Anth 104-03

ANTH 104: Introduction= to Anthropology

Section 03<= /span>

Spring 2007

Instructor Dr. Brigittine French &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp;

Office: 306 Good= now

Office Hours: M/W/F 9:00-10:00=

= &nb= sp; = 1:00-2:00

= *and by appointment

E-mail: frenchb@= grinnell.edu &= nbsp; &nbs= p;

Phon= e: 269-4816

D= escription

This course is an introduction to anthropology--the study of the human condition= in its past and present forms. We will approach the study of the human conditi= on from perspectives offered by anthropology's four sub-fields: biological anthropology, archeology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropolog= y, that is to say with attention toward the biological, material, cultural, and linguistic complexities of humanness. After becoming familiar with an holistic approach, we will turn to address several major, enduring anthropological questions that provide the structure for the course. The= se questions include: What featu= res define humankind? In what ways did human ancestors evolve? What is the origin of humankind as= a species? Next, we will consid= er the development of human culture in the past as an innovative adaptation, with particular attention to relationships between social organization and social structure. We will then move = to discuss how human cultures are changing in the present, and how we, as cult= ural beings, deal with and think about differences and similarities between soci= al groups. We will conclude the = course by examining two key social processes affecting humans today—violence= and cultural revitalization in the face of globalization.

Through lectures, films, readings, and class discussions, students will become fami= liar with key theories, research, themes, and concepts prominent in anthropologi= cal thought. Particular att= ention will be placed on synthesizing general theories with particular ethnographic examples as well as synthesizing a variety of analytic perspectives offered through course materials. Ana= lytic writing will be stressed in course assignments.

Texts

1) Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1993. Writing Women’s Worlds: B= edouin Stories. Berkeley: University of California Press.

2) Kamp, Kathryn. 1998. Life in the Pueblo: Understanding the Past Through Archaeology. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press.

3) Kottak, Conrad. 1998. Assault on Paradise: Social Cha= nge in a Brazilian Village, 3^rd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

4) Menchú, Rigoberta. 1983. I Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala. London: Verso.

5) Tattersall, Ian and Jeffrey H. Schwartz. 2001. Extinct Humans. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

6) Whitten, Phillip. 2001. Anthropology: Contemporary Perspectives 8^th Edition.&n= bsp; Boston: Allyson and Bacon Press

7) Reserve readings. These readings are available on e-reserve and Blackboard.

Requirements

1) Exams: There will be three exams consisti= ng primarily of short answer and essay questions designed to address course materials covered in lectures, readings, videos, and class discussions.

2) Papers: There will be two short (4-5 page)= typed papers. No late papers will be accepted without prior approval.

3) Attendance and Participation: Attendance and participation are essential to a successful c= lass both individually and collectively. Be attentive and engaged. =

Grading

Exam One &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 20% &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (40 pts.)

Exam Two &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 20% &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (40 pts.)

Exam Three &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 20% &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (40 pts.)

Paper One &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 15% &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (30 pts.)

Paper Two &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 15% &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (30 pts.)

Discussion and attendance &nb= sp; 5%= &nb= sp; = (10 pts.)

Discussion board exercises &nbs= p; 5%= &nb= sp; = (10 pts.)

Students and Accommodations:

Anyone who has a disability that may require some modification of seating, testing, or other class requirements should inform me so that appropriate arrangements may be made. Please see me after cla= ss or during my office hours. =

Late Assignments=

No late assignme= nts will be accepted without prior approval.&n= bsp;

INTRODUCTION: HOLISM AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ENDEAVORS

Questions: What is anthropology? What do anthropologists do? How do the four-fields of anthropo= logy inform holistic answers to scholarly questions?

M Jan 22 &= nbsp; Course introduction

W Jan 24 &= nbsp; Print and read www.aaanet.org/anth= broc.htm

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Hunter and Whitten “Finding Anthropology” #1 in Whitten.

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F Jan 26 &= nbsp; A “Four-Fields” Orientation:&nbs= p; Same Sex Unions <= /span>

Hand outs from <= u>Anthropology Newsletter given in class.

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TOPIC ONE: DEFINING HUMANNESS

Questions: How does adaptation relate to evolution? How can studying primates inform knowledge of human evolution? Who were australopithecines?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> What does their diversity tell us = about the process of human evolution? Questions: What transformations in the Homo lin= eage led to modern humans? How, when, and under what conditions did modern Homo sapiens evolve?

M Jan 29 &= nbsp; Tattersall and Schwartz Chapter 1 “= ;The Path to Human Evolution” and Chapter 2 “Evolution Today”<= o:p>

W Jan 31 &= nbsp; Huaser “The Games Primates Play” #8 in Whitten.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Frisbie “Koko: Final Animal Gorilla” #27 in Whitten.<= /p>

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Film: Monkey in the Mirror

F Feb 2 &n= bsp; Kemp and Smith “Signs, Signals, and Communication (Reserve readings) =

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Reserve video: Washoe: The Monkey Who Communicates Through Sign Language vie= w in the Listening Room for paper assignment.

