Anthropology 100 (ANTH 100)
Dr. Julie J. Smith
E-mail: jsmith@bcc.ctc.edu
This course is an introduction to the field of anthropology, the study of humans. This holistic discipline explores the accomplishments of anthropology by surveying the guiding concepts and methods of the four sub-disciplines -- biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology. It covers aspects of genetics, micro and macro evolution, primate and hominid evolution, the origin of culture and early cultural developments of hominines, the origin of anatomically modern humans, origin of agriculture and cultural complexity, and the emergence of early agricultural states.
Materials in the course illustrate the vast diversity of human cultures, considering such aspects as sex, gender, marriage, and family; language and cognition, enculturation, and socialization; play, art, myth ritual, and worldview; social organization and power; subsistence and economy; kinship and larger social structures; and finally, culture change and globalization. The course will examine these four sub-disciplines through readings and class discussions.
NOTE: The following is very general information about this course and should not be taken as a comprehensive description of what the course entails.
Your final grade will be based on: 8 quizzes, Midterm and Final Exam and 9 weekly discussions.
Assignments Total
Points %
of Grade
Discussion: best 9 of 10 @ 20 pts each week 180 18%
Quizzes: Best 8 of 9 @ 40 pts each week 320 32%
Midterm Exam: 1 @ 200 pts 200 20%
Final Exam: 1 @ 300 pts 300 30%
TOTAL 1000 100%
Grade Palette
Letter Decimal Percentage
Scale
A 4.0 96-100%
A - 3.7 90-95%
B+ 3.3 87-89%
B 3.0 83-86%
B - 2.7 80-82%
C+ 2.3 75-79%
C 2.0 65-74%
C - 1.7 60-64%
D+ 1.3 56-59%
D 1.0 50-55%
F 0 < 50%
W 0 Official Withdrawal
HW 0 Hardship Withdrawal
I 0 Incomplete
Required Text
• Anthropology: A Global Perspective, 6th Edition. 2008. Raymond Scupin and Christopher R. DeCorse. Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-513570-2
You need to order the textbook well before the start of class. If you have not done so, order it immediately from the BCC online bookstore.
COURSE OUTLINE
Unit One Introduction (Week 1)
General Objective: By the end of the unit, you will be an old hand at WebCT, and have some notion of what anthropology is and what anthropologists do.
Unit Competencies and Concepts
• Use WebCT competently
• Understand the course structure
• Characterize the anthropological perspective
• Define culture and its components
Unit Two Human Biological Evolution (Weeks 2 & 3)
General Objective: We will summarize the fundamental mechanisms of biological evolution, identify the key trends in hominid evolution, and trace the anatomy and phylogeny of hominid species that link ancient to current human populations.
Unit Competencies and Concepts
• Explain microevolutionary changes in biological populations by reference to mutation, drift, flow, and natural selection
• Explore the relation of biology to human culture
• Explain macroevolution (speciation)
• Summarize the biological and behavioral characteristics of some primate species and consider their analogs to human biology and behavior
• Trace the course of early hominid evolution
• Discuss controversies about the origin of anatomically modern humans
Unit Three Origin and Evolution of Human Culture (Weeks 4 & 5)
General Objective: We discuss the theory and methods of archaeologists and paleoanthropologists, explain how they infer past behavior from field data, explore the origin of culture within the radiation of hominid species of the Lower Pleistocene, investigate the growing body of data supporting a recent emergence from Africa of modern humans, and trace the slow development of culture in the Lower Paleolithic to its sudden florescence in the Upper Paleolithic.
Unit Competencies and Concepts
• Explain how archaeologists infer past forms and behavior from the archaeological record
• Discuss the controversies surrounding the emergence of anatomically modern humans
• Interpret the worldview and values of Upper Paleolithic peoples
• Explain the appearance of domestication
• Reflect upon the consequences of agriculture
• Explain the evolution of complex societies
Unit Four Tools of Cultural Anthropology (Ethnology) (Week 6)
General Objective: We discuss how socio-cultural anthropologists do fieldwork and what they encounter when doing so. We summarize the principle bodies of theory on which ethnographic interpretation is based, and explore a few ethical conundrums involved in anthropological investigation.
Unit Competencies and Concepts
• Practice participant observation and other field methods
• Experience and discuss culture shock
• Discuss the ethics of anthropological fieldwork
• Trace the history of anthropological theory
• Explain explanation.
Unit Five The Elements of Culture (Weeks 7 & 8)
General Objective: We explore the relation of human language to human cognition and the relation of worldview, art, myth and ritual to concepts about the material world.
Unit Competencies and Concepts
• Describe the components of human language
• Explore the relation of language to culture
• Experiment with modes of perception and the relation of perception and reason
• Define play, art, myth, and ritual
• Explain how ideas determine the key elements of human subsistence strategies and economy
Unit Six Systems of Relationships (Weeks 9 through 11)
General Objective: We confront the vast diversity of social organizations, kinship systems, sodalities, and larger organizations such as casts, classes, nations, and global systems.
Unit Competencies and Concepts
• Deconstruct kinship systems
• Trace patterns of descent
• Explore the diversity of marriage patterns, family structure, and sexual behavior
• Investigate the relation of social systems and individual behavior
• Summarize world systems and the relation of global theory to current events
• Identify anthropological methods and concepts of use in understanding and rectifying world problems