INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY

Ant.104-01  Fall 2002

Professor:  Maria Tapias (tapias@grinnell.edu)              Lecture:  MWF  8:00-8:50

           Goodnow Hall 203                                               Goodnow 105

           Phone:  269-3137

Office Hours:  MW 4:15-5:00 and Tues. 11-1.  During office hours, please feel free to stop by without an appointment.  If you don’t want to have to wait during office hours please email me and we’ll set up a definite time.  Of course, if you have a conflict with the office hours please email me and we’ll find a suitable time to meet!

Course Description:  Anthropology is a course remembered by people long past their college years as one that introduced them to the incredible social and cultural diversity that exists in the world.  The discipline examines all aspects of human life through the lenses of four sub-fields. These include: biological anthropology (the study of human evolution and biological adaptations), archaeology (the study of human life in the past through the analysis of their material remains), linguistics (the study of the social uses of language and symbols) and cultural anthropology (the study of diverse ways of life, systems of meaning and diverse peoples living today).  The course will be taught using a combination of lectures, discussions, readings, films and short projects.

Please note that this is an introductory survey class in which we will cover a lot of material.  There may be times when we will not be able to cover the materials with as much depth as you would like.  I encourage you to ask questions when you have them but the pace of the course will often be accelerated.  The readings assignments may have to be slightly modified according to pace.  You will be given notice when they are.

I would like to encourage students with documented disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, psychiatric disabilities, to discuss with me, after class or during my office hours, appropriate accommodations.  You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Associate Dean and Director of Academic Advising, Joyce Stern, located in the lower level of the Forum (x3702)

Required Texts: 

1.    William Haviland. (H) Human Evolution and Prehistory  Wadsworth Press 2000

2. Richard Robbins  (R) Cultural Anthropology:  A Problem Based Approach  F.E. Peacock Press 2001.
3. Katherine Dettwyler (D)  Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa  Waveland Press 1994
4. Keith Basso  (B) Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache  University of New Mexico Press 1996 
5. There will be a few readings placed on reserve in the anthropology reading room on the 3^rd floor of Goodnow Hall.  Copies should not be removed from Goodnow. 

Course Requirements:

Exams (80%) :  There will be four exams in the course that shall be worth the following percentages of your final grade:

(20%)   Exam 1.  Wednesday, October 2       

(20%)   Exam 2.  Wednesday, October 30     

(20%)   Exam 3.  Monday, November 25

(20%)   Exam 4.  Friday, December 13. 

Writing Assignment (10%):  There will be one paper assigned in this class where you will examine the material remains of a lounge or kitchen at Grinnell College.  The paper is worth 10% of your final grade.  This paper requires a  group Sunday meeting (October 13^th).  Please put this on your schedule now.  From the data your group obtains you will try to reconstruct what happened in these lounges in the recent past.  Due:  October 18^th in class.  No late papers will be accepted.

Class Participation/Attendance (10%): You are expected to attend all classes and regularly participate in class discussions.  Each student is allowed 3 absences without suffering penalty.  Missing more than 3 lectures without a valid medical excuse or due to an emergency will result in a failing participation grade  Notice must be provided through academic affairs.  Any exam or assignment that is missed because of an UNEXCUSED absence will receive a zero. You are responsible for obtaining missed notes from one of your peers.