Anthropology 216D: Cultural
Anthropology
Instructor: Dr. William Smith
Office: HSS 214
Phone: (503) 838-8372
Email: smithw@wou.edu
Office hours: M, W, F 9:00-9:50; Th 1:00-4:15; or by appointment
Through the
systematic study of human diversity and universality, sociocultural
anthropologists study central aspects of the human condition and their various
expressions across time and space.
In this course, we will approach human variation through a combination of
studies focused on specific societies and an overview of the key concepts,
theories, and analytic approaches of the discipline past and present. Students will learn about the
significance of family structures and kinship in the organization of societies;
religious and symbolic systems; human adaptations to the environment; ethnic and
national identities; and power dynamics in economic and political systems. The course concludes with a focus on
anthropology’s contributions to finding solutions to pressing social
problems. We will also examine the
research methods anthropologists use to generate anthropological knowledge.
1. Wolf,
Margery. The House of
Lim. Prentice Hall,
1968.
2. Allen,
Catherine J. The Hold Life
Has. Smithsonian Institution
Press, 1988.
3. Hopper,
Kim. Reckoning with
Homelessness.
In addition
to the above books available in the university bookstore, students will read two
chapters from: Monaghan, John and
Peter Just. Social and Cultural
Anthropology: A Very Short
Introduction.
I give you
fair warning: there is a
considerable amount of reading for this course. You will be asked to read some
introductory material; three ethnographies; and a set of articles. In your reading, it is more important to
focus on the author’s main points and how s/he constructs the text’s major
arguments. Knowledge and
understanding of major concepts is far more important than mastering all details
of a book or article. Read for the
essential content and analysis, and read critically. Periodically I will distribute reading
questions to help you identify what is important. Note: please be sure to deal with all the
reading questions, even if we do not address them in class. We will not be able to cover every
significant detail of the readings, and it will be a part of your job as an
independent learner to attend to things left unsaid in class.
Lectures will normally correlate with reading assignments, and you will draw more from lecture and discussion if you maintain the reading pace prescribed in the schedule. Also, periodic quizzes will mandate that you stay abreast of the reading. I strongly encourage you to produce reading notes (or a reading journal). Reading notes should mainly be your responses to the reading. Note passages that seem particularly important, ask questions of the text and evaluate it. Reading notes serve three main purposes: 1) they will enhance your engagement with the reading; 2) they will grease the wheels of discussion (i.e. if you have good notes, you’re better prepared to discuss a text); 3) they will help you prepare for exams (i.e. if you’ve been engaging the text and responding to it, you will be in a stronger position on the exam).
Discussion
Many class periods over
the term will be divided between lecture and discussion. For the latter, we may break up into
manageable discussion groups to talk about readings and lectures. Also, in keeping with my belief that
students learn better when they assume part of the teaching responsibility,
you, in a group with several other students, will lead a discussion at
least once during the term. Teams
of discussion leaders will be designated in advance. They will prepare topics
and questions and guide the discussion for that particular class period.
Exams
The better part of your
grade will rest on three, non-cumulative take-home essay exams. Each exam will help you think through
the ethnographies we will read.
At least one week prior to
an exam’s due date, I will issue a set of exam questions. You will choose one or two from among
the set and answer the question(s) in about three, typed, double-spaced pages
(12-point font).
Grading
(1000 points
possible)
Quizzes
240 points (24%)
Exam 1
200
points (20%)
Exam 2
200
points (20%)
Exam 3
250 points
(25%)
Participation 110
points (11%)
Part 1: Introduction to the Field: Culture and
Ethnography
wEEK
1
Jan
3 Introduction to the Course: Cultural Anthropology and What It’s Good
For
Jan 5 Ethnography (or what distinguishes cultural anthropology among the social sciences)
Film: “Franz Boas: The Shackles of
Tradition”
Jan 7
Culture: What Is
It?
Classroom Activity: The Holistic Perspective in
Anthropology
Part 2: Gender and Family in Rural
WEEK 2
Jan 10 The
Lecture: Patrilineal and
Matrilineal Kinship
Quiz
Jan 12
Family and Social Structure in Traditional
Lecture: Polygyny, Polyandry, and Economics
Jan 14
Women in the Traditional Chinese Family
Lecture: Kinship and the Politics of
Gender
WEEK 3
Jan 17 MLK Day: no class
Jan 19 Women in
Film: Small Happiness
Discussion
Jan 21
Traditional
Lecture: The Nayar: a Society without
Marriage?
Quiz
Slide lecture: Indian Catholicism in Totonacapan
Film: Q’eros: The Shape of
Survival
Jan 28 The
Andean Community
Discussion
WEEK 5
Jan 31 Coca and Andean Ritual
Lecture: The
Quiz
Lecture: “Tiyatliway” in Totonac
Cosmology
Feb 4 Coca
and Cultural Identity
Discussion
WEEK 6
Feb 7 Social
Change in the
Lecture: Shining Path and the War on
Drugs
Feb 9 Indigenous Peoples, Development, and
National Identity in
Lecture: Development and Cultural Identity in Totonacapan
Quiz
Part 4: Applied Anthropology
and Poverty in the
Feb 11 Anthropologists and Homelessness
Lecture:
Intro to Applied Anthropology, with particular reference to
homelessness
WEEK 7
Feb
14 History of Homelessness in
Film: Riding the
Rails
Second
Exam Due
Feb 16 Ethnography of Homelessness
Discussion
Feb 18
Ethnography Contd.
Lecture: Homeless Social Movements:
WEEK 8
Feb 21 Ethnography Conc.
Quiz
Feb 23
Homelessness and Sense of
Place (or Non-Place)
Lecture: “Quality of Life Laws” and
Deculturation
Feb 25 Quantifying the Homeless Problem
Discussion
WEEK 9
Feb 28 Race and
Homelessness
Film: What’s Wrong with This Picture
Mar 4 Anthropology and
Engagement
Discussion
Mar
9 Anthropology and the Contemporary
World
Film: Cannibal
Mar
11 Course Wrap-up
Third Exam
Due