Dr. John Ambenge

jambenge@mxcc.commnet.edu

Tel. 860-343-5810

ANTH 205D                        Cultural Anthropology                    Fall 2007

CRN 3007                                                                          Online

Course Description: The course will deal with cross-cultural study of social structure including an analysis of political and economic institutions, marriage and family, marital residence and kinship, sex, gender and culture, religion and magic, and the role of the individual in these institutions. 

DIVERSITY COURSE: As a “Diversity” course, the objectives/goals are to ensure that students:

1. Think critically about the differences and similarities among human groups (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, and religion).
2. Understand why people vary culturally and biologically and the role of the environment in shaping culture.
3. Understand the construct of cultural relativism versus ethnocentrism.
4. Understand how cultural anthropology fits in with other branches of science.
5. Have a basic appreciation for how cultural anthropology draws on the field of linguistic.
6. Understand the general idea that different marriage patterns and family structures are suited to different social, economic, and environmental circumstances. This should be able to help them relate to developments within the family in their own society.
7. Understand and appreciate the breadth and diversity of religious beliefs and practices throughout the world.
8. Understand and be able to discuss the psychological impact of racism on both those who are targeted by it and those who perpetuate it.
9. To understand and explain the main reasons why the male supremacist complex is so widespread.
10. Identify and distinguish characteristics of anthropology, anthropological perspective, the major fields of anthropology and the differences between anthropology and other social sciences

Course Requirements: Assigned readings must be done thoroughly as the topics will provide the basis for class discussion. Failure to prepare adequately may impede your participation and the ability to benefit fully from the course.

Weekly Discussion: Students must and are expected to participate in the weekly discussions, while creating a comfortable learning environment regardless of ideological or personal differences of opinion. 

NB: While discussion questions are available from Monday 12.00 am to Sunday 11.59 pm, students are expected to post their responses in good time to give others enough time to respond. Don’t wait until very late to make your submissions. Any submissions after 7.00 pm on Sunday will be considered as late submissions and therefore a “zero” grade will be assigned.

Maximum Points: The maximum points a student can earn on any weekly discussion topic is 5 points. And in order to earn the maximum points, a student MUST submit not less than 5 responses on each topic. For more information on scoring, please read the instructions.  Failure to submit and/or make contributions as expected will affect your final grade negatively.

Method of Evaluation:

Bi-weekly Tests                                                        = 30%

Weekly Discussion (on Discussion Board)                       = 20%

Weekly Quizzes                                                         = 30%

Final Exam                                                               = 20%

Quizzes, Tests, and Exams: Objective multiple choices questions based on assigned readings and lecture notes. None of the exams, tests, and quizzes will be cumulative. And No Make-Ups for missed exams, unless with excused absence.

Grading System:

95 - 100 = A

90 – 94 = A-

87 – 89 = B+

84 – 86 = B

80 – 83 = B-

77 – 79 = C+

74 – 76 = C

70 – 73 = C-

67 – 69 = D+

64 – 66 = D

60 – 63 = D-

Below 60 =F

* Do not wait until the last week of the semester to inquire about how not to fail.

Availability: Just because this is an online course does not mean that the instructor has to be available 24/7. In my case, I will respond to your queries and emails only on the following days – Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Plagiarism:  At Middlesex Community College, we expect the highest standards of academic honesty. As such, academic dishonesty is prohibited in accordance with the Board of Trustees’ Proscribed Conduct Policy Section 5.2.1 of the Board of Trustees’ Manual. The policy prohibits cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration on assignments, unauthorized access to examinations or course materials, presenting those ideas as your own, either knowingly or unknowingly, the use of the website or library materials without proper citation.

Students found guilty of academic dishonesty will receive A FAILING (“F”) Grade in the course and could be subjected to further punishment deemed necessary by the college authorities.

Withdrawal from Courses: A student who wishes to withdraw from the course must obtain a withdrawal form from the Records Office, fill in and sign the form, obtain the signature of the course instructor and return the completed form to the Records Office. Please don’t ask me over the phone or via email to withdraw you from my class. It is your responsibility to do so by observing the protocol.

Required Textbook: Bonvillain, Nancy, 2006: Cultural Anthropology, Prentice Hall, Upper saddle River, New Jersey.

