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Oberlin College
Fall 2010
Anthropology 101
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Monday and Wednesday
8:30 to 9:45 AM
King 323
instructor: Baron Pineda
office: King 320C
hours: M, W 10–11AM
x58790
Course Description:
Cultural Anthropology is the study of humankind from a cross-cultural perspective. It is an
extremely broad field that overlaps and intersects with a wide variety of disciplines in the
Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and the Humanities. Anthropology stands out for its
commitment to holism, cultural relativism, humanism, and qualitative approaches to field
research. For these and other reasons Introduction to Cultural Anthropology is a particularly
exciting subject because it provides students with important tools that they can use to understand
the cultural forces that unite and divide people from all over the world. In this course students
will explore the nature of both Humanity (with a capital "H) and its particular expressions around
the globe.
In this course students will be challenged to reflect upon and form opinions about the following
questions that are central to contemporary Cultural Anthropology:
What is culture? How is the term culture used and misused? Why does it matter? How
is an understanding of the diversity of culture in our world important for an
understanding of "ourselves" and human possibilities in general? What is the value of
ethnographic field research methods? What are the ethical and professional issues
involved in the use of ethnographic methods? What is cultural relativism, moral
relativism, normative relativism? What is the relevance of Cultural Anthropology in the
21st Century? How can Anthropologists contribute to the well being of the people who
they study? Should they at the risk of losing objectivity? What is an "emic" perspective
and why is it important? What is the relationship between language and culture? What is
the "cultural construction of reality" and why is it important for the field? Given that the
field had historically focused on small scale and/or "isolated" communities, what should
the focus of Anthropology be in an age of increasing global interconnectedness? What
are the challenges and prospects for Anthropology in light of the increasing diversity of
practicing Anthropologists, including researchers who come from communities who have
traditionally been only studied by Anthropologists? Is Anthropology a Science? What
are some of the practical applications of anthropological knowledge? What is
anthropological holism? Is the human race making progress?
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Course Goals: After having taken this class students should 1) understand the major concerns,
controversies in the field of Cultural Anthropology today 2) be able to apply the tools of Cultural
Anthropology to their own lives and careers 3) increase their skill in using library and computer
resources for conducting research 4) acquire a rich and intimate understanding of a particular
"people of the world" based on a close reading of secondary and primary sources about/from this
group 5) become aware of the findings in Anthropology that are reported on in the popular
media.
Honor Code: At the end of each academic exercise students shall write in full the Honor
Pledge: "I affirm that I have adhered to the Honor Code in this assignment." It is assumed that
all students are familiar with the Oberlin College honor code and honor system. You can review
it at: http://new.oberlin.edu/students/policies/11-Policies-Honor.pdf
Assignments and Grading:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of: 1) class attendance/participation – 20% 2) final paper,
"peoples of the world" - 25% 3) anthropology in the news/journals assignments – 30% 4) pop
quizzes – 20% 5) final presentation - 5%
Grading of Writing Assignments: All writing assignments will be evaluated on the basis of 1)
clarity of argument and writing 2) effective use of sources 3) ability to make insightful
connections between the subject at hand and the major themes and questions of the class.
Attendance/Participation (20%):
Students are expected to come to class having read the selections for that day. Students are
expected to knowledgably participate in class discussions. Students who have more than two
unexcused absences will not be eligible for an "A" or "A-" grade in the class. Students who have
more than 4 unexcused absences will not be eligible for a "B+" or "B" grade. This rule applies
above and beyond the weight of absences in the overall attendance/participation grade. Students
are responsible for all assignments, instructions, lectures notes etc. that they miss during an
absence. Absences will only be excused when students have so requested/notified IN
ADVANCE of the class session in question. Students may communicate with the instructor
about missed classes by e-mail, phone message or in person.
Research Paper- "PEOPLES OF THE WORLD" (25%): Each student will choose to focus
on a group of people that is represented in the anthropological literature. Over the course of the
semester students will conduct research on this group. Students will write a research paper (10
pages in length) on the group/issue that they choose which addresses the following questions.
Due Dec. 18th. The topic paragraph and preliminary bibliography are due October 31st.
1) Who are they? Where do they live? How do they live? On what basis can they be
viewed as a single group of people?
2) What challenges and prospects do they face as a community? How are they changing
as a group?
3) Have Anthropologists studied them and something about their way of life? Why did
these Anthropologists choose to study them? What have their findings been?
4) What has been the relationship between this group and the Anthropologists that have
studied them?
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5) In your presentation relate what you have learned about this group to one or more of
the central themes and questions (listed above) of the class.
Final Presentation: In the final two weeks of class students will give a presentation based on
their final project. (5%)
Independent Reading and Writing Assignments: Anthropology in the News and Journals
For the first twelve weeks of class students will find and read an article from a
magazine/newspaper or scholarly journal that is related to the topics of that week. Students will
post in Blackboard a 300 word response to the article that includes a citation. In this posting
students will be expected to briefly summarize the article and react to it in an anthropologicallyinformed way. Over the course of the semester students will post a response to journal articles
and magazine/newspaper articles depending on the instructions for that week. A good place to
look for newspaper/magazine articles is: http://anthropology.tamu.edu/news/ A good place to
look for articles from Anthropology journals is www.anthrosource.net . These assignments will
be graded. (30%)
Pop Quizzes (20%): Over the course of the semester students will be given a number of “pop
quizzes” in which they will be asked to write about issues related to reading assignments and
lectures.
