Anth 53 Cultural Anthropology
Tu/Th 10:00-11:50 pm, Spring 2010
Classroom: George Wilson Hall
Professor: Sarah M. Mathis
School of International Studies
Office hours: W 10-12 and 1-3
Email: smathis@pacific.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Cultural anthropology provides an introduction to the anthropological view of humanity, the character and nature of culture, and the diversity of the human species. The major concepts and theoretical assumptions of the discipline will be illustrated by applying anthropological perspectives to peoples from around the world. Topics include culture, ethnicity, and language; kinship, marriage, and social organization; time and space; religion, magic and rituals; gender and sexuality; power, inequality, and political relations; economic production, circulation, and consumption; social control; and the various forces and forms of change.
TEXTS
Applying Cultural Anthropology by Podolefsky and Brown
The Gebusi by Bruce Knauft
In Search of Respect by Philippe Bourgois
Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction by Monaghan and Just
Other readings will be available on Sakai. You may find the readings and many other useful course materials after logging in (using your Inside Pacific ID and password) at pacific.rsmart.com
. E-mail me at the address above if you have problems.
REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
Class Participation (including attendance):
Reading Quizzes:
Ethnographic Assignments (x3):
Midterm I:
Midterm II:
Final Exam:
10%
10%
30%
15%
15%
20%
Class Participation will be graded on the basis on your attendance, your verbal participation in small and large group discussions and your evident preparedness for class. Just showing up for class every day will earn you a grade of a “C” for participation. Earning a higher grade requires active engagement with the material of the class.

Eleven Reading Quizzes will be given over the course of the semester on random days at the beginning of class. You will be awarded a percentage point for each reading quiz that you pass.
Please note that this means you have one potential extra credit point! You cannot make up reading quizzes if you are absent or if you are late, so be sure to come to class on time. These questions will be simple to answer if you have read the texts for the day and understood the basic points.
The Ethnographic Assignments will consist of three assignments that will require you to study a community or culture that you are not already familiar with.
Midterm I, Midterm II and the Final Exam will consist of short answer questions and essay questions. You will be given some choice in both sections. Some of the questions will require definitions of key anthropological concepts and the ability to provide examples. You will also be expected to discuss the readings in the exam questions. I do not expect you to memorize all the names of the authors, but you will need to remember the key points of the articles. For example,
I might start a question in the following way: “Bohannan’s description of Hamlet to the Tiv demonstrated…”
Calculating your Grade - due to the numerous requests I receive every semester asking “what is my grade,” I am including this handy guide to calculating your final grade. You should record each grade as a percentage. Each quiz passed will be 10% (so if you pass 8 out of 10 quizzes, record it as 80). If you receive a letter grade, you need to turn it into a percentage as follows:
A 95 (94 - 100)
A- 91
B+ 88
(90 - 93)
(87 - 89)
B 85
B- 81
C+ 78
C 75
C- 71
D+ 68
(84 - 86)
(80 - 83)
(77 - 79)
(74 - 76)
(70 - 73)
(67 - 69)
D
F
65
50
(60 - 66)
(50 - 59)
Fill in your grades (you can guess the grades you do not yet know, including participation):
Weight Your Grade (out of 100%)
Quizzes 0.1
Midterm I 0.15
Midterm II 0.15
Multiple the two columns for your weighted grade
Final Exam
Ethn. I
Ethn. II
Ethn. III
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
Participation 0.1
Final Grade 1 ----------------------------------- Add this column:

CLASS RULES
1.
You will be expected to attend every class session. However, in case of unavoidable illnesses or conflicts, you will be allowed to miss up to 3 classes with no deduction to your class participation grade. You do not need to send me your excuses. However, please save this allowance for your sick days! Once you have used up this allowance, you will be penalized, even if you are sick. If you experience significant or long-term illness during the semester, please see me as soon as possible for special accommodation.
If you are attending a school sponsored event (including athletics), please also come to me well ahead of time for special accommodation. Absences will be tallied on the Sakai class site.
2.
In-class work cannot be made up. Late assignments will be accepted but a third of the grade will be deducted for every day that the assignment is late unless you have cleared an extension with me ahead of time. Extensions will only be granted if you have a legitimate excuse! Recognizing the night before the assignment is due that you won't finish in time does not count as a legitimate excuse.
3.
Use of wireless devices is prohibited during all class meetings and exams.
4.
Copies of student work may be retained to assess how the learning objectives of the course are being met.
5.
Revisions to this syllabus will be announced in class and will take precedence over this document.
COMMUNICATION
You are welcome to visit me during my office hours or by appointment to ask for further explanations, to get help, to introduce yourself, etc. You may also contact me by email but please allow 24 hours for response during the week. Emails should be addressed to your professor in formal, respectful English (correct grammar, standard punctuation, etc.).
HONOR CODE
The Pacific policy on academic honesty is detailed in Tiger Lore. You may be failed in the course and reported to the Director of Judicial Affairs in the Office of Student Life for violating the honor code, so please read this policy. See Tiger Lore for details about the university’s proceedings and punishments.
Cheating and plagiarism are, of course, academically dishonest. Please see a good style manual for what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. Obviously, turning in someone else’s work with your name on it is theft and will be treated accordingly—this includes any work that you didn’t write, whether you stole it from a roommate or cut/paste it from an internet site or anything else. You are encouraged to discuss your ideas with each other, but do your own work; turning in identical or nearly identical assignments is a violation of the Honor Code.
LEARNING OR PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

