Anthropology 103: Cultural Anthropology
College of the Canyons
Short Term Course
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructor: Deanna Heikkinen
Email: Deanna.Heikkinen@canyons.edu
Anthro 103, CRN: 66657
4/14/09 – 6/4/09; T-Th 2:30 – 5:15pm; BONH 305
Office Hours: by email or appointment
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
Haviland, William A., Harald E.L. Prins, Dana Walrath, and Bunny McBride. Cultural
Anthropology The Human Challenge. 12th ed. Wadsworth, 2008, ISBN: 9780495095613.
Angeloni, Elvio, ed. Annual Editions 09/10, 32nd ed. McGraw Hill, ISBN:978073397832.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Cultural anthropology includes the study of the nature of humankind, culture and society,
including concepts and theories used for their analysis and understanding. Prehistory and cultural
growth, social organization, family systems, politics and economics, war, religion, values,
culture shock, and applied anthropology are examined.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1: Explain the reality of “culture” in the context of and evidence from the relative differences
between the beliefs, behaviors, life-ways and institutions of living societies past and present.
2: Critique various ideas that have emerged from confrontation with the biological and cultural
differences among people: notably racism, ethno-centrism and relativism.
3: Learn to understand and appreciate cultural diversity as a key component for enriching
ongoing educational, vocational and personal life experiences.
EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE
Evaluation of student performance in this course is based on the following criteria:
• Participation (10 points a week @ 7 weeks = 70 points)
You will receive 10 participation points for contributing to the discussions in class
based on the textbook and Annual Editions readings.
•
Weekly Assignments/Lead Discussion (13 @ 10 points each = 130 points)
Each week, several people will be responsible for leading the discussion on an
Annual Editions reading. When you are not leading the discussion that day, you are
to turn in a brief comparative summary (1-2 paragraphs) of the articles assigned.
• Article Summary (25 points) You will be responsible for finding a popular
(CNN.com, Time, Newsweek) article relating to cultural anthropology. You will
write a paragraph on the article to turn in along with a copy of the article. In
addition, you will present an informal summary on the article to the
class. There will be a signup sheet the first week of class. Remember that we will
discuss numerous aspects of culture; thus finding articles should not be a problem.
• Film Report (25 points) We will be watching a couple of films in this course. You
will be responsible for a write-up on one of these films. The report should be two
pages and include the title of the film, a general overview, and a critique of what
you gleaned from the film as well as your opinion of the film.
• Kinship Diagram (25 points) You will be responsible for creating a three generation
kinship diagram. It can be hand written, but must be neat. You will also need to
write a summary of your kinship diagram, explaining which side of the family
you trace, marriage locality patterns, extended family relationships, etc.
• Project (Final Paper 100 points = 125points total) You will
be responsible for a project paper chosen from the list below. You must complete
the project following the directions listed. You will prepare a brief presentation
for the class.
•
Final Exam (150 points)
The final exam will consist of 100 objective questions, including true/false,
multiple choice, matching, fill in the blank, and short answer. There will also be an
essay portion on the final exam worth 50 points. You will have a choice of two or
three topics to choose from. Please see section below on answering an essay on an
exam.
550 Total Points possible
495-550 A
440-494 B
385-439 C
330-384 D
0-329 F
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week
Due Date
Chapter Reading Assignment
Week 1
4/14/09
Chapter 1: The Essence of Anthropology
4/16/09
Chapter 2: Characteristics of Culture
Annual Editions: 5. Whose Speech is Better?
8. I Can’t Even Open My Mouth
4/21/09
Chapter 3: Ethnographic Research
Annual Editions: 1. Before the Sixties
2. Eating Christmas with the Kalahari
Week 2
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3. Tricking and Tipping
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
4/23/09
Chapter 4: Becoming Human
4/28/09
Chapter 5: Language and Communication
Annual Editions: 6. Do you Speak American?
7. Fighting for Our Lives
9. Shakespeare in the Bush
12. Ties that Bind
4/30/09
Chapter 6: Social Identity, Personality, and Gender
Annual Editions: 18. Who Needs Love!
