Humanities > Anthropology > Drugs, Politics, and Culture

Drugs, Politics, and Culture posted by duggu on 11/29/2007

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Abstract/Syllabus

Courseware/Lectures

Test/Tutorials

Course Highlights

This course features homework and essay assignments, which are located in the assignments section.

Course Description

Examines the relationship between drugs, politics, and society in cross-cultural perspective; use of mind-altering and habit-forming substances by "traditional societies"; the development of a global trade in sugar, opium, and cocaine with the rise of capitalism; and the use and abuse of alcohol, LSD, and Prozac in the US. Finishes by looking at the war on drugs, shifting attitudes to tobacco, and by evaluating America's drug laws.

Syllabus

Syllabus (PDF)

Course Description

Class Work

Do the readings every week.
Post at least one thoughtful message (with argument on the message boards) each week (20%, B for posting once, A for twice, must post).
One week, lead off posting and respond (10%).
Respond to reading questions, be prepared to discuss (20%).
One week, lead section discussion (10%).
Write two papers (7-10 pages), well argued with analysis of evidence (20% each).

Books

Courtwright, David T. Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Harper Collins, 2002.

Calendar


CLASS #	TOPICS	READINGS	ANNOTATIONS / ASSIGNMENTS


1	Introduction	Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Read at least: Introduction, Chap. 5, Chap. 6 (pp. 136-144), Chap. 10 (pp. 240-249), Epilogue (pp. 262-270). Courtwright, David T. Forces of Habit. Chap. 1. For Next Class: Mintz, Sidney W. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. Appadurai, Arjun. The Social Life of Things. (Recommended)	Introductory Note (PDF)


2	Food	Schlosser. Fast Food Nation. Mintz. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 1. Appadurai. The Social Life of Things. (Recommended)	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


3	Commercials	Braithwaite, John, and Peter Drahos. Global Business Regulation. Pp. 360-398. Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 3. Video: Commercials Class: Video analysis (2 chapters) Ogilvy, David. Ogilvy on Advertising. Chap. 1. Lakoff, George. "Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf." For Next Class: Lakoff. "Metaphor and War." Ogilvy. "18 Miracles of Research." In Ogilvy on Advertising. Orlik, Peter B. Electronic Media Criticism. For Section: Braithwaite, John, and Peter Drahos. Global Business Regulation. Pp. 360-398. Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 3.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


4	Prozac	Kramer, Peter D. Listening to Prozac. Hacking, Ian. "Making Up People." Video: Bellevue. Slater, Lauren. Depression. For Next Class: Kramer, Peter. Listening to Prozac. Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and Afterward. Hacking. "Making Up People." (Recommended)	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


5	Clinical Trials	Cohen, Jay S. Overdose: the Case Against the Drug Companies: Prescription Drugs, Side Effects, and Your Health. Healy, David. The Creation of Psychopharmacology. Lakoff. "Placebo Trials." (Recommended) Video: PTSD trials Class: Baard, Erik. "The Guilt-Free Soldier." The Village Voice "Politicize, not medicalize." For Class and Online: Hively, Will. "The Mathematics of Making Up Your Mind." Discover Magazine McCann, U. D., et al. "Positron emission tomographic evidence..." The Lancet For Section: Healy. The Creation of Psychopharmacology.Chap. 8. Cohen. Overdose. At least chap. 1 and 9 (2 & 14 are recommended).	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


6	Testing and Variability	Hamilton, Jean. "Sex and Gender as Critical Variables in Psychotropic Drug Research." In Mental Health, Racism and Sexism. "Steroids." New Yorker. Rachel. "Women in Clinical Trials." Caffeine Handbook Science, multi-causal issue. Class: Estrogen Articles For online and class: Read the three articles on prostate cancer published in Fortune magazine: Grove, Andy. "Taking on Prostate Cancer." Alexander, Tom. "Still Waiting, Watchfully." Stipp, David. "The Gender Gap in Cancer Research." For Class: Hamilton. "Sex and Gender as Critical Variables in Psychotropic Drug Research." In Mental Health, Racism and Sexism. Willett, Walter C. "Balancing Lifestyle and Genomics Research." Science Weinberg, Bennett Alan. The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug. Chap. 12 and 13. (Chapter 11 is recommended)	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF) Paper 1 Due Seven Days after the Class


7	Kids and Ritalin	Hogshire, Jim. Pills-A-Go-Go: A Fiendish Investigation into Pill Marketing, Art, History and Consumption. Diller, Lawrence. Running on Ritalin. Video: ADHD Class: Diller. Running on Ritalin. For Section: Hogshire. Pills-A-Go-Go: A Fiendish Investigation into Pill Marketing, Art, History and Consumption.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


8	PR	Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 6. Rampton and Stauber. Trust Us, We're Experts!: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with your Future. (2 chapters) Martin, Brian. "Fluoridation: Breaking the Science Barrier." In Confronting the Experts. Silverstein, Ken. "Millions for Viagra, pennies for diseases of the poor." The Nation. Video: Scare tactics Class: Young, Cathy. "Drug Terrorism" editorial.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


9	Addiction	Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 5. Stein, Howard F. "Alcoholism as Metaphor in American Culture: Ritual Desecration as Social Integration." Sedgwick, Eve. "Epidemics of the Will." In Incorporations "Critique of Addicton." Harding. "Heroin Addiction." For Class: Schlosser, Eric. "Reefer Madness." The Atlantic Monthly. For Section: Males, Mike A. "Doped on Duplicity." In The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents. Becker, Howard. "Becoming a Marijuana User." Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 2.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


10	Marijuana and Legality	Males, Mike A. The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents. Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 9. Video: Grass Class: Schlosser. "Reefer Madness." The Atlantic Monthly. For Class: Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 5. Hamoway, Ronald. "The Use and Misuse of Intoxicants." Chap. 2 in Dealing with Drugs: Consequences of Government Control. For Section: Stein. "Alcoholism as Metaphor in American Culture: Ritual Desecration as Social Integration." Males. The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents. Chap. 2.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


11	Cocaine and Delinquents	Foucault, Michel. "Delinquents." In Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. "Scale and Use of Cocaine in the US." Russell, Dan. "Fake Science." In Drug War: Covert Money, Power and Policy. For Section: Gootenberg, Paul. Cocaine: Global Histories. Russell, Dan. "Fake Science." In Drug War: Covert Money, Power and Policy. For Class: Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 10.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF)


12	Club Drugs	"Chemical Generation" Shenk, Joshus Wolf. "America's Altered States." Harper's Magazine. Courtwright. Forces of Habit. Chap. 10. Class: Concar, David. "Ecstasy on the Brain." New Scientist. For Section: Shenk. "America's Altered States." Harper's Magazine. Collin, Matthew. Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House. Weiss, Rick. "On Ecstasy, Consensus Is Elusive." The Washington Post. Concar, David. "Ecstasy on the Brain." New Scientist.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF) Paper 2 Due Four Days after the Class


13	Alcohol and Coffee	Males. The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents. Mothers Against Drunk Driving. (MADD) Weinberg, Bennett Alan. The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug. (2 chapters) Roseberry, William. "The Rise of Yuppie Coffees and the Reimagination of Class in the United States." Pp. 762-774. Class: Becker. "Becoming a Marijuana User." "Health and Behavioral Consequences of Binge Drinking in College: A National Survey of Students at 140 Campuses." JAMA. MIT. "The Working Group on Dangerous Drinking: Final Report to President Charles M. Vest." MIT Policy on Drinking.	Readings and Associated Assignments (PDF

Readings

Alexander, Tom. "Still Waiting, Watchfully." Fortune (13 May 1996): 73.

Appadurai, Arjun. The Social Life of Things. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986, pp. 3-91.

Baard, Erik. "The Guilt-Free Soldier." The Village Voice (January 22 - 28, 2003).

Becker, Howard. "Becoming a Marijuana User." American Journal of Sociology 59 (1953): 235-242.

Bourgois, Philippe. In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Braithwaite, John, and Peter Drahos. Global Business Regulation. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 360-398.

Cohen, Jay S. Overdose: the Case Against the Drug Companies: Prescription Drugs, Side Effects, and Your Health. New York: Putnam, 2001, pp. 1-35, 129-247.

Collin, Matthew. Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House. London: Serpent's Tail, 1998, pp. 267-316.

Concar, David. "Ecstasy on the Brain." New Scientist 174, no. 2339 (20 April 2002): 26-33.

Courtwright, David T. Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001.

Diller, Lawrence. Running on Ritalin. New York: Bantam Books, 1998, pp. 47-55.

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books, 1977.

Gootenberg, Paul. "Making a Modern Drug" (Chap. 2), and "Columbia: Cocaine and the 'Miracle' of Modernity in Medellin" (Chap. 8). In Cocaine: Global Histories. London; New York: Routledge, 1999, pp. 21-45, 165-182.

Grove, Andy. "Taking on Prostate Cancer." Fortune (13 May 1996): 55-72.

