SYLLABUS
ANTH
105 – Intro To Cultural Anthropology
Instructor:
Abu Ali Clark
Location: DT / N301
Class Date & Time: Tuesday &
Thursday, 10:40 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
Office Hours:
By appointment only
Course
Description:
This
course covers the basic methodology and subject matter of cultural
anthropology. Aspects of social
organization such as kinship, religion, economics, political organization,
language, and art are covered, in lectures, film, and assignments. There will be an emphasis on both
cultures outside the United States and our own cultural dynamics here in this
society. Cultures are studied and
compared with our own ideas and behavior patterns in an effort to gain a better
understanding of our own way of life in the context of human culture.
Course
Objectives:
After completing this
course, you should have a better understanding of:
Ø The discipline of anthropology (areas of study,
methodology and applications)
Ø Cultural
studies; theories of culture, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, distribution
and consumption
Ø Social
organization, language, art, politics, religion, and the process of cultural
change
Student Expectations:
Students are expected to attend all classes and complete all assignments
on time. No late assignments
will be accepted. Accommodations
for specific situations will be made at the discretion of the professor. Students are expected to demonstrate
comprehension of anthropological concepts and terminology as well as able to
produce a simple ethnography or ethnological study, as demonstrated in the
written work required to be completed throughout the course semester. The specific outcome of the course is
to identify the measurable skills students will be expected to demonstrate or
specific task students should be able to perform, as verification that the
course content has been mastered. NOTE:
All written assignments must be submitted in hard copy, not e-mailed, must be
double-spaced, and one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and both sides and a
font of 12. Each written assignment should include the following
information, to be placed in the upper left corner of the page 1: name, ANTH 105-1003,
Assignment #, date of submission. Any sources of information you
have used in writing must be documented in the MLA Style. Each written
assignment to should 1-2 pages of actually writing.
GRADING
·
Assignments
worth 50% of grade
·
Oral
Presentation work 10% of grade
·
Final
Essay worth 30% of grade
·
Pop
up Quizzes worth 10% of grade
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism will not be tolerated in class and will
result in an automatic “F” for this course. Law protects “words” that belong to
another author and they must be acknowledged whenever you borrow them. This
also applies to source information gathered from the internet. Although this
will be discussed further in class, as a student at Gateway Community College,
you must always practice academic honesty.
ADA Statement:
Students with disabilities
who may require special accommodations and support services are encouraged to
notify:
- the ADA
Coordinator, Room 152
- their instructors during the first two weeks of
classes
*Instructors will provide reasonable assistance and/
or accommodations to students who have completed this process
COURSE
Schedule
9/3 Discuss course layout and objectives. Lecture: Pioneers of Modern Anthropology. Introduction to the discipline of Anthropology.
9/5 Quiz #1 (Modern Anthropologists). Assignment #1: "What is Going On in Anthropology Today?" Class Activity.
9/10 Lecture: Essential Concepts in Anthropology. Discuss The Makah People involving Assignment
#2.
9/12 Continue Lecture:
Essential Concepts in Anthropology.
Assignment #1 due.
9/17 Fieldwork, Ethnography, and Ethnology. Discuss "What do Ethnographers
do?"
Class Activity (Ethnographic Interviews).
9/19 Lecture on Race:
Discuss "Exploring Human
Variation" Assignment #4 and the misconception of racial
classification. Assignment#2 due.
9/24 Lecture
on Race: Discuss
"Exploring Human Variation" Assignment #4 and the misconception of racial
classification.
9/26 Lecture on Language. Discuss Assignment #5 "Exploring the
loss of Language
and Efforts of Revitalization." Class Activity. Assignment #3 due.
10/1 Continue Lecture on Language.
10/3 Psychology and Culture. Discuss
"Ethnography of Virtual Worlds." Class Activity: Is PMS Culturally Bound? Assignment #4 due.
10/8 Discuss
Assignment #7: Mythology,
Art, and Rituals. Discuss "Rites of Passage."
10/10 Discuss Assignment #8:
Magic in American Sports. Assignment #5 due.
10/15 Assignment
# 5 due.
10/17 Power and Politics. Discuss
"Kayapo Environmentalism and Cultural Survival: Indigenous
Resistance."
10/22 Power and Politics. Discuss "Kayapo Environmentalism and Cultural Survival: Indigenous
Resistance." Assignment #6 due.
10/24 Lecture on Kinship and Family Dynamics.
Discuss "Making a Kinship and Genealogical
Diagram."
10/29 Lecture
on Kinship and Family Dynamics.
Assignment #7 due.
10/31 Kinship and Genealogical Diagram Oral Presentations
begin (A-H). Presentations
are limited to 5 minutes. Focus on key
points.
11/5 Kinship
and Genealogical Diagram Oral Presentations (I-P). Assignment #8 due
11/7 Kinship and Genealogical Diagram Oral Presentations
(Q-Z)
11/12 Cultural Construction (Labeling) and Inequality. Discuss
Assignment #11 "Exploring the Lived
Experience." Assignment #9 due.
11/14 Assignment # 10 due
11/19 Discuss
Assignment #12 involving polygamy in the United States
11/21 Discuss polygamy in the United States
11/26 NO CLASS
– Thanksgiving Recess
11/28 Discuss Final Essay.
Turn in First Draft.
12/3 Discuss
Final Essay Turn in Second Draft.
12/5 FINAL PAPER DUE
12/10 Class room
activity: Identify That Concept. Class review of the semester.
*All take home assignments will be specified in
class. It is the student’s
responsibility to acquire any material and assignments they may have missed.
