INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTHROPOLOGY 300D
SOCIO-CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Fall 2001
Instructor: David Sutton
Office Hours: MW 10-11, or
by appt.
Faner 3542
Phone: 453-3298
e-mail: dsutton@siu.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Socio-cultural Anthropology offers a unique perspective on human societies and
cultural diversity throughout the world and close to home. This course will
introduce some of the main topics, theories and methods by which anthropologists
have understood human behavior and human creations in small-scale societies as
well as industrialized ones. Through a
focus on reading ethnographies of different groups, the students will learn
about anthropology's holistic approach to society, in which all aspects
of life, from kinship, economic and political relations, ritual and gender
relations are brought together.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
One mid-term and one final
examination, each worth 30% of your grade
[If you know you will
miss one of these exams, you must make arrangements with me prior to the
day of the exam; an unapproved miss will mean an 'F' on that exam]
One 3-4 page essay worth
10% of your grade
One 6-8 page essay worth
20% of your grade
1 short reaction
paper/e-mail assignment worth 5% of your grade.
Finally, note cards on each
class reading will be worth 5% of your grade (see below).
*Grading will be done on a
standard numerical scale (i.e., 95-100=A 90-94=A- etc.)
Attendance Attendance is required. If you anticipate schedule conflicts due
to other classes, work, athletic events or other activities you are advised not
to take this class because irregular attendance will negatively impact your
grade. If you need to miss a class due to illness, religious observances or
team participation you must notify me prior to the class.
Extra Credit: Anyone wishing to do
extra credit may contact me about an additional reading which you can write a
3-4 page discussion of, relating it to the relevant readings, and which will
result in an in-class presentation. (See me for details).
NOTE CARDS For each class reading you should write a note card and hand it
in at the beginning of class of the day the reading is to be discussed. This
card should include your questions or comments about the reading, and might
also include a brief summary of the reading and comment on how it relates to
previous readings.
*Any student with special
needs for taking this course must contact me during the first week of the term.
REQUIRED BOOKS:
Janet Siskind To Hunt in
the Morning
Douglas Foley Learning
Capitalist Culture
READING PACKET
COURSE OUTLINE
**Note: Weeks listed are
meant as a general guideline, not a hard-and-fast schedule. Actual reading
assignments will be finalized in class.
WEEK 1 Course
Introduction. What is Anthropology? What do anthropologists study? What is
Fieldwork?
Readings:
Horace Miner "The
Nacirema" (Handout in class)
Raymond Williams
"Culture"
James Spradley
"Ethnography and Culture"
WEEK 2: Kinship, or
What's in a Family? How have anthropologists studied kinship? Is kinship
based on "the facts of life." What is the significance of marriage,
and how does one select a marriage partner? What are the implications of a
differently structured (matrilineal) kinship system?
Readings:
Richard Robbins
"Patterns of Family Relations"
Serena Nanda
"Arranging a Marriage in India"
Melvin Polyandry or McCurdy on India
Barbara Bodenhorn ‘Inupiaq
notions of relatedness”
Greek Film
WEEK 3: Not for Sale:
Gifts and Commodities. Why is the exchange of gifts crucial to understanding of
social relations? What do our "things" tell us about ourselves? Is
money the root of all evil?
Readings:
Richard Lee "Eating
Christmas in the Kalahari"
Lewis Hyde "The
Gift"
Lee Cronk
Allen Johnson “The Original
Affluent Society”
James Carrier "Gifts
in a World of Commodities"
WEEKS 4-6: The
Sharanahua: Kinship and Exchange among an Amazonian People.
Readings:
Janet Siskind To Hunt
In the Morning
Essay Due end of week 5
MIDTERM EXAM #1 end of week 6
WEEK 7 The Kayapo: Political Organization
in Defense of Identity and Environment
Readings:
John Palatella
"Pictures of Us"
David Mayburry-Lewis “A
Special Sort of Pleading”
The Film The Kayapo: Out
of the Forest will be shown.
WEEKS 8-9 Social
Categories, Social Constructions
Ian Hacking "Are You a
Social Constructionist?"
Robert Edgerton "Pokot
Intersexuality"
Emily Nussbaum " The
Sex that will not Speak its Name"
The Film Juggling
Gender Will be Shown
Elizabeth Krause "The
Bead of Raw Sweat in a Field of Dainty Perspirers: the Olympic Class Ordeal of
Tonya Harding"
Film on Boas and race
Mary Douglas “Secular
Defilement”
WEEK 10: Fieldwork:
Moral and Epistemological Issues
Readings:
David Sutton "He's Too
Cold! Children and the Limits of Culture on a Greek Island."
James Rachels "The
Challenge of Cultural Relativism"
Michael Kearney “A Strange
Disease of the Arms”
Michael Bourdillon
"Studying Thy Neighbor: Reflections on Participation"
Reaction Paper/emai l
asssingment due
WEEKS 11-12: Theory and The Price of
the Rite.
What makes a ritual, and what gives ritual its power to move people? How do rituals help us get
through daily life, and what can they tell us about the society we live in? How
does a symbolic approach to a ritual compare to a Marxist and a post-modernist
approach?
Readings:
Article on Turner
“Community”
Clifford Geertz "Notes
on the Balinese Cockfight"
William Roseberry
"Balinese Cockfights and the Seduction of Anthropology"
Renato Rosaldo "After
Objectivism"
George Gmelch
"Baseball Magic"
Bradd Shore “Baseball”
Janet Siskind “The
Invention of Thanksgiving” (Extra Credit)
Paper on “Sports in
American Society” due beginning of week 13
WEEKS 13-14: Growing up
American: Schools, class and ethnicity, an ethnographic view.
Readings:
Douglas Foley Learning
Capitalist Culture
WEEK 15 Review and Final
Exam
PLEASE FILL IN THE
FOLLOWING PAGE. IF YOU MISS A CLASS, YOU SHOULD RELY ON YOUR CLASSMATES AS A
FIRST RESORT FOR NOTES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Name
Phone #
e-mail
Name
Phone #