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Semester: Fall 2002
| This course website is for students to be able to refer to the syllabus, keep track of assignments, access internet articles through the links, and possibly comment on articles assigned. Please refer to the site often to see if anything has been changed or added. ANTH 012-02 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Fall 2002 Instructor: Cassandra White Email: cwhite@sbc.edu Telephone: 381-6204 (office) 946-0717 (home) Office hours: Mon. and Wed., 2:30-3:30 or by appointment Office: Benedict 311 Class meets: MWF 1:30-2:20, Benedict 316 Course Description In this course, several issues important in cultural anthropology will be explored. We will discuss an anthropological definition of culture, and we will explore the ways in which societies around the world differ from one another. A cross-cultural comparison of various aspects of human culture will be made, touching upon kinship, religion, healing, gender relations, economy, politics, and law. Ethnographic texts will be used to introduce students to different cultures with very different ways of life, including the Teduray hunter-gatherer/horticulturalists of the Philippine rainforest, Brazilian immigrants in the U.S., and the Rom (Gypsies) of Europe. Course Goals and Objectives Students should gain an awareness and appreciation of the varieties of human experience. Students should also learn the concepts central to cultural anthropology, and they should become familiar with some of the challenges of anthropological fieldwork. The ultimate objective of the course is to interest students in further open-minded study of different cultures and peoples abroad and at home. Course Requirements Books Required: Robert Lavenda and Emily Schultz: Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology Maxine Margolis: Little Brazil Stuart Schlegel: Wisdom from a Rainforest Jan Yoors: The Gypsies Other Readings: A few articles may be put on reserve at the Sweet Briar Library. These reading assignments will be given in class. Other readings will be available online. Website: There will be a website for the course. Through the website, students will find the syllabus, assignments, and internet links. Students are responsible for checking the website regularly for readings and assignment due dates, although this information will also be given in class. Assignments: Reading assignments are given on the schedule by the date of the class when those readings will be discussed. Questions to facilitate discussion of the reading assignments will be handed out periodically and students are expected to have answers prepared. Ability to participate in discussions of the reading will be part of the class participation grade. There will be six short writing assignments assigned during the semester. Most of these assignments will be short essays (1-2 pages) on readings, films, and observation of cultural events. Students will also conduct their own small-scale anthropological field projects over the course of the semester. Students will give short oral presentations and turn in fieldnotes from their projects at the end of the semester. Details about this project will be given in class. Exams: The mid-term and the final exam will be in-class exams, with a combination of short-answer, identification, and essay questions. There will be a review for each exam in class. Methods of Evaluation (Grading): Class Participation (Class discussion of readings): 20% Short writing assignments: 20% Fieldnotes/Project and Oral Presentation: 25% Mid-Term Exam: 15% Final Exam: 20 % Attendance: It is important to attend class because lecture content cannot always be found in the reading, and you must be in attendance to participate in discussions. Missing classes will thus affect your class participation grade and possibly your exam grades. Please let me know, in advance if possible, if you are missing class for a legitimate reason, such as a university-sponsored event or an illness. Late grades: Assignments and exams that are turned in after the due date will receive a late grade (one grade lower for each class period after the due date). Schedule August 23 (F) Review of Syllabus August 26 (M) Introduction: What is Anthropology?; Readings: Chapter 1 in Core Concepts August 28 (W) Concept of Culture: Readings: Chapter 2 in Core Concepts August 30 (F) History of Anthropology; Readings: Prologue to Wisdom from a Rainforest; Chapter 4 in Core Concepts September 2 (M) Theory in Anthropology, cont.; Chapters 1-2 in Wisdom from a Rainforest; Chapter 12 in Core Concepts September 4 (W) Methods and Fieldwork; Readings: Chapters 3-4 in Wisdom from a Rainforest; “Fieldwork: The Anthropologist in the Field” (accessible online) September 6 (F) Methods and Fieldwork, cont.; Readings: Chapters 5-6 in Wisdom from a Rainforest; Assignment 1 due September 9 (M) Language and culture/cognition; Readings: Chapter 3 in Core Concepts; Chapters 7-9 in Wisdom from a Rainforest September 11 (W) Political Anthropology; Law; Readings: Chapter 7 in Core Concepts; Chapters 10-13 in Wisdom from a Rainforest September 13 (F) Language and culture/cognition; Readings: Chapters 14-15 in Wisdom from a Rainforest September 16 (M) Religion; Readings: Chapter 5 in Core Concepts; other readings to be announced September 18 (W) Religion, cont.; Readings: finish book (Wisdom from a Rainforest) September 20 (F) Economic Anthropology; Readings: Chapters 8 in Core Concepts; Assignment 2 due September 23 (M) Lecture on Brazil; Readings: Preface and Chapter 1 in Little Brazil September 25 (W) Readings: Chapter 2-3 in Little Brazil September 27 (F) Reading Day September 30 (M) Mid-term exam review October 2 (W) Mid-term exam in class October 4 (F) Guest lecture by Chris DeFrancisco, Tulane University: “Strategies for making ends meet in Zanzibar, Tanzania” October 7 (M) Economic anthropology; Readings: Chapters 4-7 in Little Brazil Assignment 3 due October 9 (W) Festivals and celebrations; Readings: Chapters 8-9 in Little Brazil; film footage from Brazilian Carnival ’99 October 11(F) Social Class and Hierarchy; Readings: Chapters 10-11 in Little Brazil; Chapter 6 in Core Concepts October 14 (M) Readings: Finish Little Brazil October 16 (W) Subsistence Patterns; Readings: to be announced October 18 (F) Subsistence Patterns, cont.; Assignment 4 due October 21 (M) History of the Rom (Gypsies); Introduction to The Gypsies October 23 (W) Readings: Chapters 1-3 in The Gypsies October 25 (F) Cultural concepts of purity and impurity; Readings: Chapter 4 in The Gypsies, “Cross-Cultural Medicine: A Decade Later” (available online) October 29 (M) Xenophobia, racism, and ethnocentrism; Readings: Chapters 5-7 in The Gypsies October 30 (W) Ethnocentrism, cont.; Readings: Chapter 8 in The Gypsies November 1 (F) Social control; Readings: Chapter 7 in Core Concepts, Chapters 9-11 in The Gypsies; Assignment 5 due November 4 (M) Kinship, marriage, and family; Readings: Chapter 9-10 in Core Concepts November 6 (W) Kinship, marriage and family; Readings: Chapter 12 in The Gypsies November 8 (F) final discussion of The Gypsies; Readings: finish the book (The Gypsies) November 11 (M) Gender; Readings: to be announced November 13 (W) Gender, cont.; begin oral presentations (10 minutes each) November 15 (F) oral presentations; Globalization; Readings: Chapter 11 in Core Concepts Assignment 6 due November 18 (M) oral presentations November 20 (W) oral presentations November 22 (F) no class (I will be attending academic meetings) November 23-December 1 Thanksgiving vacation December 2 (M) oral presentations, cont. December 4 (W) oral presentations; begin exam review December 6 (F) Exam review; Careers in Anthropology; FIELDNOTES DUE LAST DAY OF CLASS |
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For more information about your assignment, contact Cassandra White at cwhite@sbc.edu. For any problems you experience accessing the pages or submitting assignments, contact Alix Ingber at ingber@sbc.edu
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