Reading Assignments, Tests, and Exams:

Week 1: 8/28 – 9/02 What is Anthropology?

                                      The Study of Humanity

                                      The Four Subfields of Anthropology

                                      Applied Anthropology

Week 2: 09/03 – 09/09 The Nature of Culture                            

                                      Characteristics of Culture

                                      Global Culture

Test 1                                     Chapters 1 & 2 - (9/6 – 9/10)

Week 3: 09/10 – 09/16 Studying Culture

Explanation of Cultural Diversity

                                      Ethnography and Fieldwork

                                       The Anthropology of Anthropology

Week 4: 09/17 – 09/23 Language and Culture       

                                      The Components of Language

                                      Nonverbal Communication

                                      Linguistic Anthropology

                                      Ethno-semantics

                                      Processes of Language Change

Test 2                                     Chapters 3 & 4 – (9/20 – 9/24)                                                  

Week 5: 09/24 – 09/30 Learning One’s Culture

                                      The Process of Enculturation

                                      Informal and Formal Learning

                                      Psychological Anthropology

                                      Deviance and Abnormal Behavior in

                                      Cross-Cultural Perspective

Week 6: 10/1 – 10/07 Making A living

                                      Economic Anthropology

                                      Understanding Human Subsistence Patterns

                                      Foraging, Pastoralism, Horticulture, Agriculture

                                      Subsistence and Culture Change

Test 3                                     Chapters 5 & 6 – (10/04 – 10/08)

Week 7: 10/08 – 10/14 Economic Systems                                     

                                      Economics of Agriculture

                                      Analyzing Economic Systems

                                      Market Economies and Capitalism

                                      Impacts of Colonial Expansion, Industrial, and

Globalization

Comparing Subsistence Strategies

Week 8: 10/15 – 10/21 Kinship and Descent

                                      Kinship & terminology Systems 

                                      Matrilineal and Patrilineal Systems

Unilineal Descent Groups

                                      Patterns of Relationships

                                      Patterns of Change

Test 4                                     Chapters 7 & 8 – (10/18 – 10/22)

Week 9: 10/22 – 10/28 Marriage and the Family

                                      Families and Ideal Types

                                       Endogamy, Exogamy, and the Incest Taboo

                                      Forms of Marriage

                                      Marriage as Alliance and Economic Exchange

                                      Patterns of Residence after Marriage

Widowhood and Divorce

Week 10: 10/29 – 11/04 Genders

                                      Sex and Gender

                                      Gender roles and Relations

                                      Gender and Subsistence

                                      Globalization and Gender

Test 5                                     Chapters 9 & 10 – (11/01 -11/05)

Week 11: 11/05 – 11/11 Equality and Inequality

                                       Equality, Inequality, and Social Stratification

                                      Caste and Class

                                      Race and ethnicity

                             Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Ideology in the

American Society

Week 12: 11/12 – 11/18    Political Systems

                                      Types of Political Organization

                                      Characteristics of State Societies

                                      Internal Political Change and State Societies

Test 6                                     Chapters 11 & 12 – (11/15 – 11/19)

Week 12: 11/22 – 11/25 Thanksgiving Break

Week 13: 11/26 – 12/02 Conflict Resolution

                                      Evolutionary Perspectives on Conflict

                                      Avoiding Conflict

Witchcraft and Ritual in Conflict resolution

Patterns of Family and Community Conflict

Patterns of conflict between Groups

Week 14: 12/03 – 12/09 Religion

                                      Spirit Beings and Forces

                                      Religious Practitioners

                                      Religious Practice

                                      The Origins and Functions of Religion

                                      Religion and Culture Change

Week 15: 12/10 – 12/16 Colonialism & Cultural Transformation

                                      European Colonialism

                                      The European Slave Trade

                                      Trade and Settlement in North America

                                      Spanish Colonization in the Americas

                                      Agents of Directed Culture Change

                                      Justification for Colonial Rule

                                      Reactions to European Colonizers                                

Week 16: 12/15 – 12/17 Living in a Global World

                                      Migration: Ethno-genesis and ethnic Identities

                                      Cultural Minorities in Global World

                                      Legal Rights and International Recognition

                                      Ecotourism and Indigenous Lands

12/15- 12/17                       FINAL EXAM - Chapters 13, 14, 16, 17