Fall 2009 / Instructor: Matthew Kennedy
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9:10 to 10 am
Cloud 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: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:10 to noon, 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 11 15%
Test #1 Wednesday, October 7 15%
Essay #2 Friday, October 30 15%
Test #2 Wednesday, November 18 15%
Attendance, punctuality, participation, and film critiques 10%
Final December 16, 8:30 to 10:30 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, 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.
Extra Credit: There may be a special event or guest speaker that would involve a fieldtrip off campus. We will review options in class.
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.
Class Schedule:
Note: Several class meetings will take place in screening room 305 on the third floor of Rosenberg Hall. It is noted in the syllabus as R305.
Mon / Wed / Fri, August 17 - 19 - 21 - Introduction
What is anthropology?
reading: Chapter 1
Mon / Wed / Fri, August 24 - 26 - 28 - The Concept of Culture
Studying and recording culture, ethics and anthropology
reading: Chapters 2 and 3
Mon / Wed / Fri, August 31 - September 2 - 4 - Language and Culture
The foundations of language, phonemes, morphemes, and syntax
Sep 2 film: Sewing Woman (1983), R305
reading: Chapter 4
Wed / Fri, September 9 - 11 - Language and Culture - continued
Sociolinguistics, semantic domains, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Due Sept 11: essay #1
Mon / Wed / Fri, September 14 - 16 - 18 - Learning One’s Culture
From Lewis Henry Morgan to Franz Boas: Social Darwinism and Historic Particularism
Sept 16 film: Do You Speak American? Part I - Up North (2005), R305
reading: Chapter 5
Mon / Wed / Fri, September 21 - 23 - 25 - Making a Living / Economic Systems
Reciprocity and the Penny Game
reading: Chapters 6 and 7
Mon / Wed / Fri, September 28 - 30 - October 2 - Making a Living / Economic Systems - continued
Functionalism
Sept 30: The Lau of Malaita (1987), R305
Mon / Wed / Fri, October 5 - 7 - 9 - Kinship and Descent
The science of kinship, terms and systems
reading: Chapter 8
Oct 7: test #1
Wed / Fri, October 14 - 16 - Marriage and the Family
Monogamy, polygamy, and the variations on marriage
reading: Chapter 9
Mon / Wed / Fri, October 19 - 21 - 23 - Gender
A model for human sexuality
Oct 21 film: Masai Women (1974), R305
reading: Chapter 10
Mon / Wed / Fri, October 26 - 28 - 30 - Gender - continued
How many genders are there?
Due Oct 30: essay #2
Mon / Wed / Fri, November 2 - 4 - 6 - Equality and Inequality
Race and ethnicity, achieved and ascribed status
Nov 4 film: Dance and Trance of Balinese Children (1995), R305
reading: Chapter 11
Mon / Wed, November 9 - 11 - Political Systems / Conflict and Resolution
Bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states
Nov 11 film: Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism (1976), R305
reading: Chapters 12 and 13
Mon / Wed / Fri, November 16 - 18 - 20 - Historic Perspectives
Giants of cultural anthropology: Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and Claude Lévi-Strauss
Nov 18: test #2
Mon / Wed, November 23 - 25 - Religion and Ritual
The supernatural, communitas, types of ritual
reading: Chapters 14 and 15
Mon / Wed / Fri, November 30 - December 2 - 4 - Colonialism and Cultural Change
Revisiting cultural evolution
Dec 2 film: Rain in a Dry Land (2006), R305
reading: Chapter 16
Dec 4: extra credit due
Mon / Wed, December 7 - 9 - Living in a Global World / Final Review
Globalization, the media, final review
reading: Chapter 17
Wed, December 16 - 8:30 to 10:30 am - FINAL
Note: Changes made to this syllabus during the semester may not be reflected here.
