Anthropology 2351 - Blinn College

Anthropology 2351 Blinn College – Bryan Campus

Course Syllabus Instructor: Michelle Raisor, Ph.D. Section: A3/A4/C1/C3 Office: Room 146A Office Hours: By appointment and 30 minutes after class Office Phone: 979-209-7470 E-mail: [email protected] Course Description. Key concepts, methods and theory in the study of cultural diversity, social institutions, linguistics, and culture change among world peoples. Special emphasis is given to crosscultural comparison and analysis of basic social institutions on a global scale using contrasting world cultures as examples. Expanded Description. The course covers the field of cultural anthropology by introducing the discipline and its methods. Both human diversity and cultural development are examined through ethnographic means. Various aspects of culture, including but not limited to, economic systems, marriage, families, households, kinship, descent groups, political organization, social control, religion, and art are studied. Applied anthropology, culture change, and the cultural future of humanity are also covered. Three hours. This is a Core Course in the 42-Hour Core of Blinn College. As such, students will develop proficiency in the appropriate Intellectual Competencies, Exemplary Educational Objectives, and Perspectives. The URL for the Blinn College Core Curriculum web site is: www.blinn.edu/corecurriculum Prerequisites: None. Student Learning Outcomes: Students are expected to: Interpret the holistic perspectives of anthropological study Examine relationship between individuals, culture, and society from the humanistic perspective Analyze the components of economic exchange and exemplify specific relationships between cultural and ecological systems Formulate explanations for the importance of language in culture Suggest humankind’s future in light of biological and cultural forces. Assess ethnography as a means of conducting cultural research Textbooks: Mirror for Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Conrad Phillip Kottak. Seventh Edition. McGraw Hill, publisher. Applying Cultural Anthropology: An Introductory Reader. Aaron Podolefsky, Peter Brown, Scott Lacy. Eight Edition. McGraw Hill, publisher.

ADA Statement: Information regarding procedures for documenting disabilities can be obtained from the Counseling Office. Reasonable accommodations will be made for documented disabilities. Students must present documentation as soon as possible for the instructor to arrange accommodation. Attendance: Class attendance will be taken during each class period. Blinn College believes that class attendance is essential for student success; students are expected to report promptly and regularly to all their classes. Each class meeting builds the foundation for subsequent class meetings. Without full participation and regular class attendance, students shall find themselves at a severe disadvantage for achieving success in college. Class participation will constitute at least 10 percent of the final course grade. If a student has one week’s worth of unexcused absences during the semester, he/she will be sent an email by the college requiring the student to discuss his/her attendance issues. Should the student accumulate two week’s worth of unexcused absences, he/she will be administratively withdrawn from class. There are four forms of excused absences recognized by the institution: (1) Observance of religious holy days. The student should notify his/her instructor(s) not later than the 15th day of the semester concerning the specific date(s) that the student will be absent for any religious holy day(s). (Education Code Sec. 51.911b) (2) Representing Blinn College at an official institutional function. (3) A high school student representing the independent school district at an official institutional function. (4) Military service (Education Code 51.9111(d); 19 TAC 4.9), if a student can prove that he/she is serving on active duty to which they are called with the armed forces of the United States, the student shall be excused from attending classes and allowed to complete an assignment or take an examination from which the student is excused within a reasonable time after the absence. (5) Other absences may be excused at the discretion of the faculty member. Students (or their parents) that make airline reservations for a holiday, decide that they need to participate on the first day of hunting season, lose their syllabus, can’t find the syllabus online, don’t know anyone in class that they can get class notes from, or any other excuse for a mediocre performance, and/or find themselves so exhausted from the rigors of college that there is a conflict in attending class or taking an exam will not be considered excused and will not be allowed to take make-up exams or student presentations and be given zero’s.

If no longer attending, students are responsible for officially dropping a class. Drops must be made through the Admissions and Records Office. Notifying the teacher is not enough for an official drop. Other Policies: No food and drinks in the classroom. Computers, cellular phones, pagers and all other forms of similar technology must be turned off while in the classroom. Blinn College does not tolerate cheating, plagiarism or collusion. Procedures for dealing with these acts are outlined in the Scholastic Dishonesty Policy. Members of the Blinn College community, which includes faculty, staff and students, are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all aspects of campus life. Blinn College holds all

