Sociology / Anthropology 121

SOCY 121/ANTH 121

UNDERSTANDING CULTURES (GE)

Catalog Entry        

SOCY 121/ANTH 121. Understanding Cultures. (GE) Three hours lecture (3).

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

Note(s): General Education and Cultural or Behavioral Analysis designated course.  This course may be used to meet requirements for the minor in International Studies.

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

Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

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

Goals and Objectives of the Course

University Core B & College Core B, Social and Behavioral Science Course:

Goal 9: Radford University students will understand how individual, social, or cultural factors influence human behavior and shape reciprocal relationships between people and society.

Radford University students will be able to:
    1) Recognize social and behavioral science concepts;
    2) Recognize the relationship between individual and socio-cultural factors that affect behaviors.

College Core A, Global Perspectives, Goal 11:
Radford University students will understand how social and cultural (for example, political, historical, economic, environmental, religious, or geographic) forces shape experiences in the global setting.

Radford University students will:
    1) Identify how different perspectives shape human life around the world;
    2) Recognize social and cultural forces that affect relationships between cultures in the world.

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.

Other Course Information

None.

Review and Approval        

DATE ACTION REVIEWED February 2009 Reviewed Dr. Paula Brush, Chair, Department of Sociology

June 20, 2015

March 01, 2021