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ATHROPOLOGY 101
INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Course Syllabus—Fall Semester 2013
Instructor: Dr. Mark D. Groover, Burkhardt Building, Anthropology Department (third floor), Room 315G; phone: 765285-3567, email: mdgroover@bsu.edu; office hours MW 10-1 and by appointment.
Class Location: Burkhardt Building, Department of Anthropology (third floor), Room 300, 3:30-4:45 PM.
Textbook: Cultural Anthropology: A Global Perspective, Raymond Scupin, editions 7 or 8.
Course Webpage: http://mdgroover.iweb.bsu.edu
On the main web page clink on the link called Mark Groover’s BSU Anthropology Courses. The course syllabus is listed
on this page.
Course Description: ANTH 101, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3). This course introduces the diversity of
human social life as shaped by culture, relating the origins and nature of culture to variations in such universal aspects of
human experience as the food quest, family organization, social control, the arts, and religion.
Objectives: This course provides an introductory overview of cultural anthropology. Anthropology, the study of
humankind, is a discipline in the social sciences and shares similar interests with other fields like sociology, history, and
biology. Anthropology is concerned with practically all aspects of human life. Anthropology contains four main
subdisciplines, consisting of cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. Cultural
anthropology focuses on the study of different cultures throughout the globe, both living groups and societies that existed
in the recent past. A main goal of anthropology is to understand how culture structures or provides meaning to the
everyday lives of people and how it helps them adapt to and survive in a diverse range of physical and environmental
situations across the globe. The goal of this course is to introduce students to basic concepts and theories used in cultural
anthropology. The relevance of cultural anthropology to modern, contemporary life at the global level and within the
daily lives of individuals is that it fosters understanding, appreciation, and acceptance of different cultures, people, and
races.
Content: Course content will be presented through lectures and assigned readings. As illustrated in the course schedule,
the class is divided into three main topic sections. An introduction to basic theory and concepts in cultural anthropology
is provided in the first section. The second section of the class focuses on the different types of societies that exist among
human groups. The third section of the course examines the impact of the modern world upon traditional, pre-modern
cultures during the past 500 years. Course content presented in lectures is drawn from the text and additional sources.
Grading: Earning satisfactory grades in any lecture course requires effort and depends upon four basic activities:
attending class regularly, taking good lecture notes, reading the assigned material, and periodically reviewing the course
material. The average of three exams will determine your grade in this course. Each exam is worth circa 1/3 or 33
percent of your final grade.
Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend all classes unless they are ill or have personal emergencies.
Attendance is taken each day in class.
Student Disability Policy: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have
emergency medical information to share with the instructor, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must
be evacuated, please make an appointment with the instructor as soon as possible to discuss adaptations or accomodations.
My contact information is listed at the top of the syllabus.
Native American Studies Resource Room, BB 315: Looking for a place to relax before or after class in the Dept. of Anthropology? Then visit the NAS Resource
Room, BB 315, directly across from the entrance to BB 300. BB 300 contains books related to Native American culture and a public computer connected to the BSU
network.
BSU Anthropology Club: Meets during the fall and spring semesters—a good opportunity to meet other students interested in anthropology. Check the anthropology
web page for more details.
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ANTHROPOLOGY 101
INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Course Syllabus—Fall Semester 2013
COURSE SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS*
SECTION 1
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION
Course Introduction
What is Anthropology?
Lecture 1/Chapter 1
August 20
Aug 22
Culture
Lecture 2/Chapters 3 and 4
Aug 27
Biology of Evolution
Lecture 3
Aug 29
Human Origins
Lecture 4/Chapter 2
September 3, 5, 10, 12, 17
Anth Theory
Lecture 5/Chapter 6
Globalization and Culture
Lecture 6/
Sept 24
Social Systems
Lecture 7/Chapter 7
Sept 26
Race and Ethnicity
Lecture 8/Chapter 16
October 1
Exam 1
Sept 19
October 3
Language
Lecture 9/Chapter 5
Oct 8
Subsistence
Lecture 10
Oct 10
SECTION 2: LEVELS OF CULTURAL COMPLEXITY
Bands
Lecture 11/Chapter 9
Oct 15, 17
Fall Break
No Classes
Oct 22
Tribes
Lecture 12, Chapter 9
Oct 24
Chiefdoms
Lecture 13/Chapter 10
Oct 29
Agricultural States
Lecture 14/Chapter 11
Oct 31, Nov 5
Exam 2
Nov 7
SECTION 3: GLOBAL CULTURE AND THE FUTURE
Industrial States
Lecture 15/Chapter 12
Nov 12, 14
Globalization
Lecture 16/Chapters 14 & 15
Nov 19, 21, 26
Thanksgiving Break
Nov 27- Dec 1
Applied Anthropology
Lecture 17/Chapter 17
December 3
Global Trends
Lecture 18/Chapter 17
December 5
Classes End
FINAL EXAM
*Course schedule subject to change as needed.
Dec 9, Monday
Tuesday, Dec. 10, BB 300, 2:15-4:15 PM