University Of Lethbridge
Anthropology 1000 Y
The Anthropological Perspective
Spring 2009
Instructor: Dr. Chris Holdsworth
Location: TBA
Time: Wednesdays 6:00 pm-8:50 pm.
E-Mail: christopher.holdswor@uleth.ca
Office Hours: before or after class or by appointment
Class Web Page: http://classes.uleth.ca/200901/anth1000y/
REQUIRED TEXT:
Ferraro, Gary. 2008. Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective. (7th Edition),
Toronto: Thomson Wadsworth.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To provide a basic understanding of the concepts, theories, methods and central issues
of cultural anthropology.
2. To apply anthropological principles, methods, and concepts to engender a critical
thinking about Western culture and society
3. To develop an appreciation of social and cultural diversity in the world and the ways
people have organised their lives and given meaning to their experiences.
4. To demonstrate the links between the individual, their social world, and global
processes.
COURSE CONTENT:
The course takes a comparative approach to the ways people order their lives, and
structure and give meaning to their experiences through gender, class, race, ethnicity,
kinship, religion, language and symbolism. It looks at how all human experience,
including our own, is embedded within particular historical and cultural processes.
COURSE FORMAT
The course will follow an interactive lecture-discussion format supplemented with the
occasional ethnographic film. Classes will not repeat or cover all the material in the text
but will elaborate on selected topics to provide a deeper understanding of the material.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Although attendance and participation are not considered in the grade for this course
students are expected to attend all classes and to contribute to class discussions based on
the assigned readings. Students will be unable to make valuable contributions to the
discussion, or benefit from the contributions of others, if the readings have not been done
beforehand. As students are required to demonstrate a working knowledge of all course
materials in exams, grades will suffer if more than two classes are missed.
ASSESSMENT
1. Mid term exam 1:
 20% of final grade
 Date: Jan 28
2. Mid term exam 2:
 20% of final grade
 Date: March 4
3. Final Exam:
 30% of final grade
 Date: April 22
4. A 2000-3000 word essay:
 30% of final grade.
 Due April 8 – last day of class
Additional information about the essay and exams will be provided during the first class.
DEFERRALS AND MISSED EXAMINATIONS
Exams must be taken at the scheduled times and the assignment handed in on the date
specified. Essays submitted late will lose 10% of the mark per day that they are late.
Students may be granted an extension on the essay or deferral from writing the mid-term
exam only due to illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, and
with the presentation of a valid written explanation from the appropriate authority, e.g. a
physician or employer. Alternative arrangements may be made at the discretion of the
instructor. Students who fail to write final exams must provide satisfactory evidence of
illness or extenuating circumstances AND must have the approval of the Dean for a
makeup exam. For missed exams, a grade of F (0 marks) will be given.
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism: “to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own”
(Webster’s). Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will automatically result in a zero grade
for the submission. Any student caught plagiarizing may also be subject to additional
University sanctions. The University’s policies and procedures on academic offences can
be found at the following website: http://www.uleth.ca/reg/calendar/part04.pdf The
University of Lethbridge subscribes to a plagiarism detection service. Students may be
required to submit their written work in electronic form for plagiarism checking.
GRADING SYSTEM:
Each item of course work will be weighted as above and a final mark out of 100
calculated. This will then be converted to a letter grade as follows:
A+ = 95-100%
C+ = 70-73.9
A = 90-94.9%
C = 66-69.9
A- = 86-89.9%
C- = 62-65.9
B+ = 82-85.9
D+ = 58-61.9
B=
78-81.9
D = 50-57.9
B- = 74-77.9
F = 0-49
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READINGS
Please note that the list below is tentative. Some topics may require more attention than
others, and we will take more time with them. Any changes will be announced in class.
All chapter readings refer to Ferraro.
Jan 7
Jan 14:
Jan 21
Jan 28:
Feb 4
Feb 11:
Feb 18:
Feb 25:
Mar 4:
Mar 11:
Mar 18:
Mar 25:
Apr 1:
Apr 8:
Apr 22:
What is Anthropology, Core Concepts (Chs 1 and 2)
Applied Anthropology & Anthropological Methods (Chs. 3. and 5)
A Brief History of Anthropological Thought (Ch 4)
Midterm Exam 1 Language and Culture (Ch 6)
Economic Systems (Chs 7 & 8)
Marriage, the Family, Kinship and Descent (Chs 9 & 10)
No Class Reading Week
Social Inequality: Sex and Gender (Ch. 10)
Midterm Exam 2 Race (Ch. 11)
Social Inequality: Class, Caste (Ch. 11)
Political Organization & Social Control (Ch. 13)
Religion (Ch. 14)
The Arts (Ch 15)
Culture Change and Globalization, (Ch 16) (Essay due)
Final exam