19. The Berdache Tradition
20. A Woman’s Curse?
5/5/09
Chapter 7: Patterns of Subsistence
Annual Editions: 10. Understanding Eskimo Science
11. The Inuit Paradox
31. Why Can’t People Feed Themselves?
5/7/09
Chapter 8: Economic Systems
Annual Editions: 14. Sick of Poverty
32. The Arrow of Disease
36. Friendly Feudalism
5/12/09
Chapter 9: Sex, Marriage, and Family
Annual Editions: 15. When Brothers Share a Wife
16. Death Without Weeping
17. Arranging a Marriage in India
5/14/09
Chapter 10: Kinship and Descent
Chapter 11: Grouping by Gender, Age, Common
Interest, and Class
Annual Editions: 13. Playing Indian at Halftime
21. Where Fat is a Mark of Beauty
22. Parents or Pop Culture?
5/19/09
Chapter 12: Politics, Power, and Violence
Annual Editions: 27. Understanding Islam
33. Burying the White Gods
35. The Price of Progress
5/21/09
Chapter 13: Spirituality, Religion, and the Supernatural
Annual Editions: 23. Eyes of the Ngangas
24. Shamanisms
26. The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual
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28. Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead
29. Body Ritual among the Nacirema
30. Baseball Magic
Week 7
Week 8
5/26/09
Chapter 14: The Arts
5/28/09
Chapter 15: Processes of Change
Chapter 16: Global Challenges, Local Responses, and
the Role of Anthropology
Annual Editions: 34. America, Found & Lost
37. Seeing Conservation through a Global Lens
38. Last Days of the Ice Hunters
39. What Native Peoples Deserve
FILM REPORT DUE
6/2/09
Project Presentations
Projects Due
6/4/09
FINAL EXAM
PROJECT PAPER (125 points)
Paper: The paper should be four to five (4-5) double-spaced typewritten pages, not including references, in
12 point font with 1" margins on all sides. The paper should be in proper essay format with a thesis that is
supported throughout the rest of the paper. Proper citation is expected. You may use MLA, APA, Chicago
manual of style or whatever style you are familiar with, but you MUST cite your sources.
Presentation: You should be prepared to talk no more than 5 minutes regarding your paper in front of the
class. You may use PowerPoint, but it is not required.
ETHNOGRAPHIES– Choose one for your paper.
You may look up the book on Amazon.com to read a synopsis and order it if the school or local
library does not have it.
Abu-Lughod, Lila
1993
Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Abu-Lughod, Lila
1986
Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London:
University of California Press.
Basso, Keith
1996
Wisdom Sits in Places. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Behar, Ruth
1993
Translated Woman: Crossing the Border With Esperanza’s Story. Boston: Beacon Press.
Bonfil Batalla, Guillermo
1996
México Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization. Philip A. Dennis, Trans. Austin: University of Texas Press.
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Borneman, John
1992
Belonging in Two Berlins: Kin, State, Nation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bourgois, Philippe I.
1989
Ethnicity at Work: Divided Labor on a Central American Banana Plantation. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns
Hopkins University Press.
Bourgois, Philippe
2003
In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brodkin, Karen
1998
How Jews Became White Folks: and What That Says About Race in America. New Brunswick: Rutgers
University Press.
Chavez, Leo
1992
Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Immigrants in American Society. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich College Publishers.
Conklin, Beth
2001
Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society. Austin: University of Texas
Press.
Dorian, Nancy C.
1981
Language Death: The Life Cycle of a Scottish Dialect. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E.
1969
The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People. New
York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Foley, Douglas E.
1990
Learning Capitalist Culture: Deep in the Heart of Tejas. Philadephia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Holland, Dorothy C. and Margaret A. Eisenhart
1990
Educated in Romance. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Hurston, Zora Heale
1990
Tell My Horse: Voodoo Life in Haiti and Jamaica. New York: Harper and Row.
Jackson, John L.
2001
Harlemworld. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCarthy, Teresa
2001
A Place to Be Navajo: Rough Rock and the Struggle for Self-determination in Indigenous Schooling.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
Mead, Margaret
1973
Coming of Age in Somoa. Washington DC: American Museum of Natural History.
Myerhoff, Barbara
1995
Remembered Lives: The Work of Ritual, Storytelling, and Growing Older. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press.
Stephen, Lynn
1991
Zapotec Women. Austin: University of Texas Press.
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CLASS CONDUCT
Students are expected to arrive to class prepared and on time. If you are going to be late, walk in
quietly and be seated without disturbing the class. You are expected to stay for the full class; you
should schedule appointments around class time. Disrupting the class will not be tolerated and you
may be asked to leave if it becomes an issue. Turn off cell phones or pagers, or in case of an
emergency, turn them on vibrate. If you must answer a call, please go outside. No food is allowed
in the classroom.
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is a very serious offense. College of the Canyons will not accept or tolerate instances of
academic fraud or plagiarism among its students or faculty. Using published or unpublished
material without citing the source is plagiarism. You may use someone else's material if you
enclose it in quotation marks and precisely reference its source. However, direct quotations
should be kept to an absolute minimum. Simply paraphrasing someone else's materials by
minimal rearrangement of the wording is also plagiarism. It is an equally serious offense if you
write a paper for someone else, copy someone else's work, or allow someone to copy your work. In
all cases, such acts are considered cheating and such acts will automatically result in a grade of “F”
for the assignment and possibly for the course.
ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT
Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are
encouraged to contact Disabled Students Programs and Services located in SCOH 103, phone
number (661) 362-3341 or TTY: (661) 255-7967 as soon as possible to better ensure such
accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING POLICY
Late assignments will not be accepted after the final due date. Exceptions will only be made
under the following circumstances; 1) authorized absences from the Administration (i.e., sports
events, medical leave, bereavement), 2) illness supported by documentation from family
physician or Student Health official, 3) special arrangement made with the instructor. No
grades are "curved" in this course. Grades are assigned on a percentage basis according to the
traditional 90-80-70-60% format.
SUGGESTIONS FOR ANSWERING AN ESSAY QUESTION ON AN EXAM
The following suggestions are selected from Moss and Holder (1982).
1. Plan before you write. Your essay should start with a thesis sentence that answers the
question directly and states the conclusion you have come to after thinking about the question.
Feel free to jot down (on the back of an exam page, for example) a brief outline of the major
points you will use to support your thesis.
2. Write the essay, following your outline. Although your essay should be factual, you
may not have enough time to write all the details you know. Therefore, you must be selective.
Choose those facts, details, examples, or other points that will best support your thesis.
3. Keep your thesis in mind as you write. Time is short so do not allow yourself to be
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distracted by a side issue. Everything you include should be pertinent to answering the question
and supporting your thesis. Do not include irrelevant information just in the hopes that it will
show that you know something.
4. Proofread your essays at the end of the exam. It is easy to misspell even simple words,
to omit letters or words, and to construct sentences with incorrect grammar when you are writing
under pressure. Make any corrections or additions neatly.
Moss, A., and C. Holder, Improving Student Writing: A Guidebook for Faculty in all
Disciplines. Pomona, CA: Graphics Communications Service of CSU Pomona, 1982.
EMAIL AND EMAIL ETIQUETTE
Please, do not email me as you would text message a friend. Please follow these basic rules:
Sign off with your full name;
State which class you are in;
Do not tell me to reply ASAP or make other demands;
Do a spell check on your communication;
Use upper- and lower-case letters as appropriate in any formal academic written communication.
You can use this list as a checklist before you send your email.
I will reply to emails as quickly as possible, and with every effort to do so within forty-eight
hours during weekdays.
Please follow the suggestions for online etiquette which may be found at
http://www.kent.edu/dl/Technology/Etiquette.cfm
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Discussion Preparation Guide for Student-led Discussions
Name_______________________________________________ Date_______________
Author and title of article discussed:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
You must fill out this discussion preparation guide and return it in on the day you selected to lead discussion. No
exceptions will be made for late papers without acceptable documentation.
The written guide will count toward half of the student-led discussion grade. You will earn up to ten additional
points for your facilitation of discussion and your ability to keep discussion going in your small group.
Use this guide to help you formulate the issues you would like to bring up during the discussion.
1. What ideas seem significant, intriguing, or puzzling to you? Prepare questions about these to ask during
discussion. Write at least one question for each article assigned, and write a total of at least five questions.
a.
b.
c.
3. State the topic of the reading in one or two sentences. What is this articles about?
4. How do the readings relate to other materials you have read in this class or in other classes?
5. How do the readings relate to things you, your friends, or your family have experienced or to events with which
you are familiar?
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