Books: James Spradley and David McCurdy. 2009. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in
Cultural Anthropology (13th edition). Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Weekly Schedule
Week 1: The Four Fields of Anthropology
Wednesday (9/7):
no readings
Week 2: Culture and Ethnography
Monday (9/12)
Wednesday (9/14)
Ch. 1, “Ethnography and Culture,” James Spradley; Ch. 2, “Eating
Christmas in the Kalahari,” Richard Borshay Lee; Ch. 3, “Shakespeare in
the Bush,” Laura Bohannan; Ch. 33, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema,”
Horace Miner
Ch. 4, “Fieldwork on Prostitution in the Era of AIDS”, Claire E. Sterk; Ch.
5, “Nice Girls Don’t Talk to Rastas”
Week 3: Language and Communication
Monday (9/19)
Ch. 6, “Manipulating Meaning: The Military Name Game,” Sarah Boxer;
Ch. 8, “Kinds of Talk: Juicing Clients in Tattoo World,” Jennifer Boehlke
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Wednesday (9/21)
Ch. 7, “Conversation Style: Talking on the Job,” Deborah Tannen; Ch. 9,
“Anthropologists Investigate Communication Technology,” Belle Mellor
Week 4: Kinship and Family
Monday (9/26)
Ch. 18, “Mother’s Love: Death without Weeping,” Nancy ScheperHughes; Ch. 19, “Family and Kinship in Village India,” David McCurdy
Wednesday (9/28)
Ch. 20, “Polyandry: When Brothers Take a Wife,” Ch. 21, “Uterine
Families and the Women’s Community,” Margery Wolf
Week 5: Race, Ethnicity and Gender
Monday (10/4)
Ch. 22, “Heading Home: Women, Work, and Identity in America,”
Dianna Shandy and Karine Moe; Ch. 24, “Symbolizing Roles: Behind the
Veil,” Elizabeth Fernea and Robert Fernea
Wednesday (10/6)
Ch. 23, “Poverty at Work: Office Employment and the Crack Alternative,”
Philippe Bourgois; Ch. 25, “Mixed Blood,” Jeffrey Fish
Week 6: Ecology and Subsistence
Monday (10/11)
Ch. 10, “The Hunters: Scarce Resources in the Kalahari,” Richard
Borshay Lee; Ch. 11, “Adaptive Failure: Easter’s End,” Jared Diamond
Wednesday (10/13)
Ch. 12, “Subsistence and Market: When the Turtle Collapses,” Bernard
Nietschmann; Ch. 13, “Forest Development the Indian Way,” Richard
Reed
Topic Paragraph and Preliminary Bibliography due Oct. 16th
Week 7: Economics and Development
Monday (10/18)
Ch. 14, “Reciprocity and the Power of Giving,” Lee Cronk; Ch. 15,
“Global Women in the New Economy”, Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie
Russell Hochschild
Wednesday (10/20)
Ch. 16, “Cocaine and the Economic Deterioration of Bolivia,” Jack
Weatherford; Ch. 17, “Malawi Versus the World Bank,” Sonia Patten
FALL RECESS: (10/23-10/31)
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Week 8: Globalization and Popular Culture
Monday (11/01)
Wednesday (11/03)
Ch. 34, “The Road to Refugee Resettlement,” Dianna Shandy; Ch. 35,
“Why Tourism Matters,” Sharon Bohn Gmelch
Ch. 36, “Japanese Hip-Hop and the Globalization of Popular Culture,” Ian
Condry; Ch. 31, “Baseball Magic,” George Gmelch
Week 9: Law
Monday (11/08)
Wednesday (11/10)
Ch. 26, “Cross-Cultural Law: The Case of the Gypsy Offender,” Anne
Sutherland
; Ch. 29, “The Kindness of Strangers: The US and Iraq,” Robin Fox
Week 10: Politics
Monday (11/15)
Wednesday (11/17)
Ch. 28, “The Founding Indian Fathers,” Jack Weatherford; Ch. 37, “The
Kayapo Resistance,” Terence Turner;
Ch. 27, “Life Without Chiefs,” Marvin Harris;
Week 11: Applied Anthropology
Monday (11/22)
Wednesday (11/24)
Thursday (11/25)
Ch. 39, “Using Anthropology,” David McCurdy; Ch. 40, “Career Advice
for Anthropology Undergraduates,” John Omohundro
Ch. 38 “Medical Anthropology: Improving Nutrition in Malawi,” Sonia
Patten
Thanksgiving
Week 12: Religion, Magic and Ritual
Monday (11/29)
Wednesday (12/01)
Ch. 30, “Taraka’s Ghost,” Stanley Freed and Ruth Freed
Ch. 32 “Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage”
WEEK 13: In-class presentations
Monday (12/06)
Wednesday (12/08)
WEEK 14: In-class presentations (continued)
Monday (12/13)
Wednesday (12/15)
(Final Paper, "Peoples of the World", DUE Wednesday, December 18th, 4pm)