ANTHROPOLOGY 121
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

  1. Catalog Entry

ANTH 121. Cultural Anthropology
Three hours lecture (3).

Introduction to ways anthropologists view human behavior and the methods they use. Cultures past and present and around the world explored to study diverse adaptations humans have made.

  1. Detailed Description of Content of Course

The content may include:

I. Introduction to Anthropology

A. What is Anthropology?
B. What is Culture? Cultural Relativism & Ethnocentrism
C. What is Language?
D. What are Humans?

1. Do non-human animals have culture?
2. Do non-human animals have culture which is transmitted by language?

E. What Do Anthropologists Do? The Anthropological Method

1. Single-case analysis--Ethnography Participant Observation Ethics
2. Cross-Cultural Studies

II. Cultural Variation

A. Various Adaptive Strategies & Their Correlates

1. Food-getting strategies: hunting & gathering, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, industrialism
2. Settlement patterns
3. Social/political organizations
4. Economic systems
5. Social stratification

B. Social Organization (Marriage, the Family, Kinship)
C. Religion

III. Culture Change
IV. Anthropological Explanation

A. Theories in Cultural Anthropology
B. Explaining Cultural Variation by a Culture's:

1. Place on an evolutionary scale
2. Adaptation to environment
3. Expression of an internal pattern
4. Examples of variation in cultural patterns:

a. individual vs. communal social structure
b. lineal vs. non-lineal perception

  1. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

A lecture, discussion, and writing format is used to introduce the students to the core concepts of anthropology and to give them practice in using them.

  1. Goals and Objectives of the Course

1. Students will be able to discuss the fundamental concepts of anthropology.
2. Students will develop an understanding about the perennial questions that face humans concerning their place in the world.

  1. Assessment Measures

Graded and checked assignments may include in-class or take- home examinations and quizzes, homework assignments, in-class writing and in-class discussions. Journals may be required and checked periodically. Formal oral
presentations may be required.

  1. Other Course Information

None.

  1. Review and Approval

DATE ACTION REVIEWED
January 2004 Reviewed Dr. Peggy A. Shifflett, Chair