Introduction to Socio-cultural Anthropology
ANTH 102
Fall 2013
Course Schedule #: 20113
Instructor: Prof. Matthew Lauer
Classroom: HT-140
Office hours: T, Thur 11-12 or by appointment
Office: Arts & Letters 417
Teaching Assistant: Ashley Bunnell
Email: mlauer@mail.sdsu.edu
T, Thu. 9:30-10:45
Telephone: 619-594-0978
Course website: Blackboard
Email: ash.m.bunnell@gmail.com
Course description:
Introductory socio-cultural anthropology is a course where you will learn about “exotic”
peoples living around the world and about your own cultural assumptions. From hallucinogen snuffing
South American Indians to Melanesian fisher people to impoverished Bangladeshi peasants to
suburban San Diegans, this class will introduce you to different ways of life. It will familiarize you
with other societies while also making aspects of our society seem strange. From this course you will
be able to more fully understand and explain differences in the ways that various groups of people
organize and give meaning to their experience of a common world.
To understand human diversity we will go deeper and further than the superficial national
geographic specials we see on cable TV by thoroughly comparing our own lives with others of the past
and present. In the process you will come to see that our lives, and the epoch in which we live, maybe
just as strange and exotic as the lives of people inhabiting the Bongobongolands of Africa, Asia, or the
Pacific. Our way of life is just one among innumerable ways human beings have created a life-world.
In fact we, along with face-painted inhabitants from far away places, are living an immense social
“experiment” which we call the modern or post-modern world.
Unfortunately one defining characteristic of our current epoch is unprecedented cultural and
ecological destruction as more and more forests are destroyed, livelihoods undermined, and languages
lost. The result being that the central interest of socio-cultural anthropology—cultural diversity—is
vanishing before our eyes. What, if anything at all, should be done about cultural loss is one of
anthropology’s most intriguing and challenging puzzles.
During our path of discovery in this course, you will gain an understanding of the issues
addressed and methods employed by cultural anthropologists to comprehend human diversity, and in
so doing it will encourage you to accept, embrace, and defend a culturally rich and diverse world.
Learning Goals:
 Define anthropology and holism; explain the role of socio-cultural anthropology in the context
of the discipline.
 Explain and apply the ethnological or comparative approach to various socio-cultural
phenomena to demonstrate its value.
 Differentiate between emic and etic perspectives; demonstrate how each can be used to enhance
our understanding of cultural variation.
 Define the ethnographic genre; enumerate and explain some basic ethnographic field methods,
including participant observation.
 Define and illustrate the difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism;
acknowledge and identify some of the assumptions inherent in one’s own cultural frame of
reference that may bias how one understands other cultures.
 Define, identify assumptions inherent in, and apply selected theoretical perspectives to various
socio-cultural phenomena. Perspectives will include but are not limited to: Evolutionary,
functionalist, ecological/materialist, interpretative/constructivist.
 Demonstrate familiarity with basic focal areas in socio-cultural anthropology;
compare and contrast different expressions of these across cultures; predict how varied forms
of each will affect daily life in particular cultural contexts; demonstrate holistic connectivity
between selected focal areas in particular cultural contexts. Basic topics will include but are
not limited to: Ethnicity, kinship and marriage, gender, religion/supernatural Subsistence mode,
life stages, medicine/health, dispute resolution, language, economy/exchange, culture
change/interaction, domination/inequality.
 Apply basic concepts of socio-cultural anthropology self-reflexively to one’s own culture.
 Demonstrate the value of applied socio-cultural anthropology to contemporary real-world
problems.
General Education Foundations:
This course is one of nine courses that you will take in general education foundations. Foundations
courses cultivate skills in reading, writing, research, communication, computation, information
literacy, and use of technology. They furthermore introduce you to basic concepts, theories and
approaches in a variety of disciplines in order to provide the intellectual breadth necessary to help you
integrate the more specialized knowledge gathered in your major area of study into a broader world
picture.
This course is also one of two foundations courses that you will take in the area of Social and
Behavioral Sciences. Upon completing this area of foundations, you will be able to:
1) Explore and recognize basic terms, concepts, and domains of the social and behavioral
sciences;
2) Comprehend diverse theories and methods of the social and behavioral sciences;
3) Identify human behavioral patterns across space and time and discuss their interrelatedness and
distinctiveness;
4) Enhance your understanding of the social world through the application of conceptual
frameworks from the social and behavioral sciences to first-hand engagement with
contemporary issues.
Required Texts:
There are two books that you need to purchase for the course:
1) Peoples, J. and G. Bailey 2011. Humanity: An introduction to cultural anthropology. Belmont, CA,
Wadsworth. ISBN-1111978034
2) Shostak, M. 2000. Nisa: The life and words of a !Kung woman. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press. ISBN-0674004329
You will also be responsible for reading several online course articles and book chapters. These
readings are downloadable from the course website as pdf documents. You will need the free program
Adobe Reader to view the pdf articles.
