GENERAL EDUCATION SYNTHESIS COURSE PROPOSAL
EXPANDED COURSE OUTLINE
I.
Catalog Description
ANT 358 Social Anthropology (4)
A comparative, functional approach to social organization and social structure in
various societies; culture, society, and personality; family, kinship, and marriage;
social role and social rank; law and politics; religious systems; social change. 4
lecture-discussions.
II.
Required Background or Experience
ANT 102 or permission of instructor.
III.
Expected Outcomes
The course is based on a lecture/discussion format, tied closely to the readings.
Basic learning outcomes include:
1. improve our ability to place particular cultures or their characteristics in a
cross-cultural context,
2. understand connections between social structures and patterns of subsistence
and technology,
3. establish the continuity between traditional and contemporary life styles
around the world and the happy or unhappy co-existence of change and
tradition,
4. derive applications in our own lives for principles such as cultural relativism,
and
5. increase our awareness of individuals as members of groups, communities,
and cultures.
Required texts:
Northern Passage, Ethnography and Apprenticeship among the Subarctic Dene, Robert
Jarvenpa. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1999. (paper)
The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior, an Autobiography, Tepilit Ole Saitoti. Berkeley and
Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986. (paper)
Small Places, Large Issues. An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology,
Thomas Hylland Eriksen. London: Pluto Press, 1995. (paper)
Section from The Zuni Man-Woman, Will Roscoe. (Xerox)
Utne Reader articles, Sept.-Oct. 2000. (xerox)
“The Man Who Remembers,” The New Yorker Feb. 15, 1999. (Xerox)
Other reading material may be provided in class as handouts or recommended. You will
be doing research or exercises that require you to do additional reading. If you want to
use Internet resources, please check them out with the instructor. Remember, anyone can
publish anything on the Internet, which is not the case with scholarly journals, books, or
most other print media.
Course objectives
After you complete this course successfully, you will be able to:
1. Apply critical principles to your own life and society.
2. Conduct a small-scale ethnographic research project, either individually or as part of
a team.
3. Read, watch, or hear popular and journalistic programming related to the
anthropology of social life from a more expert standpoint.
4. Understand what some of the differences between cultures mean, and how they are
relevant to individual behavior.
This course is part of the standard required preparation for future anthropologists,
whether you are going to graduate school or an applied field (CRM, etc.). It also
provides an excellent background for future teachers, social workers, planners,
international business managers, geographers, and many others. Students from all majors
should be able to compete successfully with anthropology majors in the course, although
ANT 102 is recommended for all.
Course Outline
Unless otherwise specified, assignments are due on the next class meeting date.
Date
Topic
Assignment
Jan. 3
General introduction to the field. Social
structure and social organization.
Maasai: pp. xiii-13.
Eriksen: Ch. 1, due 1/8.
Jan. 5
The sociocultural map today. How did it
get that way? Debatable propositions.
Maasai: pp. 13-25.
Exercise #1 (observation).
Jan. 8
Social groups, roles, and relations. Small
scale versus complex society.
Maasai: pp. 25-36.
Eriksen: Ch. 2.
Jan. 10
Research in social anthropology. Epistem- Maasai: pp. 36-43.
ology and methodology. Discuss projects.
Jan. 12
The basic lifeways of humankind: hunter/ Maasai: pp. 43-56.
gatherers, pastoralists, farmers, and industrial Eriksen: Ch. 3.
modes of production.
Project #1 due 1/29.
Jan. 17
Kinship and marriage: the core subjects of
social anthropology and why.
Controversies in the field.
Maasai: pp. 56-66.
Begin Utne Reader articles
to finish by 1/24.
Jan. 19
Descent types and groups. Alliance theory. Maasai: pp. 66-81.
Kinship diagramming for fun.
Eriksen: Ch. 4.
Jan. 22
Forms of marriage. Marriage as exchange, Maasai: pp. 88-95.
ending marriage, second marriages.
Eriksen: Ch. 5.