If you need accommodations because of a certified learning or physical disability, you must contact Mr. Daniel Nuss, Coordinator of the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, in
101 Bannister to obtain an Accommodations Request Letter. Once you have obtained the letter, I will happily work with you to make appropriate arrangements to accommodate your needs.
Please see me after class or in office hours.
COURSE CONTENTS
Please prepare readings for the day on which they are listed.
Reading, being prepared for class and participating in discussions is a crucial part of the learning experience in this course.
Week 1: Introduction, Jan 12-14
Tu: First Day of Classes
Th: M&J 1-33 (Chapter 1) and P&B Introduction and Miner (Chapter 1)
Week 2: Practicing Anthropology, Jan 19-21
Tu: P&B Sterk (Chapter 3) and the Gebusi, Introduction and Chapter 1
Th: Malinowski Introduction to Argonauts and The Cultural Experience pg. 13-32 (Sakai)
Film Clip: Strangers Abroad excerpts
Week 3: Culture and Cultural Relativity, Jan 26-28
Tu: M&J 34-52 and The Cultural Experience pg. 33-41 and 57-82
Th: P&B Bohannan (Chapter 4), Kratz (Chapter 37) and Abu-Lughod (Chapter 19)
Week 4: Economics, Feb 2-4 *
Tu: M&J 107-119 and Lee (Chapter 8) and Cronk on Reciprocity
Th: Gebusi Chapter 2 and Bohannan Exchange and Investment among the Tiv (Sakai)
Film Clip: The Goddess and the Computer
Week 5: Kinship and Marriage, Feb 9-11 *
Tu: M&J 75-88 and the Gebusi, Chapters 3 and 4
Th: P&B Chapters 14-16 (Section on Kinship, Marriage and Family)
Week 6: Gender and Sexuality, Feb 16-18 *
Tu: M&J 128-139, the Gebusi, Chapter 5 and Roscoe (Chapter 18)
Th: Abu-Lughod Fieldwork of a Dutiful Daughter (Sakai)

Film Clip: Paradise Bent
Week 7: Midterm I, Feb 23-25
Tu: Review and catch up day
Th: MIDTERM I
Week 8: Religion and Ritual, March 2-4 *
Tu: M&J 117-127, Gebusi, Chapter 6, P&B Sois (Chapter 29), Shore Loading the Bases (Sakai)
Th: Deeb Enchanted Modern Chapter 3 (Sakai)
Film Clip: El Sebou
SPRING BREAK
Week 9: Gebusi, Part II, March 16-18
Tu: Gebusi, Chapters 7-9
Th: Gebusi, Chapters 10-Conclusion
Week 10: Cultural Change and Cultural Representation, March 23-25
Tu: P&B Diamond (Chapter 7) and P&B Smith (Chapter 36)
Th: Lutz and Collins, Reading National Geographic (Sakai)
Film Clip: Gods Must be Crazy and N!ai or Trobriand Cricket
Week 11: Politics, Power and Social Control, March 30 – Apr 1 *
Tu: M&J 89-106 and Evans-Pritchard Nuer of the Southern Sudan
Th: P&B Gibbs (Chapter 25) and Scott Cities, People and Language (Sakai)
Film Clip: Kpelle Moot
Week 12: Midterm II, Apr 6-8
Tu: Bourgois, Introduction and Chapter 1
Th: MIDTERM II
Week 13: Race and Ethnicity, Apr 13-15 *
Tu: P&B Diamond (Chapters 11), Fish Mixed Blood (Sakai) and Bougois, Chapter 2
Th: Bourgois, Chapter 3
Film Clip: Race, the Power of an Illusion

Week 14: Language and Communication, Apr 20-22 *
Tu: P&B Basso (Chapter 5), Maltz & Borker (Chapter 6) and Thomson, "The Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words" (Sakai)
Th: Bourgois, Chapter 4
Film Clip: American Tongues
Week 15: In Search of Respect Apr 27-29
Tu: Bourgois Chapter 5
Th: Bourgois Chapter 6 and Conclusion
Week 16: Conclusion, May 4
Tu: M&J 140-142, wrap-up
Final Revisions Due: May 4th at 10am online
Final Exam (Comprehensive), Tuesday May 11 th , 8:00am-11:00am