Fall 2008 / Instructor: Matthew Kennedy
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9:10 to 10 am
Cloud Hall 221, CCSF Main Campus, CRN 70195, 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, phone 415/452-7107. Email: matthewkennedy@earthlink.net/ Website: www.ccsf.edu/mkennedy/ Office hours: Monday and Friday 1:10 to 2 pm, and by appointment.

Textbook: Cultural Anthropology by Nancy Bonvillain, with additional short articles distributed in class.

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 and slides shown during the semester will be on the tests as well.

Exams and grading: There will be two tests each worth 50 points, two essays, film critiques, and a final. Course grade will be based on the following approximate percentages:

Essay #1 Friday, September 12 15%
Test #1 Wednesday, October 8 15%
Essay #2 Friday, October 31 15%
Test #2 Wednesday, November 19 15%
Attendance, punctuality, participation, and film critiques 10%
Final Monday, December 15, 8 to 10 am 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.

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 roster after two weeks of unexcused 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, 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. Typically, a student caught plagiarizing an essay or cheating on a test earns a failing grade in this course.

Extra Credit: There may be a special event or guest speaker that would involve a fieldtrip off campus. The American Anthropological Association is holding its annual meeting in San Francisco November 19 to 23, and this may offer the opportunity for extra credit. We will review options in class.

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.

Class Schedule:

Note: Several class meetings will take place in a screening room on the third floor of Rosenberg Hall. They are noted in the syllabus by R301, R304, or R305.

Mon / Wed / Fri, August 18 - 20 - 22 - Introduction
What is anthropology?
reading: Chapter 1

Mon / Wed / Fri, August 25 - 27 - 29 - The Concept of Culture
Studying and recording culture, ethics and anthropology
reading: Chapters 2 and 3

Mon, September 1 - Labor Day, no classes

Wed / Fri, September 3 - 5 - Language and Culture
The foundations of language, phonemes, morphemes, and syntax
Sep 3 film: Sewing Woman (1983), R304
reading: Chapter 4

Mon / Wed / Fri, September 8 - 10 - 12 - Language and Culture - continued
Sociolinguistics, semantic domains, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Due Sep 12: essay #1

Mon / Wed / Fri, September 15 - 17 - 19 - Learning One’s Culture
From Lewis Henry Morgan to Franz Boas: Social Darwinism and Historic Particularism
Sep 17 film: Do You Speak American? Part I - Up North (2005), R305
reading: Chapter 5

Mon / Wed / Fri, September 22 - 24 - 26 - Making a Living / Economic Systems
Reciprocity and the Penny Game
reading: Chapters 6 and 7

Mon / Wed / Fri, September 29 - October 1 - 3 - Making a Living / Economic Systems - continued
Functionalism
Oct 1 film: The Lau of Malaita (1987), R301

Mon / Wed / Fri, October 6 - 8 - 10 - Kinship and Descent
The science of kinship, terms and systems
reading: Chapter 8
Oct 8: test #1

Mon, October 13 - Faculty Day, no classes

Wed / Fri, October 15 - 17 - Marriage and the Family
Monogamy, polygamy, and the variations on marriage
reading: Chapter 9

Mon / Wed / Fri, October 20 - 22 - 24 - Gender
A model for human sexuality
Oct 22 film: Masai Women (1974), R305
reading: Chapter 10

Mon / Wed / Fri, October 27 - 29 - 31 - Gender - continued
How many genders are there?
Due Oct 31: essay #2

Mon / Wed / Fri, November 3 - 5 - 7 - Equality and Inequality
Race and ethnicity, achieved and ascribed status
Nov 5 film: Dance and Trance of Balinese Children (1995), R305
reading: Chapter 11

Mon / Wed / Fri, November 10 - 12 - 14 - Political Systems / Conflict and Resolution
Bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states
Nov 12 film: Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism (1976), R304
reading: Chapters 12 and 13

Mon / Wed / Fri, November 17 - 19 - 21 - Historic Perspectives
Giants of cultural anthropology: Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and Claude Lévi-Strauss
Nov 19: test #2

Mon / Wed, November 24 - 26 - Religion and Ritual
The supernatural, communitas, types of ritual
reading: Chapters 14 and 15

Fri, November 28 - Thanksgiving recess, no classes

Mon / Wed / Fri, December 1 - 3 - 5 - Colonialism and Cultural Transformations
Revisiting cultural evolution
Dec 3 film: Rain in a Dry Land (2006), R304
reading: Chapter 16
Due Dec 5: Extra Credit

Mon / Wed, December 8 - 10 - Living in a Global World / Final Review
Globalization, the media, final review
reading: Chapter 17

Mon, December 15, 8 to 10 am - Final