REQUIRED TEXTS:
l) Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology by Peoples and Bailey
2) Conceiving Spirits: by Jennifer Nourse
3) Articles in Blackboard Web Site: http://courses.richmond.edu/courses/ANTH205_01-02/
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
In this course we will explore the question of what culture is. More specifically we will look at the various ways in which people make cultural meaning out of their lives. We will look at the way people create objects of value, structure their relationships with each other, and come to understand where they have come from and what the cosmos is all about. We'll ask questions like: Is the conspicuous amassing of wealth always seen as desirable? Do men think they give birth in some cultures? Why do some women prefer polygyny?
We will also explore the way in which anthropologists come to understand other people's construction of reality--what is commonly called culture. We will consider whether or not some anthropological approaches are effective when they describe how people construct meaning and share ideas about the world.
In this course we will study remote groups of people in Asia, Africa, and South America and compare them to contemporary American culture. The texts we use will not focus on any one particular area of the world, but because I have had field experiences in both Southeast Asia, i.e., Indonesia, and in West Africa, i.e., Guinea-Bissau, we will focus a little more strongly on those two areas of the world. In addition to readings, you will watch several films about life in other cultures as an out of class assignment, engage in debates about issues in anthropology and conduct fieldwork on campus.
The goal of this course is to teach you as much as possible about cultural anthropology (not an easy task), to get you to think in new and different ways about your own lifestyles, and to make this learning process fun. There will be very few in class lectures. You will be responsible for reading the assigned portions of the text and come to class prepared to discuss the readings. Hopefully you will learn to understand the concepts and attitudes which make other cultures and our own unique, and allow people within those cultures to communicate and behave in strikingly different ways.
SOCIAL ANALYSIS: This course meets the social analysis requirement for the University of Richmond. The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the field of anthropology which is the systematic and scientific study of society, culture, and human behavior. You will learn the basic concepts, theories, and methods of anthropology. You will discover how anthropologists study a variety of phenomena, through the process of fieldwork in remote and near communities throughout the world. You will learn to identify the complex interplay between social and cultural thought, behavior, knowledge, gender, politics and economics and present opposing theoretical and methodological viewpoints on various arguments. Students who complete anthropology courses will come to understand the anthropological perspective as one which is motivated by a theoretical emphasis on cultural relativism and avoidance of ethnocentrism.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS:
Participation, Attendance 4% Worksheets--2%
Debates--10% Midterm Examination--20%
Three Quizzes--5% each=15% Papers--7% each (2) =14%
Final Examination--35%
Class Participation-- I expect everyone to keep up with the reading and be ready to discuss the readings in class. You must also attend class regularly. Each student will have a folder with their name on it. Every day the student should find their folder, mark their attendance and turn in any assignments (worksheets or reaction paragraphs to debates). Attendance is worth 2% of your grade. Perfect attendance receives 100. One absence receives 90, two 85, three 80, four 75 and so on. Participation is worth 2%. Obviously you have to be in class to participate. If you are there and speak up (intelligently) you will receive a grade appropriate to your degree of consistency.
Worksheets-- There will be 9 worksheets and a one page summary to be written about a Japanese performance on Friday September 15 10-12 in Camp Concert Hall. The summary should follow directions which will be posted in the next week or two. Turning in these worksheets/summaries will be worth 2%.
Debates--The class will be divided into groups. Each group will have at least two people. Each group will participate in one debate during the semester. The debates involve outside reading and some research. All members of the debate teams will be given an outline of readings on reserve. If debate members wish to read more than is already collected for them, feel free, but make sure to research anthropology journals. I want to make sure the debates center on anthropological approaches to those issues. Each team will present their findings within 20 minutes. Then there will be 15 more minutes for point and counterpoints. Then the discussion will be opened up to the general class for the last l5 minutes. All students will write a reaction paragraph (including the debate team members) and the debaters will turn in a summary of their presentation. The Debate grade will consist of your presentation grade (5%), your written summary grade (2.5%) and completion of all 3 reaction paragraphs which are to include a summary of the readings for the debate (2.5%). The total debate grade is thus 10%.
Quizzes--There will be two announced quizzes, each worth 5% of your grade. The first quiz is a trial run for the Midterm Exam. The second quiz is on kinship charts. The third is a pop quiz. I WILL GIVE A POP QUIZ WHEN IT SEEMS AS IF PEOPLE ARE NOT DOING THE ASSIGNED READING.
Midterm Exam--There will be one Midterm. It will consist of 2 essay questions and 10 short answer questions. It is worth 25% of your grade. A=90-100 B=80-89 C=70-79 D=60-69 F=59-Below
Writing Assignments There will be two (TYPED) papers due during the term. Each paper should be approximately 7 pages. One paper is a film review paper. The other is a paper in which you conduct your own fieldwork project on campus. In the "Film Review Paper" you will review 4 films in the University Library Media Resources Center (MRC--2nd floor of Boatwright). You will also read a short article on ethnographic film. A detailed explanation will be handed out to you. The second paper is a "Mini-Ethnography." Ethnographies are the studies conducted by anthropologists. You will chose a topic and analyze the behavior and beliefs you observe. Some possible topics are: Body Piercing and Tatooing and its Symbolic Significance; Musical Tastes on Campus; Male-Female Relationships; Fraternity or Sorority Rituals; Observation of Eating Habits and Analyzing Family Trees; Life Histories and Friendships with Foreign Students. Each paper is worth 7 % of your grade
Final Exam The final exam will be cumulative. It will consist of two essay questions and short answer questions. You will have a choice of times for the exam. It is worth 35% of your grade.
You can take the exam either at the 9:45 time which is 2-5 on Friday, December 15, or at the 12:45 time which is 9:30-12:30 on Monday, December 18. I will offer a Study session and review at 12:45 on Tuesday, December 12.
HONOR SYSTEM: Every piece of written work presented by individual students must have the honor pledge and the student's signature on it.
OFFICE HOURS: I hope that the readings and issues we'll be dealing with in this class will excite you. I'll be in my office each week for the sole purpose of chatting with you--please feel free to come by just to talk. If the regular times are impossible for you, we can try to find a better time that's convenient for both of us. If you have questions and can't come by, try e-mailing. I'm usually pretty prompt.
WEB PAGE: All assignments and messages will be located on the web page for the course at the address : http://courses.richmond.edu/courses/ANTH205_01-02. Each student will be enrolled in the class according to their e-mail address (e.g., michelle johnson may be mjohnso8). The technology services will give me info about your initial password. As soon as you go into the web page (which is run under a software program called blackboard), you are to change your password to one only you will know. Don't forget it. This is the way you will get many of the readings for the course. This is the first semester I have used this program, so we shall see how things go. Please let me know immediately if you have problems, so I can try to fix it. Please also plan to check the page after 5:00 the day before class (i.e., Mondays and Wednesday.) I will send messages to everyone about readings, problems, or answers to questions one or more students have.