ANT2410 - Intro to Anthropology - Summer 2015-3
Tuesday and Thursday 11:40 to 3:00 PM in room 3221
Syllabus
Instructor:Alejandro Angee, Ph.D.
Office: 3506-3 Phone: (305) 237 3180 Email: aangee@mdc.edu Web: http://faculty.mdc.edu/aangee
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM and to 4:00 PM
Course Description
This course offers an introduction to cultural anthropology by focusing on the study of human organization and
culture. The course will explore similarities and differences among a variety of cultures, including our own,
while using theories and methods developed by anthropologists to understand complex human behaviors that
span across cultures, places and periods of time. The class will explore themes such as culture, ethnicity,
language, economic systems, political systems, families and kinship, marriage, gender, religion, ecology, arts,
transnational migration and globalization of the world system.
Course Objectives
This introductory course in cultural anthropology will present what anthropology as a discipline is all about and
how anthropologists go about doing their work. This is one of the major objectives for this class, where
combining and developing critical thinking skills are applied to the understanding of major cultural themes in
society. Thus, by the end of the semester, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate a comprehension of anthropology as a discipline by applying anthropological concepts and
theories to the study of culture
2. Acquire an appreciation of the complexity, antiquity, and diversity of the human species by comparing
various societies and sharing the attitudes of empathy and cross-cultural tolerance in class discussions
3. Evaluate the role of culture in shaping human behavior by contrasting social behaviors that are both learned
and shared, while further interpreting the role of culture as humankind’s primary adaptive mechanism
Required Textbook: Culture Counts, by Serena Nanda and Richard Warms, 2nd edition
Class Policy for Lecture and Discussion
Class lectures will result from ideas and materials associated with textbook concepts, films, and assigned
readings. Thus, lectures are intended to improve your understanding of the readings and topics covered in the
class. A great deal of classroom time will be dedicated to group discussion; consequently, students MUST
KEEP UP WITH THE WEEKLY READINGS and actively participate in class.
Power Points, Lectures and Class Discussions
Weekly power points are available at http://faculty.mdc.edu/aangee. It is recommended that students download
and print them to facilitate the note-taking process. Because not everything will come from the book, I highly
recommend that you take notes during class discussions/lectures.
Grading Policy and Procedures
There will be 3 online exams worth 20 points each. These will be a combination of multiple-choice, true and
false questions, and short essay, accounting for 60% of your total grade. NO MAKE UPS!
There will be 6 activities based on weekly readings worth 5 points each, for a total of 30 points or 30 % of your
total grade. These consist of 1 page essays or reflections based on the weekly material for the class.
7/25/2016
Attendance to class is required, especially because this class has a short duration of only four weeks. Students
are allowed no more than 2 absences. Any absence beyond that point will carry a full letter grade penalty from
the final grade.
The breakdown of your final grade is as follows:
Item
Exam 1
Exam 2
Exam 3
Weekly HW
Attendance and Participation
Total
Points
20
20
20
30
10
100
A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
F = 59 and below
Course/Departmental Policies
 Semester deadlines and important dates:
http://www.mdc.edu/main/academics/academic_calendar.asp
 Students with Disability or Special Needs: Please let me know if you need any special accommodations.
 Academic Honesty: All students are deemed by the College to understand that if they are found responsible
for academic misconduct, they will be subject to the Academic Misconduct procedures and sanctions, as
outlined in the Student Handbook.
 If You Miss a Class: Please do not email your professor to ask if you “missed something important” the
day you were absent! Surely you missed something important! Please follow your syllabus closely,
download the power points from the website, and call or ask a classmate if you need the notes for that day.
o Please note that I will not take any assignments through email. If are not coming to class, you must
make arrangements to get the assignment into me, in paper.
 Cell Phone Policy: ABSOLUTELY NO CELL PHONE USE IS ALLOWED IN THE CLASSROOM.
Semester Schedule
Date
May 12 - Tue
Topics and Objectives
 What is Anthropology?
 Film: Cultures at the far edge of the world
Due Materials
May 14 - Thur
 Culture and Cultural Change
 Cultural relativism Handout
May 19 - Tue
 History, theoretical trends and ethical issues
 Read Chapters 1 and 2 of class
textbook
 HW1 Due
 Read Chapter 3 of class textbook
May 21 - Thur
 Communication and Language
May 26 - Tue
 Making a Living,
May 28 - Thur
 Economics and political organization
June 02 - Tue
 Sex And Gender
June 04 - Thur
 Class, Race and Ethnicity
June 09 - Tue
 Social Stratification
June 11 - Thur
 Religion
June 16 - Tue
 Power, Conquest and the World System
June 18 - Thur
 Globalization
 Read Chapter 4 of class textbook
 HW 2 Due
 Read Chapter 5 of class textbook
 Read Chapters 6 and 9
 HW 3 Due
 Read Chapters 8
 Read Chapter 10
 HW 4 Due
 Read Chapter
 Read Chapter
 HW 5 Due
 Read Chapter12
 Read Chapter 14
 HW 6 Due
2