Fall 2011 / Instructor: Matthew Kennedy
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9:10 to 10 am
Cloud Hall 221, CCSF Main Campus, CRN 70074, 3 units
Anthropology 3 satisfies Area D CSU transfer requirement, IGETC Area 4
and is accepted for transfer to all UC campuses
“Too often we...enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
- John F. Kennedy
Office and Contact Information: Batmale Hall 340, 415/452-7107, mkennedy@ccsf.edu
Department website: ccsf.edu/Departments/Behavioral_Sciences/index.html/
Faculty website: www.ccsf.edu/mkennedy/
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:40 to 1:30, and by appointment.
Textbook: Cultural Anthropology by Nancy Bonvillain, second edition. The textbook is available in two formats: as a standard large paperback (ISBN 0205685099) and as a loose leaf “Books a la carte” edition (ISBN 0205768415). The loose leaf format is less expensive, but it cannot be resold. Both formats come with “My AnthroLab” E-book student access code. My AnthroLab is an important part of the textbook package in that it includes sample test questions, readings, and links that will figure into class topics and assignments. The book is on sale at the campus bookstore and on two hour reserve in the Rosenberg Library. The reading is designed to compliment the lectures and should be completed during the week it is listed. There will be topics in the books we do not cover in class, so keep current! Some material from the readings that is not in the lectures will be on the tests. Material from films shown during the semester will be on the tests as well.
Exams and grading: There will be three tests each worth 50 points, three essays, and a final. Course grade will be based on the following approximate percentages:
Essay #1 Friday, September 9 10%
Test #1 Friday, September 16 10%
Essay #2 Friday, October 7 10%
Test #2 Friday, October 21 10%
Essay #3 Friday, November 4 10%
Test #3 Wednesday, November 16 ---
Attendance, punctuality, integrity, and participation 20%
Final (100 points) Wednesday, December 14, 8:30 to 10:30am 30%
Tests will include multiple-choice, true-false and short answers using scantrons forms. There are no incompletes given and no make-up exams. Writing assignments are handed out far in advance, and early essays are always welcome, but late papers will not be accepted. Written assignments are to be three to four numbered pages, typed, double-spaced essays using MLA format. The course grade will be taken from these assignments that are a combination of point-system for the tests and film critiques and letter grades for the essays. The lowest essay or test (not including the final) will be tossed out.
A Few Rules: I expect students to attend every class and to be on time, prepared, and attentive. If you have an emergency that prevents you from coming to class, you must contact me by phone, email, or in person or you may be dropped from the course after two weeks of inexcused absences. You are responsible for all assignments whether you attend class or not. If you are absent, you should get missed assignments, notes, and handouts from a study partner or acquaintance in class, rather than asking me my least favorite question: “Did I miss anything important?” Keep in mind that in borderline cases, attendance, punctuality, and participation make a difference in the course grade.
To state the obvious, cell phones, iPods, iPhones, etc., must be put away and silent during class. Repeat violations of this rule will result in disciplinary action though the Office of Student Services.
Personal integrity means, among other things, being clear about the origin and ownership of ideas. Taking credit for ideas and words that you did not generate is academic dishonesty. All plagiarized assignments are automatic, irreplaceable zeros. In addition, the instructor has the right to issue an automatic course grade of F for plagiarizing and / or cheating on tests. Typically, a student caught plagiarizing an essay or cheating on a test earns a failing grade in this course.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course a student should be able to:
Analyze each of the major theoretical perspectives of cultural anthropology.
Use the methods of anthropological research and cultural description.
Describe and observe cross-cultural variations in family, kinship, subsistence, political organization, religion, gender, and language.
Exercise critical judgment in analyzing filmed and written ethnographies.