Clickers (Classroom response system):
Every student must purchase a “clicker” at the SDSU bookstore as a learning resource (just like a
required text) and bring it to every class meeting. Note that SDSU has changed clicker vendors and is
now using the i>clicker system. Clickers are small handheld devices used to foster interaction, active
learning, and quick feedback for faculty and students. Prior to or during the first week of class, you
must register your clicker via Blackboard (see below for more information on Blackboard) so that
answers from your clicker can be credited to you. To register your clicker, click “tools” in Blackboard
and then the “Register your i>clicker remote ID” tool, found at the bottom of the page. Clicker
responses will be worth 20% of your final grade. Clicker questions will typically be one of the
following:
- Questions at the beginning of class on the assigned reading or on the topic of the previous
class.
- Concept questions arising in class.
- Polling questions pertaining to topics discussed in class (no wrong answers)
You earn clickers points as follows: No answer=0 points, Wrong answer=1 point, Correct answer=2
points. Each student will be granted three free clicker days, meaning that I will omit the worst three
scoring days from your clicker score. These free clicker days include all eventualities, including days
when your clicker fails to work, days when you forgot your clicker, or days when you have a personal
or family emergency. It is strictly forbidden to operate someone else's clicker for them. If you are
discovered doing this, then both you and the person whose clicker you operated will receive an F. If
you see a classmate operating two or more clickers, please bring it immediately to my attention.
Grading:
Students will be assessed based on three exams (26.66% each) and clicker responses (20%).
Exams: All students are required to take exams on Oct. 1, Nov 5, and Dec 12. The final exam will be
given from 8-10am in the same classroom where lectures are held (HT-140). The exams will consist of
multiple-choice and true-false questions as well as short essays. For the exams, the essay will be
cumulative while the multiple choice/true-false questions will not. Material for the exams will be
drawn equally from lectures and readings. Films are also fair game for exams. Pay particular attention
to material covered both in lecture and your readings.
Students who require accommodations or special services for testing should contact me
privately several weeks before the exams to discuss the specific accommodations for which they have
received authorization. If you have a disability, but have not contacted Student Disability Services at
619-594-6473 (Calpulli Center, Suite 3101), please do so before making an appointment to see me. In
fairness to all the students in the course, no makeup exams will be allowed unless you have evidence of
a legitimate excuse (as demonstrated by a note from a doctor, parent, etc.).
Grading breakdown:
Assuming student performance in the course is as expected and follows trends established by those
who have previously taken this class, letter grades will correspond with the following percentages and
performance descriptions.
Grade Percent range
A
92.6%-100%
A90%-92.5%
B+
87.5%-89.9%
B
82.6%-87.4%
B80%-82.5%
C+
77.5%-79.9%
C
72.6%-77.4%
C70%-72.5%
D+
67.5%-69.9%
D
62.6%-67.4%
D60%-62.5%
F
0-59.9%
The professor reserves the right to alter this grading scale in an appropriate manner should the class
perform in a way that does not correspond to his expectations. Students taking this course on a
credit/no-credit basis need to receive over 70% to pass the class.
Cheating policy:
Cheating will not be tolerated. Anyone caught cheating in this class will receive an "F" for the course
and be removed from the classroom immediately.
Blackboard and Course Website:
This course uses Blackboard, a web-based course aid that enables students to access important course
information from any computer connected to the internet. It will allow you to check your grades,
contact other students in the course, or access the course website. To access Blackboard go to:
https://blackboard.sdsu.edu/. Blackboard contains an announcement page that I will use to post
information and last-second changes. For example, if class were to be canceled, students would likely
be able to find out about it first through Blackboard. Any technical questions regarding Blackboard
should be directed to SDSU’s Instructional Technology Services department. Their e-mail is
scc@rohan.sdsu.edu and their website is: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/its
I have also created a course website for this course where I will post my lecture slides, essay exam
questions, study questions, the course syllabus, and Course FAQs. It is vital that you become familiar
with and learn how to navigate the course website. You can navigate to the course website through
Blackboard or you can go directly to the following internet address:
http://lauer.sdsu.edu/courses/102-fall-2013/
To access the course website you will use a username and password. Every student has the same
username and password. The username is anth102 and the password is mongongo.
Contacting me:
I encourage you all to visit me individually or in small groups at least once during the semester. You
can contact me either by phone, email or during my office hours. Feel free to discuss the course,
assignments, lectures readings, study strategies or anything else. I maintain an "open door" policy and
will be available to help you whenever I am in my office.
Tentative Course Program and Assigned Reading:
Tuesday Aug 27 INTRODUCTIONS. Logistics of course
Reading: Online article: “Body ritual among the Nacirema”, Miner
Thursday Aug 29 WHAT IS SOCIO-CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY? What do anthropologists
study? What are the different subfields of the discipline? How do anthropologists do what they
do? How is anthropology different from other disciplines?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 1-20 (Chapter 1)
Tuesday Sept 3 WHAT IS CULTURE? How is culture studied? Where does it come from? What does
it do for us? Why do cultures exist?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 21-46 (Chapter 2)
Thursday Sept 5 FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ANTHROPOLOGY: WHAT ARE WE? Where
did culture come from? Are we apes? What can we learn about ourselves from studying
primates?
