INTRODUCTION--Images of Self and Other, from Races to Robots, from Aborigines to Cyborgs: The “encounters” occasioned by colonialism and the "discovery" of "new worlds", were at one and the same time the basis for renewed debates concerning what it means to be human. The social construction of "self" and "other", the enumeration of "differences" between humans, and the ascription of cultural meanings and values to those differences continues to be a dominant subject of concern in anthropology, the discipline that established itself on the basis of specialist knowledge of human variability, on unique customs and traits in faraway places in the colonial periphery. Historically, anthropology was rooted in the study of small, remote, usually "tribal" societies of the "Non-West" (that is, the Other), from the perspective of the complex, modern societies of the "West" (the "self"). The Other was almost always in another place, frozen in another time, almost as an evolutionary artefact in the great chain of being in which the modern European man stood at the pinnacle. Modern anthropology, as institutionalized in universities, first emerged from its role as a handmaiden of European colonialism, and as an attempt to "salvage" and administer "savage races" threatened with extinction from the spread of European settlement. "Cultural relativism" developed as one mode of dealing with differences that eschewed racism, taking human differences as comparable without ranking them in terms of "inferior" and "superior". With the advent of various national liberation movements in the colonial world from the 1940s through the 1970s, the emergence of the "Third World", the revitalization and growth of indigenous "Fourth World" movements, the rise of feminism, the gay rights movement, the global upsurge in migration, and many other significant transformations to an old social order typified by the dominance of an idealized archetype of a White-Christian-upper-class-heterosexual-male, anthropology has come to refocus its perspectives on race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality, questioning its previous assumptions, and challenging all of us to rethink what it means to be "human" in a world of increasingly hostile and violent difference-making. Class-based movements challenging the political economic domination of transnational corporations and ruling classes have also impacted on anthropology in raising questions of how classes are formed, maintained and changed, as well as focusing our attention on the material bases of social reproduction and culture-based conflicts. Transformations in the conditions for producing human life, such as industrialization and urbanization, have led many to also revisit the theme of humans vs. nature, the place of humans in evolution and in their ecological contexts, and the attendant questioning of the "human self" versus "natural other" dichotomy. Whether inspired by the globalized spread of mass produced images of the exotic non-Western other, the desire for experimentation, uncertainty or insecurity about what makes the self as we were raised to think of ourselves, or alienation from modernity and urban anonymity, many of us have begun to see ourselves as others to our previous selves, even reshaping our bodies to suit our new conceptions of our self in the mirror of the other. As for those that were historically classed as the West's Others, we see new forms of transnational solidarity, exemplified by the rise of international indigenous organizations, or the spread of "black power" motifs and themes from the United States through to South America, the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. And of the many other possible mentions of the interplay between self and other, innovations in information technology, genetic engineering, cloning, cryonics and robotics all portend a substantial re-examination of what it means to be human when flesh and machinery become more interdependent if not intertwined than ever before. One may suspect that these developments in Artificial Intelligence, robotics and cloning will effect a fundamental reconsideration of questions of what defines the human being--like no other time since the classical debates over the humanity of Amerindian subjects in Spanish colonies and the institution of African slavery. As just some examples, questions concerning the bases of human intelligence, the philosophical place of the human in the universe, and the ethical consequences of reconstructing personhood in a context of rapid technological changes, could well become the most burning questions we face as individuals and as members of societies.

STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE: Ulf Hannerz, a Swedish anthropologist, recently commented that the subjects of anthropology are now "creoles, cosmopolitans and Cyborgs" as compared to the distinct "races", "primitives" and "locals" of the past. As already alluded to, this course attempts an anthropological survey of constructions of self and other, ranging from a consideration of how humans relate to one another across racial divides, to how humans interact with their own incomplete mirror images, robots. Some of our main subjects of concern are well established in anthropology, especially the opposition between nature and culture, biology and technology, essentialism and constructivism. Cultural relativism will be an important component of this course given its role in attempting to philosophically manage the question of cultural differences and their comparison. Our readings will draw from cases across Europe, to the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Mexico, Quebec, Silicon Valley, California, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, on to mainland Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Lectures will generally supplement the readings by either covering questions and cases not addressed by the readings, or by clarifying the readings and placing them into a broader perspective.

MAIN TOPICS OF THE COURSE: Such a course could be organized in dozens of different ways when one thinks of all the possible combinations of topics. For 2003-2004, the focus of this course will be on imperial conquests, race, ethnicity, gender, information technology and artificial intelligence, combining some of the oldest concerns of anthropology with those that are still new to the discipline. Key topics will include: * European expansion * aboriginal others * civilization versus savagery * race and ethnicity * male:female and nature:culture * time-space * cultural relativism * cultural hybridity * new media and selfhood * artificial intelligence and robotics.

CENTRAL QUESTIONS: We know that there are many ways we can experience and present the self (which is always in relation to an other), from primary socialization within the family and who one associates with as kin, to peers in wider secondary settings, to "compatriots" or some other association with people we have never met in still wider tertiary settings. Our concern is not with self and other at its most basic, everyday sense. Instead, our interest is in explicitly politicized forms of self and other, operating within situations of conflict and contradiction, in contexts of domination and subordination and through periods of significant social transformation. If anything then, our interest in self and other more closely approaches the tertiary sort listed above.

• What makes us think that we are "human" and thus different from other animals?
• Can "human" ever be satisfactorily defined?
• What makes us think that we are different from one another?
• Which differences matter?
• How are the "self" and the "other" socially constructed?
• How are differences imagined, perceived and institutionalized?
• What are the cultural meanings associated with particular differences between self and other?
• In which contexts do particular representations of self and other come into play?
• How have dominant conceptions of self and other started to change in the last forty years?

COURSE GOALS: By the end of this course, students will be expected to have acquired a familiarity with some of the central ways that differences in power shape the definition and presentation of selves and others, as well as the images, symbols and media of interaction between self and other. Students should be able to formulate relatively advanced responses to the questions set out above, perhaps even challenging these questions or modifying them to read differently. Students are not expected to simply mimic the perspectives of the course director, or to unquestioningly endorse any particular theory. Students will apply concepts, with reference to specific case studies, in order to demonstrate their understanding of the material, their coverage of course content, and the problems and questions associated with certain concepts.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE: Hard work, creativity and initiative will, as can be expected, be appropriately rewarded. All students have an "A+" as they enter this course, and your job as a student is to defend that grade. Students who work hard to fail will also be appropriately rewarded. In order to succeed in this course you have to be disciplined, allot the necessary time each week to complete the basic requirements of the course (readings, essays) and extra time to review lecture notes, past readings, and preferably to do some new reading of your own. If you put less than six hours per week into this course, expect your grade to drop. If you skip numerous lectures and discussion sessions, you can also expect your grade to plummet. Otherwise, I will not be taking attendance nor grading you for class participation. As a student you are ultimately responsible for your own grade.

INSTRUCTOR PERFORMANCE: A successful course is made by diligent students and an effective teacher. If you think that my performance leaves something, or much, to be desired, you can call 1-800-HOWS-MY-TEACHING. Just kidding. You should feel free to be forthright and tell me, during the progress of the course itself, what you feel is missing, should be improved, requires attention, etc. I may not be able to institute significant changes that would overhaul the entire course while it is ongoing, but I may be able to make smaller changes and use all feedback for refining and improving the course for the future. You will therefore be doing me a big favour by sharing your comments with me.