Hacking, Ian. "Making Up People." In The Science Studies Reader. Edited by Mario Baigioli. New York: Routledge, 1999, pp. 161-171.

Hamilton, Jean. "Sex and Gender as Critical Variables in Psychotropic Drug Research." In Mental Health, Racism and Sexism. Edited by Charles V. Willie. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995, pp. 297-349.

Hamoway, Ronald. Dealing with Drugs: Consequences of Government Control. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1987, pp. 74-103, 247-279.

Healy, David. The Creation of Psychopharmacology. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002, pp. 334-390.

Healy, David.The Antidepressant Era. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.

Hogshire, Jim. Pills-A-Go-Go: A Fiendish Investigation into Pill Marketing, Art, History and Consumption. Venice, Calif.: Feral House, 1999, pp. 8-54.

"Health and Behavioral Consequences of Binge Drinking in College: A National Survey of Students at 140 Campuses." JAMA 272, no. 21 (December 7, 1994): 1672-1677.

Hively, Will. "The Mathematics of Making up Your Mind." Discover Magazine 17, no. 5 (May 1996): 90-97.

Kramer, Peter D. Listening to Prozac. New York: Penguin, 1997.

Lakoff, Geroge. "Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf." In Engulfed in war: Just War and the Persian Gulf. Edited by Brien Hallett. Honolulu: Matsunaga Institute for Peace, University of Hawaii, 1991. (also available online)

Lender, Mark Edward, and James Kirby Martin. Drinking in America: A History. New York: Free Press, pp. 169-204.

Males, Mike A. The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents. Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press, 1996, pp. 159-217.

Martin, Brian. "Fluoridation: Breaking the Science Barrier." In Confronting the Experts. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.

McCann, U. D., Z. Szabo, U. Scheffel, R. F. Dannals, and G. A. Ricaurte. "Positron emission tomographic evidence of toxic effect of MDMA ("Ecstasy") on brain serotinin neurons in human beings." The Lancet 352 (October 31, 1998): 1433-1437.

Mintz, Sidney W. Sweetness and Power, The Place of Sugar in Modern History. New York: Viking, 1985.

MIT. "The Working Group on Dangerous Drinking: Final Report to President Charles M. Vest." May 13, 1998.

"Steriods." New Yorker (10 September 2001).

Ogilvy, David. Ogilvy on Advertising. New York: Crown, 1983, pp. 158-166.

Orlik, Peter B. Electronic Media Criticism. Boston, MA.: Focal Press, 1994, pp. 153-172, 195-214.

Rampton and Stauber. Trust Us, We're Experts! : How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with your Future. New York: Putnam, 2001, pp. 7-30, 222-266.

Roseberry, William. "The Rise of Yuppie Coffees and the Reimagination of Class in the United States." American Anthropologist 98, no. 4 (December 1996): 762-775, 762-774.

Russell, Dan. "Fake Science." In Drug War: Covert Money, Power and Policy. Camden, N.Y.: Kalyx.com, 2000.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Harper Collins, 2002.

Schlosser, Eric. "Reefer Madness." The Atlantic Monthly (August 1994): 45-63.

Shenk, Joshus Wolf. "America's Altered States." Harper's Magazine (May 1999): 38-52.

Sedgwick, Eve. "Epidemics of the will." In Incorporations. Edited by Jonathan Crary and Sanford Kwinter. New York: Zone Books, 1992, pp. 582-595.

Silverstein, Ken. "Millions for Viagra, pennies for diseases of the poor." The Nation (19 July 1999): 13-19.

Stein, Howard F. "Alcoholism as Metaphor in American Culture: Ritual Desecration as Social Integration." Ethos 13, no. 3 (Fall 1985): 195-235.
Abstracted in Language and Language Behavior Abstracts and/or Sociological Abstracts, 1985. An abbreviated version appeared in High Plains Applied Anthropologist 6, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 1986): 15-18.

Stipp, David. "The Gender Gap in Cancer Research." Fortune (13 May 1996): 74-76.

Swartzwelder, Scott. Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.

Weil, Andrew, and Winifred Rosen. From Chocolate to Morphine - Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Weinberg, Bennett Alan, and Bonnie K. Bealer. The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug. New York: Routledge, 2001, pp. 181-233.

Weiss, Rick. "On Ecstasy, Consensus Is Elusive." The Washington Post (September 2002): A07.

Willett, Walter C. "Balancing Lifestyle and Genomics Research for Disease Prevention in Later Life." Science 296, no. 26 (April 2002): 695-698.