Reading: Shostak pp. 1-40
Film: First half of “Nai: The story of a !Kung woman”
Tuesday Sept 10 HOW DO WE CONNECT? Why does culture depend on language? Why do we
need social categories and cultural symbols?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 47-67 (Chapter 3)
Thursday Sept 12 HOW HAVE CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS THEORIZED ABOUT
DIFFERENT SOCIETIES (Part 1)? What is 19th century evolutionism? Interpretive
anthropology?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 68-94 (Chapter 4)
Tuesday Sept 17 HOW HAVE CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS THEORIZED ABOUT
DIFFERENT SOCIETIES (Part 2)?
Reading: Shostak pp. 41-72
Thursday Sept 19 WHY ARE SOCIETIES DIFFERENT? What is progress? How and why have
societies changed over the past 10,000 years?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 112-135 (Most of Chapter 6)
Film: “Nanook of the North”
Tuesday Sept 24 WHY ARE SOCIETIES DIFFERENT? What is progress? How and why have
societies changed over the past 10,000 years?
Reading: Shostak pp. 73-131
Online article: “The worst mistake in human history”, Diamond
Thursday Sept 26 CATCH UP DAY
Tuesday Oct 1 Exam #1
Tuesday Oct 3 HOW IS WEALTH PRODUCED AND CREATED IN DIFFERENT SOCIETIES
AND HOW DOES THIS CHANGE HUMAN BEING? What is wealth?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 142-162 (Chapter 7)
Thursday Oct 8 HOW IS WEALTH DISTRIBUTED AND EXCHANGED IN DIFFERENT
SOCIETIES? What is reciprocity? What is money? What are markets?
Reading: Shostak pp. 133-191
Thursday Oct 10 WHY DO WE HAVE FAMILIES? Why do we marry? Who is my ‘father’?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 163-213 (Chapters 8 and 9)
Tuesday Oct 15 US AND THEM: HOW DO I KNOW WHO YOU ARE(1)? Identity and ethnicity.
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 387-410 (Chapter 17)
Film “Becoming American”
Thursday Oct 17 US AND THEM: HOW DO I KNOW WHO YOU ARE(2)? How are gender
differences constructed? Races?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 237-267 (Chapter 11)
Online article: “Race without color”, Diamond
Tuesday Oct 22 WHY DO WE FIGHT AND WHY DO WE COOPERATE? Why do we have
politics? Why do we need authority?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 276-278 (Section on Social Control and Law)
Shostak pp. 213-258
Film: Ax Fight
Thursday Oct 24 HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW – AND IS IT TRUE? Do religion and
magic serve a function? What is science?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 313-318, 325-327 (Parts of Chapter 14)
Shostak pp. 259-308
Tuesday Oct 29 WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION AND HOW IS IT CHANGING ANTHROPOLOGY?
How have small-scale societies been effected by globalization? Does it matter?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 363-386 (Chapter 16)
Thursday Oct 31 CATCH UP DAY
Tuesday Nov 5 Exam #2
Thursday Nov 7 HOW HAVE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE REACTED TO CHANGE (1)?
Film: Second half of “Nai: The story of a !Kung woman”
Reading: Shostak pp. 193-212
Tuesday Nov 12 HOW HAVE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES REACTED TO CHANGE (2)? How have
indigenous groups organized politically? Do they have a chance to protect their lands?
Reading: Shostak pp. 309-332
Thursday Nov 14 WHY IS LIFE UNFAIR(1)?
Reading: Hartmann and Boyce, Chaps. 1-4
Film “T-shirt Travels”
Tuesday Nov 19 WHY IS LIFE UNFAIR(2)? What is social hierarchy? Why do we have it? What are
"developed" countries? How is life in poor countries? Should we care?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 290-312 (Chapter 13)
Thursday Nov 21 WHAT IS THE MEANING OF POVERTY? What is poverty, and what are its
causes? Is it "natural"? Is it a state of mind? A social condition? A symptom of economic
inefficiency? or of political inequity?
Reading: Hartmann and Boyce, Chaps. 6-8
Tuesday Nov 26 WHAT DO ANTHROPOLOGISTS KNOW AND DOES IT MATTER AND HOW
CAN THEY HELP? How have anthropologists tried to help? Is applied anthropology hopeless?
What matters most in development projects: economics? Politics? social organization? Do
anthropologists have the know-how to advise on development or direct development projects?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 411-420
Thursday Nov 28 Thanksgiving Holiday. No class
Tuesday Dec 3 WHY ARE HUMANS DESTROYING THE EARTH’S LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS?
Reading: Peoples and Bailey pp. 420-438
Thursday Dec 5 HOW CAN ENVIRONMENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY HELP SOLVE THE
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS? What is community-based resource management? How have
indigenous people protected their lands and what issues have been raised in this process?
Reading: Online article: “Quality of life: When less is more”, Moran Chap.
Tuesday Dec 11 CATCH UP DAY
Thursday Dec 12th– Exam 3 from 8:00-10:00am in HT-140
Good Luck!