Fall 2004: Ant 104-01: Introduction to Anthropology

Classroom: 105 Goodnow Hall: Meeting Times: MWF: 8-8:50 a.m.

Instructor: Kimberly M. Jones, Ph.D.

Office: 302 Goodnow Hall

E-mail: joneskim@grinnell.edu

Office phone: 269-4325

Office Hours: M/W 9-11, and T/TH 12-2:

During office hours, you are welcome to stop by without an appointment. I will gladly schedule appointments during non-office hours if these times do not work for you. You are also welcome to stop by during non-office hours, but I may be occupied and unable to meet. If you are having problems with course materials for any reason, I strongly encourage you to come see me. I check my e-mail regularly, and during the week you will usually receive a same day response to any e-mail inquiries.

Introduction to Anthropology Syllabus:

THIS SYLLABUS IS YOUR MANUAL FOR THE COURSE. It contains a great amount of information necessary for successful completion of this course. You are responsible for knowing all the information in the syllabus. Read it carefully several times, refer to it when preparing assignments, and keep track of the stated deadlines regularly.

Accommodations for students with disabilities:

Any student eligible for and needing academic adjustments or accommodations because of a documented disability is requested to speak with the professor. 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).

Course Description:

This course is an introductory survey of the four fields of Anthropology: the study of human nature. We will cover: (1) Biological Anthropology -- the study of human evolution and biological adaptations; (2) Archaeology -- the study of prehistoric human societies in the context of cultural evolution; (3) Linguistics -- the study of the evolution and functions of human language systems, as the foundation of human culture; and (4) Cultural Anthropology -- the comparative study of human social and cultural adaptations.

Required Texts (Available at the Bookstore or On Reserve in 304 Goodnow):

1) Lewin, R. 2004. Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction, 5th ed. Blackwell Scientific Publications.

2) Kamp, K. 1998. Life in the Pueblo: Understanding the Past through Archaeology. Waveland Press.

3) Dettwyler, K. 1994. Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa. Waveland Press.

4) Spradley, J. and D. McCurdy. 2003.Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, Eleventh Edition. Allyn and Bacon.

5) Reserved Readings (RR): (RR #1-12 – Bibliography attached) NOTE: These are located in Goodnow 304 – NOT BURLING!! Goodnow is locked each day at 5pm and NOT open on weekends so plan accordingly.

Grading:

Project I (20 Sept) 50 points 5%

Exam I (24 Sept): 150 points 15%

Project II (13 Oct) 50 points 5%

Exam II (25 Oct): 150 points 15%

Exam III (15 Nov) 150 points 15%

Project III (22 Nov) 100 points 10%

Project IV (10 Dec) 100 points 10%

Exam IV (16 Dec) 150 points 15%

Participation/ Attendence/ Presentation 100 points 10%

1000 points 100%

Course Requirements:

Examinations (60% of grade):

There will be four exams each worth 15% of your final grade. Exams will include multiple choice, short answer and short essay questions.

Projects (30% of grade):

1. Name that Skull project: (5% of grade) A set of labs will be arranged in a room in Goodnow Hall, students will have access to this arrangement over a several day period. Each student will be required to analyze and identify a number of hominoid skulls. The final report will identify the mystery skulls, explain the logic of the identification, and answer several questions that will be posed. Due date: 9/20.

2. Getting personal with NAGPRA: A Role Playing Town Hearing: (5% of grade) Students will divide into four groups: descendents of the people buried in graveyards on the Grinnell campus, scientists researching tuberculosis and its spread in 19^th Century Iowa, historic preservationists whose mission in to preserve the historic grounds of the campus, and university officials who want to build a new branch of the library on one of the cemeteries. Students should come to the debate prepared with a 2-3 page position paper from the perspective of the role they are playing in the debate. Due date: 10/13.

3. Graffiti Lab & Write-up (10% of grade): This lab will be scheduled during class but will require work (i.e., data collection) outside of class with team members. Teams will copy graffiti from bathroom stalls at research sites from various on and off campus locals to identify various male and female patterns of expression through “latrinealia”. Data collected by research teams will be brought class on 11/10 and we will decide on a few ways to categorize it by type or topic. The write up should be 5-7 pages. Due date: 11/22.

