Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Anth 130 section 2
Course Syllabus
Fall 2012
MTWThF 10:00-10:50
Classroom: Dean Hall 112
Instructor: Karisa Terry
e-mail: terryk@cwu.edu (best way to reach me)
Office: Dean Hall 337
Class website: www.cwu.edu/~terryk/anth130.html
Office hours: M-F 9:00-9:50
Course Description
This course is a survey of basic concepts and issues in cultural anthropology using ethnographic
case studies from societies throughout the world. Cultural anthropology is a social science that
provides a comprehensive understanding of what it means to be human. We will focus on the
ideas used by anthropologists in order to compare and contrast how living people with different
cultural traditions conduct their everyday life through language, economy, family life, kinship,
gender relations, belief systems, and other institutions. This course is designed to provide an
understanding of human diversity, cultural anthropological theories, and ethnographic field
methods.
Required Text (available at the Bookstore and on-line)
Book website:
http://www.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?Ntt=9781111833947&Ntk=P_Isbn13&N
=+16+4294922390+4294967203, )
Robbins, Richard H. 2009. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach, 6th edition.
Wadsworth/Cenage. Belmont, CA. ISBN-13: 978-1-111-83394-7
Articles (Access these on the class web-site www.cwu.edu/~terryk/anth130.html )
*Please see me if you have problems accessing articles!!!!!
Counts, David
1990 Too many bananas, not enough pineapples, and no watermelon at all: three object
lessons in living with reciprocity. From The Humbled Anthropologist: Tales from the
Pacific, Wadsworth Publishing.
Pdf available on course website.
CultureTubeAnthro
CultureTube Segment 1: Human Terrain System and War in Iraq
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnj9D5pr8f8
Diamond, Jared
1987 The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race. Discover Magazine, pp. 6466. http://www.ditext.com/diamond/mistake.html
Epple, Carolyn
2003 Queen for a Day. In Personal Encounters, Linda Walbridge and April Sievert (eds.)
pg. 67-71. McGraw Hill, Boston.
Gadsby, Patricia
2004 The Inuit Paradox. Discover. October.
http://discovermagazine.com/2004/oct/inuit-paradox/?searchterm=patricia%20gadsby
Kristof, Nicholas
1996 Who Needs Love! In Japan, Many Couples Don’t. New York Times. February 11th.
www.nytimes.com/1996/02/11/world/main-street-japan-for-better-for-worse-who-needslove-japan-many-couples-don-t.html?scp=1&sq=who needs love! in Japan&st=cse
Krutak, Lars
2008 Making boys into men: The skin cutting ritual of Kinigara Tribe of Papua New
Guinea. http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Papua/index.html
Pribilsky, Jason
2003 Living the Chulla Vida. In Personal Encounters, Linda Walbridge and April Sievert
(eds.) pg. 9-14. McGraw Hill, Boston.
Pyburn, K. Anne
2003 Worthless Women. In Personal Encounters, Linda Walbridge and April Sievert (
eds.) pg. 9-14. McGraw Hill, Boston.
Rhode, David
2007 Army Enlists Anthropologists in War Zones. New York Times. October 5th.
there is an article and a video on this website!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/world/asia/05afghan.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=human
%20terrain&st=cse
Roach, Mary
2008 Almost Human. National Geographic Magazine.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/chimps-with-spears/mary-roach-text
Rosaldo, Renato
2010 Of Headhunters and Soldiers: Separating Cultural and Ethnical Relativism.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v11n1/relativism.html
Sandstrom, Alan, and Pamela Effrein Sandstrom
2003 The Shaman’s Art. In Personal Encounters, Linda Walbridge and April Sievert (
eds.) pg. 9-14. McGraw Hill, Boston.
Small, Meredith
2003 How many fathers are best? Discover Magazine. April 1st.
http://discovermagazine.com/2003/apr/featfather
Sosis, Richard
2004 The adaptive value of religious ritual. American Scientist. March-April.
Pdf Available on course website or in Brookes Library Electronic Journals.
Tannen, Deborah
2007 Who does the talking here? The Washington Post. July 15.
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/tannend/post071507.htm
Walbridge, Linda
2003 Driving the Memsahib. In Personal Encounters, Linda Walbridge and April Sievert
(eds.) pg. 79-84. McGraw Hill, Boston.