Jan. 24
Forms of the family, cultural ecology of
family form. Life cycle rituals.
Maasai: pp. 95-102.
Eriksen: Ch. 6.
Jan. 26
Gender, sex, sexuality, love, reproduction, marriage, and are they related?
What's learned and what's not?
Maasai: pp. 102-112.
Eriksen: Ch. 7.
Begin Zuni section due 1/31.
Jan. 29
Age and generation as social classifiers.
Age sets and age grades.
Maasai: pp. 112-118.
Eriksen: Ch. 8.
Jan. 31
Status and social stratification. Social
roles, rules, and relations between groups.
Maasai: pp. 118-125.
Eriksen: Ch. 9.
Feb. 2
Power and authority in different cultural
settings. Relation to age and gender.
Maasai: pp. 125-133.
Eriksen: Ch. 10.
Feb. 5
Case study of Wolof society. Issues in
ethnographic research.
Maasai: pp. 133-144.
Eriksen: Ch. 11.
Feb. 7
Review.
Feb. 9
Mid-term exam.
Feb. 12
Economic systems in the traditional world. Dene: Prologue.
Historical materialism versus technoEriksen: Ch. 12.
economic determinism.
Project #2 due 3/9.
Feb. 14
Traditional belief systems. What is religion? Dene: Ch. One.
Philosophical dimensions of all belief
Eriksen: Ch. 13.
systems.
Exercise #2 due 2/21 (ritual).
Feb. 19
Ritual and myth. Taboos and religious
obligations (e.g., sacrifice, pilgrimage).
Dene: Ch. Two.
Eriksen: Ch. 14.
Feb. 21
Magic, witchcraft, and healing.
Eriksen: Ch. 15.
Feb. 23
Socialization and education in the crosscultural context. Communication.
Dene: Ch. Three.
Eriksen: Ch. 16.
Feb. 26
Culture and personality. Norms and deviance.
Feb. 28
Social control mechanisms. Does biology
explain aggression and disorder?
Dene: Ch. Five.
Eriksen: Ch. 17.
Mar. 2
Cultures in contact and conflict.
Dene: Ch. Six.
Mar. 5
Social issues in the modern world.
Eriksen: Ch. 18.
Mar. 7
Applications of social anthropology to the
contemporary context.
Dene: Aftershock.
Eriksen: Epilogue.
Mar. 9
Review.
Dene: Ch. Four.
FINAL EXAM March 16 11:30 – 1:30
Format of the class
Most of the class will consist of presentation of background material by the instructor or
guest lecturers. This is likely to be new information for most of you, so do not hesitate to
ask questions or bring up issues that occur. Other class periods will be spent in
discussion of the readings, viewing films, or small group projects. There may be
occasional ungraded quizzes on the reading and lectures for assessment purposes. I am
attempting to arrange at least one field trip.
Requirements for an excellent grade
1. Regular attendance. Participation in discussions is very desirable. If this is difficult
for you due to language, shyness, or a disability, please see the instructor. If you will
be unable to attend class, please inform me ahead of time (except in cases of
emergency or illness). You are expected to take your own notes, unless you arrange
with a classmate to borrow theirs, during an illness or other excused absence.
2. Completing all assigned work on time, including readings, projects, exercises, and
test preparation.
3. Use of good communication skills in written and oral communication. If you have
any English language difficulties, help is available (see me for further information).
Always proofread written work.
4. Good performance on the mid-term, final exam, ethnographic report, and fieldwork
project/report.
5. Adherence to high standards of student/scholar ethics. If you are unsure of the
definition of plagiarism or other violations, please ask me. We will discuss the proper
form for citation of sources in class. Group study is highly recommended. The end
product should reflect your own effort only.
Evaluation
Your assignments for the course will consist of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Mid-term exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Final exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ethnography project . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fieldwork project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exercise #1 (pass/fail) . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exercise #2 (pass/fail) . . . . . . . . . . . .
Attendance and participation . . . . . . .
20%
25%
15%
20%
5%
5%
10%
100%