4. Cross-Cultural Research (10% of grade): This lab will be completed outside of class using the e-HRAF database with a hypothesis, predictions, data collection, and write-up. Students are to develop a hypothesis based on some aspect of culture that interests them, proposing a correlation between two cultural factors to determine if the hypothesis is supported. Students are to examine at least 10 societies where one of the variables is present to see if the other variable is also present. The write-up should be 5-7 pages. Due date: 12/10.

Presentation/ Participation/ Attendance (10% of grade):

You are expected to prepare for (by taking notes on the readings), attend and participate in all class meetings. You should come to class expecting to be asked to answer questions regarding the content of readings, and the issues they address. During the course of the semester, each student will be asked to prepare brief (5-10 minute) presentation based on a website on a topic from the readings for a class. Students will find an interesting website related to the topic or readings for a class, and submit the address of the site and a brief explanation of why you chose it and how it is related to the course materials to me at least one week before we will cover those materials in class. We will access the websites in class, and the day we show your website you will need to be prepared to explain its relevance to the day’s topic and readings. One percentage point will be deducted from your grade for each unexcused absence or three lates.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES, READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS
DATE:	TOPIC:	ASSIGNMENT:
F – 27AUG	The Four Fields: Film: Anthropologists at Work	RR1: Endicott and Welsh Introduction
M – 30 AUG	Video Discussion Meet the Nacirema	Handout: H. Miner: “Body Ritual Among the Nacerima” from American Anthropologist, Vol. 58, June, 1956, pp. 503-507.
I. BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
W – 01SEPT	Theory	Lewin 2-4, 6
F – 03SEPT	Methods	Lewin 7-9
M – 06SEPT	Primates	Lewin 10,12,13,15
W – 08SEPT	Australopithecines	Lewin 17-20
F – 10SEPT	Homo habilis	Lewin 21-23
M – 13SEPT	Homo erectus	Lewin 24-26
W – 15SEPT	Homo sapiens	Lewin 27-30
F – 17SEPT	Human variation and behavior	Lewin 11
M – 20SEPT	Nature vs. Nurture revisited	RR2: Rogers: “Does Biology Constrain Culture?” Name That Skull Project Due
W – 22SEPT	Evolution and Health	RR 3: S. Eaton et al: “Stone Agers in the Fast Lane: Chronic Degenerative Diseases in Evolutionary Perspective” RR4: L. Oliwenstein: “Dr. Darwin”
F – 24SEPT	EXAM 1	N/A
II. ARCHAEOLOGY
M – 27SEPT	Theory	RR5: Fagan, Explaining the Past
W – 29SEPT	Methods	Lewin 7,9 (Review); Kamp 4; RR6: Turnbaugh et al RR7: Turnbaugh et al
F – 01OCT	Neolithic Revolution	Lewin 34-35
M – 04OCT	Rise of Cities and Civilization	RR8: Turnbaugh et al., The Rise of Ancient Civilizations
W – 06OCT	Case Study – Life in the Pueblo	Kamp 1-3, 5
F – 08OCT	Case Study – Life in the Pueblo	Kamp 6-11
M – 11OCT	Archeology and Ethics: Whose Past?	RR9: Endicott and Welsh, Issue 15
W – 13OCT	NAGPRA Town Hearing (in class)	Role Position Paper Due
F – 15OCT	VIDEO: Other Peoples’ Garbage & Discussion
III. LINGUISTICS
Oct 16-24	NO CLASS: FALL BREAK	N/A
M – 25OCT	EXAM 2	N/A
W – 27OCT	VIDEO: Koko	Read about Koko at www.gorilla.org
F - 29OCT	Video Discussion Primates and Language	RR10: Endicott and Welsh: Issue 7
M – 01NOV	Evolution and Language	Lewin 31,32; Spradley and McCurdy: Chap. 6
W – 03NOV	Symbols in Language	Spradley and McCurdy: Chaps. 7 & 9
F – 05NOV	Language and Gender	Sprad and McCur, Chap. 10 RR11: Bing RR12: Candance West: “Turn-Taking in Doctor-Patient Dialogues”
M – 08NOV	Sociolinguists	RR13: Maltz & Borker RR14: Rickford
W – 10NOV	Graffiti Lab (in class)	RR15: Cole RR16: Nwoye
F – 12NOV	Sapir-Whorf: Does Language Determine How We Think?	Spradley and McCurdy Chap. 8 RR17: Endicott and Welsh: Issue 8
M – 15NOV	EXAM 3	N/A
IV. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
W – 17NOV	Culture and Ethnography		Spradley and McCurdy: Chaps. 1-4
F – 19NOV	NO CLASS: Assignment: Work on lab projects		N/A
M – 22NOV	Sociopolitical Organization & Economics		Spradley and McCurdy Chaps. 13, 17, and 31; Graffiti Lab Due (5pm)
W – 24NOV	Subsistence Strategies and Ecology		Sprad and McCurd, Chaps. 11, 12, & 18
F – 26NOV	NO CLASS : Thanksgiving Break		N/A
M – 29NOV	Family and Kinship		Sprad and McCurd, Chaps. 20, 21, & 23
W – 01DEC	Marriage & Gender		Sprad & McCurd: Chaps. 22, 24, & 25
F – 03DEC	Race, Ethnicity and Transnationalism		Spradley & McCurdy, Chaps. 26-28
M – 06DEC	Medical Anthropology		Spradley and McCurdy, Chaps. 14 & 37, Dettwyler book
W – 08DEC	Book Discussion: Life and Death in West Africa		Dettwyler book
F – 10DEC	Wrap-Up		Cross-cultural Lab Due (5pm)
TH - 16DEC	FINAL: EXAM 4		Exam is at 2PM