Wong, Kate
2001 Fighting the Darkness in El Dorado. Scientific American 284(3): 26-29.
Pdf Available on course website or in Brookes Library Electronic Journals.
Office Hours
I will have formal office hours 9:00-9:50 pm M-F (and by appointment). Feel free to stop by
outside my regular office hours if you need help.
Course Requirements
Course content will be presented in lectures, assigned readings, media, and discussions. You are
responsible for material covered in class (including media) as well as readings. Some
information will only be presented in class therefore class attendance is critical.
Exams: There will be 2 in-class exams (including the final). These exams are closed-book, not
cumulative, and are each worth 100 points. Exams will consist of multiple choice, matching,
true/false, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer. Content for exams will be based on readings,
articles, lectures, and movies. Missed exams due to “excused” absence must be made up
within one week of the scheduled date. After that time, you will not get credit.
In-Class Discussions: There will be 4 in-class discussions of assigned readings each worth 14
points. You will bring to class a completed discussion handout (distributed later) worth 7 points
and can potentially receive 7 points for your participation in the in-class discussion. The
completed discussion handout is due at the beginning of class. In-class discussions can only be
made-up if you have an “excused” absence and work must be submitted within one week of the
scheduled date. If you miss a discussion day you can hand-in a completed discussion handout of
the reading (worth 5 points) however you must also submit a 2-page essay critically analyzing
the article (worth another 5 points). This essay should have references not included in the page
limit. Please see me for instructions if you are absent from class on one of these days.
Reflection Response: There will be 4 Reflection Responses each worth 14 points in which you
will answer a series of questions (distributed later). These assignments are a way to develop
critical reading skills and tying together themes from all aspects of the class including lecture,
readings, and media. Late assignments due to unexcused absence will not be accepted.
Quizzes: Each quiz is worth 14 points. Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped (4 graded but
5 total). Quizzes are very short (3-5 questions) designed to stress material for that week. Quizzes
will consist of questions based on readings, lectures, and/or films. Prepare for them before class
by doing the assigned readings! Quizzes cannot be made-up for any reason.
Take-Home Exercises: You will be given two take-home exercises in which you will answer
questions based on data that you collect through interviews/observation. Each exercise is worth
50 points. Although you may discuss these assignments with other students in the class you are
expected to hand in your own work! Details of these assignments will be provided later.
Attendance and Participation: Attendance and participation is worth 32 points (6.4% of your
overall grade). Roll is taken daily. You have 6 “free” days (without a documented excuse, i.e.
doctor’s note, family crisis, etc.) that do not count against your attendance grade. Use these
wisely!!! After 6 unexcused absences you will lose all of your attendance and participation
points. However, if you are habitually late for class I will mark you absent if you are more than
25 minutes late. To obtain full attendance and participation points students must treat all parties
(fellow students and instructor) with courtesy (turning off cell phones and laptops unless cleared
by me or necessary for academic accommodation), and respecting tradition, cultures, and beliefs
which are not their own.
Readings: Textbook/article reading is your daily homework. Admittedly, there is a great deal for
this class. You are advised to have done all the reading before coming to class. We will have inclass discussions of assigned articles, Robbins book, and media. Please come prepared! If you
have time, take notes while you read.
Course Website
You can access much of the course material at the class website
www.cwu.edu/~terryk/anth130.html This is not Blackboard!!! The syllabus, take-home
exercises, discussion handouts, study guides, grades, and abridged lecture notes can be found on
the website. The web notes are designed to facilitate class lecture. I encourage you to download
and print a copy of the notes before coming to class, then you won’t have to write as much and
we can get through more material. Keep in mind, however, this is not a web-based course. You
must attend if you expect to pass the class.
Grading
Your grade for this class is based on the following:
Exam 1- Midterm
100 points (20% of final grade)
Exam 2- Final
100 points (20% of final grade)
4 In-Class Discussions (@ 14 pts each)
56 points (11.2% of final grade)
4 Quizzes (@14 pts each)
56 points (11.2% of final grade)
2 Take-home exercises (@50 pts each)
100 points (20% of final grade)
4 Reflection Responses (@ 14 pts each)
56 points (11.2% of final grade)
Participation & Attendance
32 points (6.4% of final grade)
Total
500 points (100% of final grade)
Final Grades
Final grade percentages are based on a total of 500 points.