members accountable for their actions and words. Therefore, all members should commit themselves to behave in a manner that recognizes personal respect and demonstrates concern for the personal dignity, rights, and freedoms of every member of the College community, including respect for College property and the physical and intellectual property of others. Civility Notification. If a student is asked to leave the classroom because of uncivil behavior, the student may not return to that class until he or she arranges a conference with the instructor: it is the student's responsibility to arrange for this conference. American Anthropological Association Statement on Ethics Ethical principles which guide anthropologists working to study people and their lifeways include acquiring the informed consent of the people to be studied, protecting them from risk, and respecting their privacy and dignity. The American Anthropological Association has adopted a statement of ethics which holds that the anthropologist’s paramount responsibility is to those being studied. Anthropologists must do everything within their power to protect the physical, social, and psychological welfare of the people and to honor their dignity and privacy. This includes the obligation to allow informants to remain anonymous when they wish to do so and not to exploit them for personal gain. It includes the responsibility to communicate the results of the research to the individuals and groups likely to be affected, as well as to the general public. (AAA, 1983) The full AAA Code of Ethics is available at www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethics.htm Course Content: This course is designed to acquaint you with a small sample of the thousands of human cultures on our planet. You will be introduced to the discipline of anthropology, with a primary focus on cultural anthropology. We will cover the differences between society and culture, how cultures grow and change, the concepts of dynamism and conservatism, and the complex rules of behavior which govern members of societies. This course requires that you keep an open mind. We will examine cultures prior to their contact with modern civilization, and also cultures in the modern world. We will compare-and-contrast these cultures to each other, and to our own "American" culture. In-class discussions, readings, lectures, and current events will be used to help in our understanding of diverse cultures. Regular class attendance is vital! Assignments, grades, and exams: There are four (4) exams: Three regular exams and one final. The final exam is comprehensive. Exams 1, 2, and 3 will consist of true/false and multiple choice questions. Each exam is worth a maximum of 100 points. All exams are taken in-class. You will have the full class period to complete your exams (full final exam time period to complete the final). Final Grade: The final grade will be calculated based upon four exams, each exam worth 100 points for a total of 400 points. If a student opts to give a class presentation, the presentation will be worth 40 points and will be calculated into the final grade total as 440 points. Extra credit points can be added to the final exam grade as listed below. Extra credit: 1) An optional essay question will be provided during each exam. The student will have the option of completing this question. Essays will be graded based upon detail, writing style and thoroughness of discussion. Up to 5 bonus points can be added to each of the exam grades. 2) A student can perform a 10-minute class presentation on a cultural topic of their

choice. The topic has to be approved prior to the presentation. The student is encouraged to use Powerpoint for the presentation. The student must turn in a brief abstract and two questions that can be used on an exam at the time of their presentation. This presentation must be drawn from a scientific journal article published within the last 5 years. I suggest using the following journals: Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology, Medical Anthropology, Current Anthropology, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Science, Nature or some other scientific journal of equal quality. Do not use an article published in a newspaper, popular magazine or online source. You are required to clear the article with me no later than one week prior to presentation. Up to 40 bonus points can be added to your final grade total (for a total of 440 points). The presentation date will be tentatively scheduled for April 20-22. 3) A common assignment will be given during the semester and will be reviewed as a part of your class participation grade. More information will be given later in the semester. 4) Additional extra credit opportunities might be announced during the semester such as attending a guest lecturer series or community service. Make-ups: You have one week to make up a missed exam for an excused absence; proof must be provided. All makeup tests are essay questions. All makeup exams are given in my office. It is up to the student to contact the instructor and make arrangements for taking the exam.

Class Schedule Week 1 What is Anthropology (Chapter 1) Kottak

Understanding Humans and Human Problems (Introduction) Podolefsky Week 2 Culture (Chapter 2) Kottak Body Ritual Among the Nacirema (Chapter 1) Podolefsky Week 3 Ethics and Methods (Chapter 3) Kottak Slumber’s Unexplored Landscape (Chapter 2), Tricking and Tripping (Chapter 3) Podolefsky Week 4 Religion (Chapter 9) Kottak The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual (Chapter 29) Podolesky Article: For Her Sixteenth Birthday Tala Raassi Received 40 Lashes- Michele Shapiro, Marie Claire Magazine, May 2010, page 118- 122. Week 5 EXAM I Week 5 - Week 6 Language and Communication (Chapter 5) Kottak Shakespeare in the Bush (Chapter 4), “To Give Up Words” (Chapter 5), A Cultural Approach to Male –Female Communication (Chapter 6), Chinese Table Manners (Chapter 9) Podolefsky Week 7 Families, Kinship and Marriage (Chapter 7) Kottak When Brothers Share a Wife (Chapter 14), Law, Custom , and Crimes Against Women (Chapter 15), How Many Fathers are Best for a Child (Chapter 16) Podolefsky Week 8 Gender (Chapter 8) Kottak Gay Marriage and Anthropology (Chapter 17), Strange Country This (Chapter 18), Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving (Chapter 19), Measuring Up to Barbie (Chapter 20) Podolefsky Spring Break March 14-18 Week 9 EXAM II

Week 9 Ethnicity and Race (Chapter 11) Kottak Race Without Color (Chapter 11), White Privilege (Chaper 12) Podolesky Week 10 Making a Living (Chapter 5) Kottak Moral Fibers of Farmer Cooperatives (Chapter 32), The Worst Mistake in Human History (Chapter 7), The Search for Sustainable Markets (Chapter 33), Two Rights Make a Wrong (Chapter 34) Podolefsky Week 11 Political Systems (Chapter 6) Kottak Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zones (Chapter 27), Sacred Barriers to Conflict Resolution (Chapter 28) Podolesky Week 12 Applying Anthropology (Chapter 12) Kottak ; Art in culture; Common Assignment. Conflict and Confluence in Advertising Meetings (Chapter 22), The Viral Superhighway (Chapter 30), Culture, Poverty, and HIV Transmission (Chapter 35 Podolesky Week 13 EXAM III Week 13 Student Presentations Week 14-15 Global Issues Today (Chapter 13) Kottak and Final Exam Review. Coming of Age in Palo Alto (Chapter 23), Cell Phones, Sharing, and Social Status in an African Society (Chapter 36); Circumcision, Pluralism and Dilemmas of Cultural Relativism (Chapter 37); the Price of Progress (Chapter 38) Podolesky FINAL EXAMS May 5-11. Exam times TBA Check Blinn College Website later in the semester for exact time. http://www.blinn.edu/calendars/spring_2011_final_exam_schedule.pdf