Course Outline:
Anthropology is a broad, multidisciplinary study of humankind across time and space. The key word and concept in anthropology, that which unites the discipline and unites all humans, is culture. We will study various theories of what culture is, and what cultures do as they are expressed in various parts of the world -- that is, what do humans engage in that provides a shared experience and a common identity within a social group? We will look at kinship and marriage, economy, politics, art, technology, ritual, language, popular entertainment, religion and gender to better understand this human phenomenon of culture. By studying others, we inevitably learn a great deal about ourselves.
Course Schedule:
Note: Several class meetings will take place in the Rosenberg Hall 304 screening room. They are noted in the syllabus as R304.
Wed / Fri, August 17 - 19 - Introduction
What is anthropology?
Reading: Chapter 1
Mon / Wed / Fri, August 22 - 24 - 26 - The Concept of Culture
Studying and recording culture, ethics and anthropology
Reading: Chapters 2 and 3
Mon / Wed, August 29 - 31 - Fri, September 2 - Language and Culture
The foundations of language, phonemes, morphemes, and syntax
Sep 2 film: Sewing Woman (1983), R304
Mon, September 5 - Labor Day, no classes held
Wed / Fri, September 7 - 9 - Language and Culture - continued
Sociolinguistics, semantic domains, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Reading: Chapter 4
Due Sep 9: essay #1
Mon / Wed / Fri, September 12 - 14 - 16 - Learning One’s Culture
From Lewis Henry Morgan to Franz Boas: Social Darwinism and Historic Particularism
Reading: Chapter 5
Sep 16: test #1
Mon / Wed / Fri, September 19 - 21 - 23 - Making a Living / Economic Systems
Reciprocity and the Penny Game
Reading: Chapters 6 and 7
Sep 21 film: Dance and Trance of Balinese Children (1995), R304
Mon / Wed / Fri, September 26 - 28 - 30 - Making a Living / Economic Systems - continued
Functionalism
Sep 28 film: The Lau of Malaita (1987), R304
Mon / Wed / Fri, October 3 - 5 - 7 - Kinship and Descent
The science of kinship, terms and systems
Reading: Chapter 8
Due Oct 7: essay #2
Mon, October 10 - Faculty Day, no classes held
Wed / Fri, October 12 - 14 - Marriage and the Family
Monogamy, polygamy, and the variations on marriage
Reading: Chapter 9
Oct 14 film: Masai Women (1974), R304
Mon / Wed / Fri, October 17 - 19 - 21 - Gender
A model for human sexuality
Oct 21: test #2
Mon / Wed / Fri, October 24 - 26 - 28 - Gender - continued
How many genders are there?
Reading: Chapter 10
Mon, October 31 - Wed / Fri, November 2 - 4 - Equality and Inequality
Race and ethnicity, achieved and ascribed status
Nov 2 film: Race: The Power of an Illusion. Episode 1 - The Difference Between Us (2003), R304
Reading: Chapter 11
Due Nov 4: essay #3
Mon / Wed, November 7 - 9 - Political Systems / Conflict and Resolution
Bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states
Reading: Chapters 12 and 13
Fri, November 11 - Veterans Day, no classes held
Mon / Wed / Fri, November 14 - 16 - 18 - Historic Perspectives
Giants of cultural anthropology: Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and Claude Lévi-Strauss
Nov 16: test #3
Nov 18 film: Mustang: Journey of Transformation (2009), R304
Mon / Wed, November 21 - 23 - Religion and Ritual
The supernatural, communitas, types of ritual
Reading: Chapters 14 and 15
Fri, November 25 - Thanksgiving Vacation, no classes held
Mon / Wed, November 28 - 30 - Fri, December 2 - Colonialism and Cultural Change
Revisiting cultural evolution
Nov 30 film: Rain in a Dry Land (2006), R304
Reading: Chapter 16
Mon / Wed / Fri, December 5 - 7 - 9 - Living in a Global World / Final Review
Globalization, the media, final review
Reading: Chapter 17
Mon, December 12 - last day of class
Wed, Dec 14, 8:30 to 10:30am, FINAL
Note: Changes made to this syllabus during the semester may not be reflected here.