RESERVED READINGS BIBLIOGRAPHY:

.

1) Endicott, K. and R. Welsh. 2003. Introduction. In Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Anthropology, Second edition. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.

2) S. Boyd Eaton, Marjorie Shostak, and Melvin Konner. 1998. Stone Agers in the Fast Lane: Chronic Degenerative Diseases in an Evolutionary Perspective. In Understanding and Applying Medical Anthropolog.y Ed. Peter J. Brown. Mayfield Publishing Company.

3) Lori Oliwenstein “Dr. Darwin”. 1998. In Understanding and Applying Medical Anthropolog.y Ed. Peter J. Brown. Mayfield Publishing Company.

4) Rogers, A. 1988. Does Biology Constrain Culture? In American Anthropologist 90 (4), December. American Anthropological Association.

5) Fagan, B., 1999. Ch 13 - Explaining the Past. In: Archaeology: A Brief Introduction, 7^th ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

6) Turnbaugh, W.; Jurmain, R.; Nelson, H.; Kilgore, L. 1999. Ch 14 – Archaeological Approaches to Later Prehistory. In: Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 7^th ed. West/Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

7) Turnbaugh, W.; Jurmain, R.; Nelson, H.; Kilgore, L. 1999. Appendix A: The Archaeological Research Project. In: Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 7^th ed. West/Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

8) Turnbaugh, W.; Jurmain, R.; Nelson, H.; Kilgore, L. 1999. Ch 16 – The Rise of Ancient Civilizations. In: Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 7^th ed. West/Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

9) Endicott, K. and R. Welsh. 2003. Issue 15. In Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Anthropology, Second edition. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.

10) Endicott, K. and R. Welsh. 2003. Issue 7. In Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Anthropology, Second edition. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.

11) Bing, J. 1992. Penguins Can’t Fly and Women Don’t Count: Language and Thought. Women and Language 15:11-14.

12) Candance West. Turn-Taking in Doctor-Patient Dialogues. 1998. In Understanding and Applying Medical Anthropolog.y Ed. Peter J. Brown. Mayfield Publishing Company.

13) Maltz, D., Borker, R. 1999 (1982). A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication. In: Podolefsky, A.; Brown, P. (eds), Applying Anthropology: An Introductory Reader, 5^th ed. Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, CA.

14) Rickford, J. 1999 (1997). Suite for Ebony and Phonics. In: Podolefsky, A.; Brown, P. (eds), Applying Anthropology: An Introductory Reader, 5^th ed. Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, CA.

15) Cole, Caroline. 1991. ‘Oh Wise Women of the Stalls…’ Discourse & Society 2:401-411.

16) Nwoye, Onuigbo. 1993. Social Issues on Walls: Graffiti in University Lavatories. Discourse & Society 4:419-442.

17) Endicott, K. and R. Welsh. 2003. Issue 8. In Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Anthropology, Second edition. McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.