Course design question

[Nathaniel Dumas]

Dear Colleagues,

I hope all is well. I'm writing to ask for reading recommendations on a graduate-level special topics seminar I am designing, entitled "Activities as Analytical and Ethnographic Foci." In particular, the seminar explores the claim proposed by Marjorie H. Goodwin (1990, 2006) and others in related disciplines (e.g., cultural historical activity theory) about the importance of beginning with the study of activities, rather than conventionally beginning with "groups," to examine broader questions around social organization and power.  In this vein, the students (and I) examine how this also affects both the way one does ethnography methodologically and how one 'writes' ethnography and culture post-fieldwork. That said, we would begin the course with a unit that asks the theoretical and conceptual question: "What IS an 'activity' within contemporary social theories?" In this vein, what texts (within and beyond anthropology, including philosophy) would you all suggest that take up this question?

In respect of others' mailboxes, please reply to me directly at ndumas at linguistics.ucsb.edu. Thank you in advance!

Best,
Nate Dumas