle Eastern strategies the Zikri
ion McC. context: the Zikri Baluch example.
Journal of Anthropological Research Baluch
Vol 37; pp 305-18. fisherfolk of
coastal
Pakistan

21st Lecture Swidler, 2009. Kalat: the political economy of Political, Baluchistan
Nina a tribal Chiefdom. American economy, and Kalat District
Ethnologist; Vol. 19; Pp 553-570
tribal
organization

22nd Lecture
and
Titus, Paul 1998. Honor the Baloch, Buy the Structural, Baloch and
Present Pashtun: Stereotypes and Social ecological, and Pashtun
ion Organization and History in Pakistan.
Modern Asian Studies, 1932, pp.657- historical
687. factors
underlying
stereotypes

23th Lecture
and
Ahmed, 2005. Death and Celebration among Khyber Khyber
 Lahore University of Management Sciences
Present
ation
Amineh Muslim Women: A Case Study from Pakhtunkhwa Pakhtunkhwa
Pakistan. Modern Asian Studies 39,
4; pp. 929–980. the regions of the regions
of Swat and
Swat and Mardan
Mardan

24th Lecture
and
Lindholm, 2008. Polygyny in Islamic Law and Ambiguous Khyber
Present Charles Pukhtun Practice. Ethnology Vol. 47, concepts of Pakhtunkhwa
ation pp. 181-193.
women Pukhtun of
Swat

25th Lecture
and
Hegland, 1998. Flagellation and Gendered Khyber
Present Mary Fundamentalism: (Trans) Forming differences in Pakhtunkhwa
ation Elaine Meaning, Identity, and Gender
Through Pakistani Women's Rituals Muharram Shia Pukhtun
of Mourning. American Ethnologist, performances women in
Vol. 25, No. 2. pp. 240-266. Peshawar

26th Lecture
and
Tapper, 1986. "Eat This, It'll Do You a Power Discusses how Durrani
Present Richard of Good": Food and Commensality Islam is Pashtuns of
ation and Nancy among Durrani Pashtuns. American Afghanistan
Tapper Ethnologist, Vol. 13, No. 1; pp. 62- understood
79. within specific
cultural
categories
27th Lecture General Discussion

28th E x a m - 3 15%
Lahore University of Management Sciences