ANT 383 - Seminars in Anthropology

Topic- Water and Citizenship
Instructor- Neuman

The course will explore the legal and customary rights to water within the Middle East and beyond in a variety of contexts marked by either the absence of water or conversely its over-abundance in the case of rising waters and floods. At the more macro level, the course will also consider the power relations that shape the distribution of water not only among competing groups within the nation-state but between nations in conflict. Using an anthropological approach to the politics of water, we ask what sorts of values, political sensibilities, technologies/strategies and forms of knowledge are critical to water use and management in conflict zones. Topics to be considered include: irrigation and state formation, the commons, water infrastructures, technologies of water production as well as the cultural and religious meanings linked to water.

Satisfies a major and minor requirement in Anthropology
Satisfies a major and minor requirement in Environmental Studies
Satisfies a minor requirement in Arab Studies
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement