ANTH 250: Issues in Anthropology
Course Description and Syllabus
Dr. Kimberly P. Martin
E-mail: kmartin@laverne.edu, Web Site: http://kimberlymartin.com
HB 105, Office Hours: MTWR 3:30-4pm
To sign up for an office hours appointment,
go to http://www.signupgenius.com/FindASignup and enter my email address
Course Description
This course is an exploration of how anthropologists contribute to our understanding of humanness. We will
be using the four sub-disciplines of anthropology: cultural, physical, archaeological and linguistic
anthropology, to understand three selected human issues: human families and relationships, human waste and
garbage, and what, exactly, distinguishes humans from other animals. You will be reading about each of these
issues, discussing and debating them, writing and making short presentations about them and taking tests on
the materials we cover. We will also take fieldtrips off campus that relate to some of these topics.
Course Goals
Students who successfully complete this course will
1. Understand the scope of the field of anthropology including the specializations of its four
subdisciplines: Biological Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology and Linguistic
Anthropology.
2. Understand and incorporate central anthropological terms and concepts into their working vocabulary,
including culture, society, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, ethnography, fieldwork.
3. Learn about the kinds of professional careers to which anthropology leads.
4. Exploring the wide variety of evidence and information that is used in anthropology to understand the
human condition.
5. Practice using a cultural relativist perspective in considering beliefs, behaviors and traditions in other
cultures.
6. Consider the nature of humanness in its biological, cultural and linguistic complexity.
7. Explore other cultures and their ways of understanding the world and operating in it.
8. Explore the power of language and metaphor in human thought and the culture that it creates.
Required Books
Strang, Veronica (2009) What Anthropologists Do Berg Publishers $26.95*
Preston, Douglas (2006) Jennie Forge Books $11.86*
Stockard, Janice E. (2001) Marriage in Culture: Practice and Meaning across Diverse Societies, Wadsworth
Publishing. $47.93.
Humes, Edward (2013) Garbology, Avery Publishing. $10.80*
*Prices reflect full price for NEW books at Amazon.com. Used books and/or ebooks are available at considerably less cost.
Course Expectations
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If you want to do well in this course, you need to attend class. Your participation in the form of discussion,
questions, comments and presentations is one of the most important parts of the course. You are responsible
for ALL information and materials dispensed during class time. Please turn off your cell phone and take care
of personal needs before or after class. If you are using your cell phone in class you will be asked to leave that
class session. Your attention needs to be on what is going on in class, not in what is going on elsewhere. You
are expected to remain in the classroom for the duration of class time. It is not appropriate to leave in the
middle of class unless there is an emergency.
Workload. This course has been planned according to university policy. Undergraduate courses require the
assignment of two hours of work outside class for each hour spent in class. Because this is a four-unit class, it
requires 60 hours of in-class time. The homework assigned for this class is, in keeping with nation-wide
university standards, intended to fill a total of 120 hours outside of class over the fifteen-week semester. You
should, therefore, be prepared to spend approximately eight (8) hours outside of class reading, participating in
assigned activities, writing assignments and doing library research during each week of the term. Because
only one third of our course time is spent together in the classroom, I will not be able to cover all the
material in the readings during class. You must be able to assimilate readings on your own, and/or to come
to me if you do not understand material in the readings that is not being covered in class. I am more than
willing to help if you let me know what material is difficult for or confusing to you. We will be doing in class
exercises with each of the assigned books to help you understand how to study readings.
Grades
The final grade for the course will include the following components weighted as follows:
4 Exams @ 20%
80%
Group Presentations @ 10%
10%
Class Participation
10%
100%
Attending class, working hard and doing your best are, of course, crucial to your success in this class; however
the final measure of your success is what you have learned, and what you can show you have learned in written
and oral assignments. Grades in this course will not be assigned according to whether you try or whether you
are present in class, but on your mastery of the material and your ability to demonstrate your new knowledge in
discussion, presentations, papers and written exams.
Exam grades and the final grade for the course will be calculated using the following grading scale:
87% and above = A
75-77%
= B58-59%
=D+
85-86%
= A73-74%
= C+
52-57%
=D
83-84%
= B+
62-72%
=C
50-51%
= D77-82%
=B
60-61%
= Cless than 50% = F
Student Presentations
Ten percent of the grade for this course will come from group presentations. For each of Parts 2-4 of the
course, one third of the students will be organized into presentation groups and will select an aspect of the
topic to address in a 15 minute group presentation. The group will research the topic they have chosen using
library and internet resources and develop a presentation for the class; all members of the group should share
equally in all parts of the preparation for the presentation as well as the oral presentation itself. Group
presentations can take one of two formats: an oral presentation or a debate with another group. Oral
presentations should include some sort of visual content (most students use PowerPoints). One short video clip
of 90 seconds or less may be used as part of the presentation. Both debate and oral presentation formats
require a handout listing a minimum of three important terms/concepts with their definitions, and three exam
questions related to the topic of the presentation. The exam questions should include one true/false question,
one multiple choice or matching question and one short essay question, along with answers to each.
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Presentations will be graded on content, understanding of the material presented and oral presentation style.
Sample exam questions are posted on my website: kimberlymartin.com.
Presentation groups are available on Blackboard; a variety of activity options are available to groups including
collaboration (chat and whiteboard), email, file sharing, and wikis. Group members should divide up the work
so that each person has a fair share. This includes research, preparation and oral presentation or debate time.
Group members may be fired by their group by notifying me that there are irreparable differences between the
individual and the group. “Fired” individuals will be required to make a presentation on their own, and the fact
that they were fired will be factored into their grades. Each person in the group will turn in a grade for all
other members of the group. Grades for presentations will take peer grades into consideration, and will be
individual grades.
Presentation Grade Components:
 Quality of the content.
 Quality of the presentation (knowledge of the material, oral delivery, shared presentation).
 Quality of the powerpoint.
 15 minute presentation time.
 Peer Grades (emphasis on how well work was shared among group members).
Academic Honesty. Students are expected to do their own work and to do original work for each class in
which they are enrolled. It is unacceptable to copy work from other students. It is unacceptable to copy work
directly from books, articles, or other sources including the Internet. It is unacceptable to use work done by
another person. It is unacceptable to use the same work to satisfy requirements for two different classes, even
if they are not in the same department. Any breach of the academic honesty code will result in an F grade for
the course and referral to the Department Chair and the Dean for disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty can
be grounds for expulsion from the university. Please read the section on Academic Honesty in the Rights and
Responsibilities chapter of the ULV catalog carefully.
Exams
Each exam may contain a mixture of question types that may include true-false, multiple choice, definitions
and short essays. Some questions will be drawn from those handed out by groups at their presentations.
Powerpoints and presentation lists of key terms and concepts will provide students with their study guides for
the exams. Exams will cover all assigned readings, exercises, lecture, presentations, videos and class activities
assigned for that part of the course. Grades will be assigned according to the percentage of correct answers.
Grades will not be curved.
Exam dates are firm and not negotiable. A make up exam will only be granted in extreme circumstances and
requires instructor approval.
Class Participation
Ten percent of the grade for this class is based on participation. Participation means being present not only
physically, but actively listening and contributing to what is going on in class. Students who take notes, ask
questions, offer comments, and share experiences relevant to the topics of the day will receive high grades.
Students are expected to focus on class activities in class, to turn off their cell phones, and to remain in class
throughout the class period. Please take care or communications with others and with personal issues before or
after class, or during the break.
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Tentative Schedule
(may be changed at instructor’s discretion)
PART 1:
Reading:
6 Jan – 9 Jan
9 Jan
13 Jan
PART 2:
Reading:
13 Jan – 16 Jan
15 Jan
16 Jan
16 Jan
PART 3:
Reading:
20 Jan
21 Jan – 23 Jan
23 Jan
23 Jan
27 Jan
PART 4:
Reading:
27 Jan – 30 Jan
29 Jan
30 Jan
30 Jan
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ITS FOUR PERSPECTIVES
What Anthropologists Do by Strang
Lecture, Video, Discussions
Reading Due: Bring Book to Class
TAKE HOME EXAM 1 DUE BEGINNING OF CLASS
WHAT MAKES HUMANS HUMAN?
Jennie by Preston
Lecture, Video, Discussions
Reading Due; Bring Book to Class
Groups 1 and 2 Presentations
TAKE HOME EXAM 2 DUE BY 5 PM IN KIM’S OFFICE
TRASH OR TREASURE?
Garbology by Humes
MARTIN LUTHER KING’S BIRTHDAY = No Class
Lecture, Video, Discussions
Reading Due; Bring Book to Class
Groups 3 and 4 Presentations
TAKE HOME EXAM 3 DUE BEGINNING OF CLASS
FAMILY MATTERS
Marriage in Culture by Stockard
Lecture, Video, Discussions
Reading Due; Bring Book to Class
Groups 5 and 6 Presentations
EXAM 4 DUE BY 5 PM IN KIM’S OFFICE
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