Required Text:

Haviland, William A., Harald E. L. Prins, Dana Walrath, and Bunny McBride
    2007   The Essence of Anthropology (1st edition).  Thomson Wadsworth.

Click on title to access the Student Companion Site for the text.

Course Description

Anthropology is the study of human diversity through time and across space.  Anthropology differs from other fields of social science in its emphasis on comparative approaches or cross-cultural perspectives on human behavior, culture, and society.  Also setting anthropology apart from its related disciplines is its holistic, unified perspective on the human condition.  In this regard anthropology appears boundless, spanning topics such as social organization, religion, technology, economics, symbolism, reproduction, politics, genetics, biomechanics, subsistence, settlement patterns, migration, warfare, health and disease, growth and development, material culture, art, music, and storytelling, to name but a few.

Although the field of anthropology encompasses an immense range of subjects, it is usually divided into four subfields: sociocultural anthropology, physical or biological anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology.  In this course you will be introduced to each of the subfields, gaining an appreciation not only for the breadth of anthropological inquiry, but also for the interrelationships among its diverse perspectives.  By focussing on concepts of human culture—the symbolic, material, and energetic means by which humans adapt to their environments—you will learn about the diversity of contemporary human societies in all of their social and biological dimensions; examine the long-term processes and conditions (such as globalization) that contributed to this diversity; and investigate methods for obtaining information about ancient peoples from the mute shreds of material culture they left behind.

We often think of anthropologists as strange, eccentric scientists who sacrifice the comforts of modern life to be among primitive people in exotic places.  We might also conjure-up the image of a bearded old man in pith helmet and khakis when contemplating the work of archaeologists.  While these stereotypes indeed describe many of the anthropologists of yesteryear, today's practitioners are usually found in much more familiar, even mundane settings.  Contemporary anthropologists have been busy investigating modern topics such as the fall of communism in eastern Europe, terrorism, AIDS, the Greenhouse Effect, multilingual America, sexual and racial discrimination, materials recycling, and world hunger.  In this course we will examine many of these contemporary issues to see how an anthropological perspective promotes solutions to human problems that are both methodologically scientific and philosophically humanitarian.
 

Objectives

Through lectures, readings, films and class discussions, you will gain an appreciation for:

1.  the variation of human biology and culture, and how anthropologists explain it;
2.  the interrelationships between biology and culture;
3.  processes of change that create biological and cultural diversity;
4.  the relevance of anthropology to the modern world and globalization;
5.  a critical perspective on the anthropological endeavor;
6.  how anthropology functions in both the scientific and popular worlds to create, maintain and dispel our perceptions of the human condition;

Format and Grading

The class meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12:50 to 1:40 PM.  I will present a lecture at each meeting on the scheduled material as outlined below, using additional information from outside sources to embellish and expand upon the text readings.  I expect you to read the assigned chapters before class.  We will occasionally view films, and I may use exercises or experiments to help illuminate particular concepts.  The supplemental lecture material, films, and exercises are all fair game on exams, so I suggest that you come to class prepared to listen and to participate.

Your final grade will be based upon three exams.  The nonaccumulative exams are totally objective (i.e., multiple choice).  Study guides will be issued in class and on the web site at least five days in advance.

You have the opportunity to earn a maximum of 100 points from the exams.  Final grades are assigned as follows:
 

100.0-90.0 = A	70.0-76.5 = C
87.0-89.5 = B+	67.0-69.5 = D+
80.0-86.5 = B	60.0-66.5 = D
77.0-79.5 = C+	<60.0 = E

COURSE OUTLINE
 

Date	Topic	Readings
Aug. 25	Orientation and Ground Rules
Aug. 27	Introducing American Anthropology	Chap. 1
Aug. 29	Culture, Not Nature	Chap. 9
Sept. 1	Labor Day - No Class
Sept. 3	Biological Basis for Human Variation	Chap. 2
Sept. 5	Molecular Genetics and Evolution
Sept. 8	Chromosomal Genetics and Evolution
Sept. 10	Nonhuman Primates: Structure & Function	Chap. 3
Sept. 12	FILM: Prime-Time Primates
Sept. 15	Hominin Origins	Chap. 4
Sept. 17	Significance of Bipedalism	Chap. 5
Sept. 19	FILM: Walking with Cavemen 1
Sept. 22	Hominin Elaboration
Sept. 24	Becoming Modern
Sept. 26	FILM: Walking with Cavemen 2 (EXAM 1)
Sept. 29	Hunter-Gatherers of the Modern Aspect
Oct. 1	FILM: Cree Hunters of Mistassini
Oct. 3	Origins of Agriculture	Chap. 6
Oct. 6	Agriculture and Social Complexity 1	Chap. 7
Oct. 8	Agriculture and Social Complexity 2
Oct. 10	FILM: The Lost Tribe
Oct. 13	Modern World System
Oct. 15	“Race” and Modern Human Diversity 1	Chap. 8
Oct. 17	“Race” and Modern Human Diversity 2
Oct. 20	Nonwestern Economics	Chap. 12
Oct. 22	Nonwestern Politics
Oct. 24	Homecoming - No Class	Chap. 15
Oct. 27	FILM:  Oncka's Big Moka
Oct. 29	No Class (EXAM 2)
Oct. 31	Variations of Gender 1	Chap. 11
Nov. 3	FILM:  Masai Women
Nov. 5	Variations of Gender 2
Nov. 7	Variations of Marriage	Chap. 13
Nov. 10	Variations of Kinship	Chap. 14
Nov. 12	FILM: Warriors of the Amazon
Nov. 14	SEAC Meeting - No Class
Nov. 17	Alternative Worldview 1	Chap. 16
Nov. 19	Alternative Worldview 2
Nov. 21	FILM: In Lights of Reverance
Nov. 24	Health and Illness
Nov. 26	Thanksgiving Break - No Class
Nov. 28	Thanksgiving Break - No Class
Dec. 1	Structural Linguistics	Chap. 10
Dec. 3	FILM:  Do You Speak American?
Dec. 5	Sociolinguistics
Dec. 8	Development 1	Chaps. 17 -18
Dec. 10	Development 2 (EXAM 3)