Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

S Y L L A B U S

University of Houston, FALL 2002                                                                        Jerome Crowder, Ph.D.

ANTH 2302: Section 03657                                                                                Email: jcrowder@uh.edu

Tues. /Thurs.: 5:30-7pm / AH 101                                                                             phone: 713.743.3780

Office Hours: T/TH: 4-5:15pm and by appointment                                                   260D McElhinney Hall

Course website: www.uh.edu/~jcrowder                                                                                                    

 

NOTE: This syllabus is subject to change as necessary throughout the semester. All students are responsible for attending class for information in this regard. Check the web page for updates and announcements, lecture outlines, and information on essays and exams.

 

T E X T S

 

Cultural Anthropology, Wm. J. Haviland. Tenth Edition, Harcourt, Brace & Co., 2001.

 

Cultural Anthropology Study Guide, Wm. J. Haviland. Tenth Edition, Harcourt, Brace & Co., 2001.

 

Applying Cultural Anthropology: An Introductory Reader, Podolefsky, Aaron and P. J. Brown. Fifth Edition, Mayfield Publishing Co., 2000.

 

Course Description

Anthropology confronts the challenges of culture and difference in the contemporary social world. This course is designed to celebrate the difference, creativity, and inventiveness expressed through culture, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and personality. It will also deal with the destructive aspects of culture and social life: the effects of class, caste, ethnic, racial and gender hierarchies in both simple and complex societies.

Cultural anthropology is a social science that provides a comprehensive understanding of human diversity. An introduction to cultural anthropology will introduce students to the history, methods, and theories of the discipline, while primary attention will be given to the concept of culture as an analytical tool and to the research methods of ethnographic fieldwork. Drawing on material from all parts of the world, we will examine a variety of topics including: culture; kinship and social organization; beliefs and values; economic and political change; language; sickness and healing; resistance and social change. This course will also introduce the student to the mothers and fathers of the discipline and to the evolution of key concepts and theoretical approaches. Throughout this course students will be encouraged to question commonly held assumptions about what is “normal” or “natural” in human experience. As well, it will provide students with a perspective on the human condition that is global in scope while remaining sensitive to local manifestations of cultural diversity. Films, videos and slide presentations will supplement lectures and readings.

 

Course Requirements

There will be four (4) one-hour+ exams (each worth 20%) and two essays (10% each).

 

Exams

FIRST EXAM: September 17th, 2002. The first part of the course is designed to introduce the student to the subject of anthropology and to familiarize the student with a variety of ethnographic studies through readings, films and presentations. The exam covers all of the readings, Chapters 1 through 3 in Haviland’s Cultural Anthropology, and all class material to date.

 

SECOND EXAM: October 15th, 2002. The second part of the course is designed to familiarize the student with the various components of cultural anthropology: fieldwork, language, personality and patterns of subsistence and economic systems, etc. The exam covers chapters 4 through 7 in Haviland’s Cultural Anthropology and includes class materials since the first exam, all readings, films, and presentations.

 

THIRD EXAM: November 7th, 2002. The third section of the course covers material involving groups and social structure, particularly to understand how we learn to see ourselves in reference to others. Material from Chapters 8 through 11 will be on this exam, as well as other readings, films, etc.

 

FINAL EXAM: Thursday December 12th, 2002 from 5-8pm. The final part of the course is designed to integrate all course materials, to examine how anthropology is applied to real world problems, and to provide a holistic view of contemporary anthropology. The exam will cover all readings and class materials since the second exam, and chapters 13 through 16 in Haviland’s Cultural Anthropology.

 

MAKE UP EXAMS WILL BE ALL ESSAY. In extreme cases of hospitalization, exceptions may be made for a make up, but only with a signed note from your physician. Please let me know if you have a conflict.

 

Essays

Over the course of the semester students will write two (2) two-page essays (typed, 12-pt. font, doubled spaced, 1-inch margins). In each essay you will respond to a movie or reading that is assigned. Due dates are as follows: Essay #1 October 22nd; Essay #2 November 26th. Essays will be turned in on (or before) class begins the date they are due. You may NOT submit these electronically. We will discuss this exercise further in class and you may find more information about it on the web page.

 

            Late Essays will be marked down one letter grade (for example B to C) per working day the assignment is late.

 

Your Fellow Students

Please make an effort to become acquainted with your fellow classmates. They can be helpful to you in many ways — you may wish to study together, and you may need a contact in case you miss class, etc. Write each other’s names and phone numbers on the back of this syllabus so you will have them in a secure place.

 

C o u r s e    P o l i c i e s

University standards for cheating and plagiarism will be followed. Plagiarism is the direct copying of someone else’s work without proper citation, including paraphrasing, and claiming as one’s own. Doing so may result in a zero (0) for the assignment and/or failing the course. Regular attendance is expected, but not required. Missing class will only hurt you, as it will almost certainly be reflected in your exam performance. Please enter and leave the classroom quietly during class, particularly if you are doing this late or early. No children are allowed in class unless you consult the instructor. Please silence your cell-phone and/or pager before class begins; in that regard I ask that you respect your fellow students and do not talk amongst ourselves or disturb others during lecture. Students with disabilities and student athletes are asked to advise me early in the semester of any special needs they have which will affect their classroom experience and course performance.

Tentative Course Schedule

 

Week 1 — What is Anthropology? It’s History and Objectives

            Aug. 27: Orientation to course, Intro. to Anthropology and its sub-fields.