A
AB+
B
BC+
460-500
450-459
435-449
415-434
400-414
385-399
(≤92%)
(90-91.9%)
(87-89.9%)
(83-86.9%)
(80-82.9%)
(77-79.9%)
C
CD+
D
DFail
365-384 (73-76.9%)
350-364 (70-72.9%)
335-349 (67-69.9%)
315-334 (63-66.9%)
300-314 (60-62.9%)
≤299 (<60%)
Advice on how to do well in this class:
This class requires a fair amount of reading, preparation, and studying. It is very important to
keep up with your readings. You will follow lecture better and be able to discuss the topic for the
day. Taking and studying for exams and quizzes will be much easier. Once you get behind in
readings it will be difficult to catch-up. We will discuss the assigned reading and articles inclass, therefore you should be familiar with the reading before coming to class. Although we
do not have reading quizzes, I do take note of who has done the reading! If you have done the
readings and participated in-class consistently, I will raise a boarder-line grade to the next
highest. Again, class attendance is also important. Lectures and in-class discussions are
structured to reinforce and critically analyze ideas presented in readings, as well as introduce
new topics not covered in the textbook. You will succeed in this class if you do the readings,
come to class, and turn in assignments.
Late Assignments and Exams
Take-Home Exercises are due by 5 pm on the due date. Late assignments will be accepted,
however 10 points per day will be deducted from your score (50 points will become 40 points).
You are expected to take exams at the scheduled time. In-class discussions can only be made-up
if you have an “excused” absence and work must be submitted within one week of the
scheduled date. If you miss a discussion day you can hand-in a completed discussion hand-out
(worth 7 points) however you must also submit a 2-page essay critically analyzing the article
(worth another 7 points). If you must miss an exam a makeup opportunity without penalty may
be given at the instructor’s discretion, but only in those instances when the absence is “excused.”
Excused absences include personal illness, emergencies in your immediate family, job
interviews, and university sponsored trips, among others and must be documented. If you know
that you will miss one beforehand, please talk to me before the exam and we can work
something out!!!! You will have one week from the day that the exam was given in class to
take the exam.
Classroom Etiquette
It is my responsibility to maintain a positive learning environment for all students in class.
Although I encourage you to participate during class and maintain a relatively casual classroom
atmosphere, please do not chat with your neighbor during class (unless asked to do so). It is
distracting to other students and to me. Furthermore, please show respect toward fellow
classmates and other viewpoints (respecting tradition, cultures, and beliefs which are not your
own) during class discussions. I will not tolerate disruptive behavior and will ask you to leave.
Please try to remember to turn off your cell phones during class (unless you have some sort of an
emergency). Please turn of your phone and computer (unless cleared by me or for academic
accommodation) during class as it is distracting to your fellow students and me.
Academic Integrity
You assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of academic work you submit. The
guiding principle of academic integrity shall be that your submitted work, examinations, reports,
and projects must be your own work as defined in the Proscribed Conduct section of the Student
Judicial Code (in the back of your academic catalog). Do Not Cheat! There is a “zero-tolerance”
rule. You will not be given a second chance if you cheat. You will simply fail the class and the
matter will be turned over to the Vice President for Student Affairs. Accept responsibility for
your actions. If you use someone else’s idea or wording and do not properly cite them, it is
considered plagiarism. Make sure that you cite your work in your written assignments.
Other Issues
Please come see me if you have any problems or questions about this class. If English is your
second language, if you have a different cultural background, if you don’t feel confident about
your study skills, or any other issues, Please Come See Me!!! I want to help you do well in this
class.
Individual Needs
Students with disabilities who wish to set up academic adjustments in this class should give me a
copy of their “Confirmation of Eligibility for Academic Adjustments” from the Disability
Support Services Office a.s.a.p. so we can discuss how the approved adjustments will be
implemented in this class. Students without this form should contact the Disability Support
Services Office, Bouillon 205 (dssrecept@cwu.edu, 963-2171) (http://www.cwu.edu/disabilitysupport/).