M Feb 5&nb= sp; Tattersall and Schwartz Chapter 3 “= ;Early Bipeds: African Origins”

W Feb 7&nb= sp; Tattersall and Schwartz Chapter 4 “Mysterious Homo habilis”

Tattersall and Schwartz Chapter 5 “The Emergence of the Modern Body”

F Feb 9 &n= bsp; Tattersall and Schwartz, Chapter 6 “Homo ergaster and Homo erectus: The Great Diaspora”

&nbs= p; =

M Feb 12 &= nbsp; Tattersall and Schwartz, Chapter 7 Neanderthals and Human Extinctions

Ruydavsky “= ;The Secret Life of Neanderthal” #4 in Whitten.

PAPER ONE: LANGU= AGE AND HUMANNESS DUE IN CLASS

TOPIC TWO: CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT=

How is culture an adaptation? What socioeconomic systems have hu= mans developed? How have they infl= uenced social organization?

W Feb 14 &= nbsp; Wilford, “New Clues Show Where People Made the Great Leap to Agriculture” #20 in Whitten.

F Feb 16&n= bsp; Kamp, Preface and Chapters 1-3

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; "Battle of the Bon= es" (Reserve readings)

M Feb 19&n= bsp; Kamp, Chapters 5-7

W Feb 21&n= bsp; Kamp, Chapters 8-10

Wright, “T= he Rise of Civilization: Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica” #24 in Whitten.

F Feb 23&n= bsp; Film: Other People’s Garbage

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M Feb 26&n= bsp; EXAM ONE

TOPIC THREE: SOCIAL CHANGE

Questions: Who/What is developed? What are the consequences of "= ;development" and "modernization"?

W Feb 28&n= bsp; Lee, "Eating Christmas in Kalahari," #33 in Whitten.=

“Too Many Bananas, Not Enough Pineapples, and No Watermelon at All” (Reserve readings)

&nbs= p; =

F Mar 2 &= nbsp; Konner, “The Stone-Age Diet” #52 in Whitten.

Film: N!ai

M Mar 5&nb= sp; Kottak, Part One “A Story of Change”

W Mar 7 = Kottak, Part Two “Paradise”

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Print and Read “American Anthropological Association Statement on Race̶= 1;

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm

F Mar 9 &= nbsp; Kottak, Part Three “Assault on Paradise= 221;

Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, “W= hat Color Are You” (Reserve readings)

SPRING BREAK

M Mar 26 Kotta= k, Part Four “Reality”

TOPIC FOUR: CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC SAMENE= SS AND DIFFERENCE

Questions: Who/What is "primitive"?= Who/What is "modern"? How do we interpret and construct cultural sameness and difference?

W Mar 28 Cannibal Tours

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion Board Assignment

F Mar 30 &n= bsp; Miner, “Body Rituals of the Nacerima" #34 in Whitten and Bohanan, "Shakespeare in the Bush" #32 in Whitten.

M Apr 2 &= nbsp; Abu-Lughod, “Introduction”

W Apr 4 &= nbsp; Rudolph, “Women’s Talk” #28 in Whitten.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Sapir, “The Unconscious Patterning of Behavior in Society” (Reserve readings)

TOPIC FIVE: SOCIAL REPRODUCTION: KINSHIP, = THE FAMILY, AND SOCIAL ORDER

Questions: How is the institution of family s= haped by the dominant social order? What is the role of gender in maintaining family? What is the role of gender in maintaining political and economic systems?

F Apr 6 &= nbsp; McFee and Hunter, “Marriage and Family: For Love, Profit, or Politics”= ;

Goldstein, “When Brothers Share a Wife” (Reserve readings)

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M Apr 9 &= nbsp; Abu-Lughod, “Patrilineality” and “Polygyny”

W Apr 11 Abu-Lughod, “Reproduction” and “Patrilateral Parallel-Cousin Marriage”

F Apr 13 = Abu-Lughod, “Honor and Shame”

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M Apr 16 Film: A Small Happiness: Women a= nd Gender in a Chinese Village

W Apr 18 EXAM TWO

TOPIC SIX: SOCIAL UPHEAVEL

How do nature and culture influence human violence? What factors contri= bute to the occurrence of violence in social communities? How do humans respond to and conceptualize socially sanctioned forms of violence?

F Apr 20 &= nbsp; Wrangham and Peterson, “Paradise Lost” (Reserve readings).

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M Apr 23 Ferguson, “= Violence and War in Prehistory” (Reserve readings.)

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W Apr 25 Howells, “Requiem for a Lost People” #47 in Whitten.

F Apr 27 &n= bsp; Menchú, “Translator’s note, Introduction, Chapters 1-3

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M Apr 30 Mench= ú, “Chapters 4-12” &nbs= p;

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W May 2 Menchú, “Chapters 13—24

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Reserve video: When the Mountains Tremble in the Listening Room

F May 4 &= nbsp; Menchú, “Chapters 25-34 (end of book)

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; PAPER TWO DUE IN CLASS

TOPIC SEVEN: HUMAN RIGHTS AND MULTICULTURALISM

Questions: How and why do language and cul= ture become sites of struggle and contestation within political movements for mo= re democratic societies?

M May 7 &n= bsp; LSA Ebonics Resolution (hand-out in class)=

W May 9 &n= bsp; Trask, “Hawaiians and Human Rights” (Reserve readings)

F May 11 &= nbsp; Course Synthesis

W May 16 EXAM THREE at 2:00