College of DuPage
Fall 1999 - Tuesday-Thursday Sections
Cultural Anthropology
Instructor:
Dr. John Staeck IC 2071B 630/942-2022 staeck@cdnet.cod.edu
Staeck's WEB PAGE: http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/staeck/mainpage.htm
**This web page contains links to useful resources as well as up-to-date information on current and forthcoming classes.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Angeloni, E., 1999/2000, Annual Editions: Anthropology. Dushkin: Guilford, Ct.
Ember, C. and M. Ember, 1998, Cultural Anthropology, 9th ed. Prentice Hall:Upper Saddle River.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
Duvall, J., 1998, Study guide for Cultural Anthropology. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River.
All texts are available in the COD bookstore. Please be sure to use the 9th edition of Ember and Ember. There are marked differences between the 8th and 9th edition, including the addition of a CD-Rom study guide that comes bundled with the new addition at no additional charge. If you would prefer to avoid using the COD bookshop, you may wish to check either or both Beck's and Four Season's on Roosevelt Rd. There is no guarantee, however, that these stores will have the books for this course.
ANTHROPOLOGY 100 (IAI S1 901N) from the COD Catalog
Cultural Anthropology
5 credit hours
Introduces cultural anthropology as a subfield of anthropology which studies contemporary societies. Focuses on patterns in human behavior and on culture as the way people live and adapt to their various situations. Emphasis is on the diversity of cultural patterns throughout the world and the essential humanity of all people. Examples from a wide variety of cultures are presented in written and film formats. (5 lecture hours)
SPECIFICS TO THIS SECTION
Did you ever ask yourself why, at the end of the 20th century AD, after countless thousands upon thousands of years, people have trouble understanding why they and others do things. For example, have you ever considered why modern Americans wear expensive athletic shoes even though most do not participate in organized athletics? Perhaps more significantly, have you ever wondered how American businesses cannot achieve labor peace even though it would seem to be in the best interest of both the workers and the administrators, yet Japanese businesses seem to be immune from these troubles?
There are complex answers to these questions that vary through space and time. In order to understand these answers we will emphasize how cultural systems work and why. Through an exploration of world cultures, including those of modern America, I will direct your attention to the mechanisms through which people learn to perceive and cope with their worlds.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
You are subject to all COD codes of behavior, dress, and academic integrity. You are responsible for all material covered in and/or assigned for class regardless of whether or not you attend class. You are, however, expected to attend class daily and to participate in all classroom-related activities (such as discussions). No make-up examinations will be given save by prior agreement or as a consequence of documented emergencies. BE PREPARED TO DOCUMENT YOUR EMERGENCY, should you have one. ( The reason for this is that deliberating delaying the time of an examination allows for the possibility of cheating, the mere specter of which should be avoided.) Cheating, in any form, is unacceptable. I strongly believe in personal honor; your decision to accept COD's code of behavior is reflected in your decision to enroll in COD classes. GRADING
There will be three hourly examination, a Human Relations Area File search assignment, a kinship project, and an optional final examination. Each hourly examination will account for approximately 25% of your final grade. The two other assignments will account for the remaining 25% of your final grade.
The final examination will be long, nasty, mean, hard -to-get-along-with, and cumulative. It will be given in such a way that it covers material presented on the first three tests. You need not take the examination. Prior to making your decision as to whether or not to take the exam you will have a tentative final grade. If you are content with this, you need not take the final. If, however, you wish to improve your final grade than you may take the examination and be subject to one of the following:
1. You score higher on the final than the average of your examinations, in which case I will replace the average exam grade with the grade from the final,
2. You score approximately the same on the final as you did upon the average of the exams and nothing happens,
3. You score a full letter grade or more lower on the final than you did on the average of the hourly exams, in which case I will replace the average exam grade with the grade from the final. THIS COULD LOWER YOUR FINAL GRADE!
Schedule of Readings, Lectures, and Assignments
EE = Ember & Ember text, usually assigned by chapters the letter C.
AE = Annual Editions, usually assigned by article number, e.g. AE 4 refers to article #4
Date Topics Readings to be completed for this class day
Video: Anthropology
9/21 Culture: What a Concept EE C. 1 & 2; AE 4
Noble Savages and Well-Meaning Priests
Video: TBA
9/23 The Anthropological Way EE C. 3; AE 1, 3
Anthropological Roots and Nuts
9/28 Video: Strangers Abroad - Bronislaw Malinowski AE 2, 5, 7
Primer Quiz
9/30 Language and the Fine Art of Communication EE 4; AE 8, 9
Video: TBA
Break-Out discussions ***BE SURE TO BE CAUGHT UP ON YOUR READINGS***
Week of 10/5 Staeck Away in Czech Republic
Complete HRAF Assignment
10/12 Food, Production, & Resources EE C. 5; AE 15
The Neolithic Revolution
Video: The Gatherers
HRAF Assignments Due
10/14 Video: Food Producers Open reading to allow you to catch up if you need to.
Examination 1
10/19 The Anthropology of Stuff: EE C. 6; AE 14, 16, 19
Economics and Resources
Marvelous Marv's Cultural Materialism
10/21 The Ordering of Life: Social Structure EE C. 7; AE 27, 31
Video: Caste at Birth
10/26 Sex and the Single Anthropologist EE C. 8; AE 25, 26, 28, 29
Break-Out Discussions ***BE SURE TO BE CAUGHT UP ON YOUR READINGS***
10/28 Marriage and the Family EE C. 9; AE 18, 23, 24
Video: TBA
11/2 You Live Where!? EE. C. 10 (start)
Your Mother's Brother's Son's Nephew meets Your Matrilateral Parallel cousin Twice-Removed
Kinship Introduced
11/4 All systems, simple and complex: Kinship cnt'd
Videos: Kinship systems parts 1 & 2 EE C. 10 (finish); Web tutorial finished
11/9 Examination 2
11/16 The Sons of Norway meet the Teamsters: EE. C. 11
Associations & Common Interest Groups (Consider reading ahead!!!)
Video: Anyone's Son Will Do
***KINSHIP ASSIGNMENT DUE***
11/18 Disorder in the Court!: EE. C. 12
A Primer in Political Anthropology (Begin 13 if possible)
11/23 Video: Margaret Mead: Coming of Age EE C. 13, AE 22
11/25 Ritual, Magic, and Symbols EE C. 14 (start); AE 30
11/30 Cult, Spirits, & Faith EE C. 14 (finish); AE 32, 33, 34
Posible Video: TBA
12/2 Expressive Culture: Music, Tattoos, and Identity EE C. 15; AE 35, 38
12/7 Culture Change & Anthropology in Action EE C. 16; AE 36
Examination 3
12/9 Optional Final Examination