Other
resources
include
Academic
Achievement
Program
(http://www.cwu.edu/learning-commons/),
and
the
Writing
Center
(http://www.cwu.edu/learning-commons/university-writing-center).
If English is your second language, you may use a translation dictionary for exams and
quizzes—no electronic translators, only paper dictionaries.
Please get missed lecture notes from classmates. This syllabus may change during the course of
the quarter.
Course Schedule and Assigned Reading
Date
Topic
Week 1 Topic: What is
Anthropology?
Wed
Sept. 19
Introduction to Class
Thurs
20
What is Anthropology?
Fri
21
What is Anthropology?
Week 2: What is Cultural
Anthropology?
Mon
24
What is Culture?
Tues
25
Our Human Past and Culture
Wed
26
History and Theory of Anthropology
Media: An Anthropological
Thurs
27
Introduction to YouTube
Fri
28
Discussion
Week 3: Culture and Meaning
Mon
Oct 1
Tues
2
Wed
Thurs
Fri
3
4
5
Culture and Meaning
Cultural and Meaning; Ethnographic
Fieldwork
Ethnocentrism and Relativism?
Media: The Storytelling Class
Discussion
Week 4: Questioning the Idea of
Cultural Progress
Reading/Assignments
Reading: Rosaldo
Article, Roach Article
Quiz 1
Reading: Robbins Ch. 1,
Pyburn Article, Wong
Article
In-Class Discussion #1
Reading: Robbins Ch. 2,
Gadsby Article,
Mon
Tues
Wed
8
9
10
Thurs
11
Fri
12
Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways
Horticulture to Industrialization
Economic Development
Media: N!ai: the Story of a !Kung
Woman
Discussion
Week 5: Globalization,
Neoliberalism, and the Nation-State
Mon
15
Tues
16
Wed
17
Thurs
18
Fri
19
Economic Systems
22
23
24
25
Fri
26
Mon
Tues
Wed
29
30
31
Thurs
Nov 1
Fri
2
Mon
Tues
5
6
Reflection Response #1
Due
Reading: Robbins Ch. 3
and pg. 233-244, Counts
Article, Pribilsky Article
Take-Home Exercise #1
Due
Economic Systems
Globalization and the Nation-State
Media: China Blue (but want Kula:
Ring of Power)
Discussion
Week 6: Social Hierarchy
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Diamond Article
Quiz 2
In-Class Discussion #2
Due
Reading: Robbins Ch. 7,
Walbridge article
Exam 1- Midterm
Political Structure
Social Hierarchy
Media: Ongka’s Big Moka (good)
Reflection Response #2
Due
Reading: Robbins Ch. 8,
Rhode article, Culture
Week 7: Why Does Violence Occur?
Tube
Politics and Warfare
Politics and Warfare
Quiz 3
Conflict Resolution- The axe fight
Media: Darfur Diaries (but not goodchange)
In-Class Discussion #3
Discussion
Due
Reading: Robbins Ch. 4,
Week 8: Belief, Ritual, and
Sosis article, Tannen
Language
article
Language and Communication
Language and Culture Connection
Discussion
Wed
Thurs
7
8
Beliefs
Media
Fri
9
Discussion
Week 9: Social Identity
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
12
13
14
15
Veteren’s Day No Class
The Concept of Personhood
Constructing Individual Identities
Media
Fri
16
Discussion
Week 10: Patterns of Family
Relations and Kinship
Mon
19
Family Composition
Tues
Wed
Thurs
20
21
22
Kinship Ties
Sex and Love- Thanksgiving
Media- Thanksgiving
Fri
23
Discussion- Thanksgiving
Mon
26
Tues
27
Wed
Thurs
Fri
28
29
30
Tues
Dec 4
Week 11: Material Culture and
Identity
Art as an Expression of Identitymove sex and love
Art as an Expression of Identity- sex
and love
TBA- media?
Media?
Discussion- study day
Final Exam 8:00 am to 10:00 am in
this classroom
Reflection Response #3
Due
Reading: Robbins Ch. 6,
Epple article
Quiz 4
In-Class Discussion #4
Due
Reading: Robbins Ch. 5,
Kristof article, Small
article
Take-Home Exercise #2
Due
Reflection Response #4
Due (move to Monday
Nov 26)
Reading: Krutak article,
Sandstrom article
Quiz 5