Aug. 29: History of Anthropology; Holism and other key concepts.

 

      Readings: Haviland, CH. 1 The Nature of Anthropology

                       P&B, CH. 1, Body Ritual among the Nacirema, Ch. 5, Corporate Anthropologists

 

Week 2 — The Culture Concept

            Sept. 3: Understanding Other Cultures (ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, cultural values)

            Sept. 5: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity

 

      Readings: Haviland, CH. 2. The Nature of Culture & CH. 3. The Beginnings of Human Culture.

                       P&B, CH. 15, Race without Color, Ch. 16, Official Statement on “Race” and Ch. 18, Race,

Higher Education and American Society.

 

Week 3 — Hominids throughout Time

            Sept. 10: Apes, Hominids and the Beginnings of Human Culture.

Sept. 12: Watch Film and Review for Exam 1

 

                     EXAM 1 will cover all readings, lectures and videos assigned for class to this point.

      Film: Mysteries of Mankind

 

Week 4 — First Exam and Begin Discussion of Ethnographic Fieldwork

         *Sept. 17: EXAM 1

Sept. 19: Doing Field Research: Participant Observation and other methods

 

      Readings: P&B: CH. 2, Letter from Peri-Manus II, CH. 3, Tricking and Tripping, CH. 4, Crack in Spanish Harlem,

      Slide Show: The Aymara of Bolivia, rural pastoralists and urban migrants of the Bolivian Altiplano.

 

Week 5 — Language and Communication

            Sept. 24: Linguistics and Anthropology

            Sept. 26: The Nature and Origins of Language

      Readings: Haviland: CH. 4 Language and Communication.

P&B: CH. 6, Shakespeare in the Bush, CH. 7, The Gift of Gab, CH. 28, Suite for Ebony and Phonics

Film: Monkey in the Mirror

 

Week 6 — Culture and Personality

            Oct. 1: Psychological and Cognitive Anthropology

Oct. 3: Personality and Cultural Influence

 

      Readings: Haviland: CH. 5 Growing Up Human

P&B: CH. 23, Society and Sex Roles

 

Week 7 — Cultural Ecology and Economic Systems

            Oct. 8: Ethnoscience, Ecology and Anthropology

Oct. 10: Subsistence Strategies and Economic Systems

      Readings: Haviland: CH. 6 Patterns of Subsistence & Ch. 7 Economic Systems

P&B: CH. 12, The Worst Mistake …, CH. 19, Eating Christmas in the Kalahari,

CH. 20, Strings Attached

            .

      Film: The Kwaleka: Ongka’s Big Moka

 

Week 8 — Second Exam and Film

         *Oct. 15: EXAM 2

Oct. 17: Film: The Great Dance: A Hunter’s Story

 

      EXAM 2 Will cover all lectures, readings and films assigned for class since the first exam.

 

Week 9 — Family, Gender, and Marriage

            Oct. 22: Nuclear and Extended Families (ESSAY 1 DUE)

Oct. 24: Gender and the Division of Labor

      Readings: Haviland: CH. 8 Sex and Marriage & CH. 9 Family and Household

                       P&B: CH. 25, Doing Gender, Doing Surgery: Women Surgeons in a Man’s Profession

                                CH. 31, Law Custom and Crimes Against Women….

 

Week 10 — Kinship and Broader Forms of Social Organization

            Oct. 29: Descent Groups, Terminology and Systems

Oct. 31: Class, Caste and other forms of social structure

      Readings: Haviland: CH. 10, Kinship and Descent, §CH. 11, Grouping by Sex, Age, Common Interest & Class

P&B: CH. 29, When Brothers Share a Wife & CH. 30, African Polygyny: Family Values and Contemporary Changes.

      Film: Small Happiness

 

Week 11 — Finish Kinship and Family; Third EXAM

            Nov. 5: Continue discussion on Marriage, Family, Kinship and Worldview

*Nov. 7: EXAM 3

 

            EXAM 3 Will cover all lectures, readings and films assigned for class since the second exam.

 

Week 12 — Law and Social Order

            Nov. 12: Power and Dispute Resolution

Nov. 14: Science & Religion

Readings: Haviland: CH. 12, Political Organization and Social Control

                       P&B: CH. 33, The Kpelle Moot

 

Week 13 — Religion and Culture

            Nov.19: Myth and Ritual; Magic, Witchcraft and Healing

Nov.21: Medical Anthropology

 

      Readings: Haviland: CH. 13, Religion and the Supernatural & CH. 14, The Arts (optional).

                              P&B: CH 35, Loading the Bases, CH. 36, Hallucinogenic Plants and their Use in Traditional Societies

      Film: Witchcraft Among the Azande

 

Week 14 — Culture Change: Understanding the Process

Nov. 26: Mechanisms and Reasons, Colonization, Globalization and the Ramifications

(ESSAY 2 DUE)

Nov. 28: THANKSGIVING BREAK

      Readings: Haviland: CH. 15, Cultural Change

            P&B: CH 40, Advertising and Global Culture, CH. 41, The Price of Progress

 

Week 15 Summary, Review and Conclusion

            Dec. 3: Anthropology Looks at the Future

            Dec. 5: Summary of course and REVIEW for FINAL EXAM

         *Dec. 12: FINAL EXAM, 5-8pm, regular class room

      The Final Exam will cover all lectures, readings and films since the third exam.

      Film: Anthropology on Trial (NOVA special)

 

All of the above is subject to change. Notice will be given in class!