The Goals and Objectives of the Course

The course will revolve around two questions:
(1) How do we make sense of all the different ways of life and ways of understanding the universe that we find among peoples of the world? 
(2) What can we learn about our society, our culture and ourselves by studying other societies and cultures? 

 

By the end of the semester we should have not only learned about the lives of people who live and view the world differently than ourselves, but we should also have a better idea of why our lives proceed as they do.

 

Our activities will also emphasize specific learning skills, including communication skills, writing skills,  and skills of critical judgment.  You will be expected to form and express opinions, communicate these opinions to others in the class, and help others develop their ideas. 

Course Format

1) Readings:

We will be using 3 books:

1. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem Based Approach,  by Richard Robbins
2. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, edited by James Spradley and David McCurdy
3. Distant Mirrors by Philip DeVita and James Armstrong

 

Reading assignments are given in the course outline.

 

 

2) Group Inquiry and Active Learning:

I have serious reservations about the amount of learning that takes place in a lecture setting.  Some of these reservations come from personal experience, others come from research on the efficacy of lectures.  Consequently, lectures will be limited in this class.  In their place will be interactive discussion and inquiry among all of us, both in the larger class setting and in smaller groups.  You will each be assigned to a group of five to six people, and you will work in class with your group to address problems and issues relevant to the class.  Each of you will, in effect, take some responsibility for what your colleagues learn.  Each group will periodically report the results of its deliberations to the larger class.

 

The instructor’s role will be to organize the material, present the problems, do an occasional "position paper" or presentation" and serve as a learning facilitator.  I will grade you--in what you learn, how you communicate what you learn, and the contributions you make to the learning of others-- but this grading is to inform you about your strengths and weaknesses.  If you don't do the readings and assignments carefully, and you do poorly, there is no need to ask me why you got a "D" or "E".  If, on the other hand, you do the assignments and readings, and participate in your group and class discussions, and still do poorly, then we need to talk about it.

3) Daily quizzes:

Each class period will begin with a quiz.  The quiz will consist of one question drawn from the reading assignment for that period.  The questions will be very straightforward, although they may deal with reading assignments for previous days.  You should at least be able to summarize the main points of the readings.  If you think quizzes give you problems, make a point each day of writing a one paragraph summary of each reading.  You’ll be amazed at how much that helps.  Three quiz grades will be dropped and you will be given the opportunity  to make up 3 missed quizzes by attending designated campus events (e.g. lectures, films, discussions, etc.).

4) Essays

I have never yet written anything, long or short, that did not surprise me.  That is, for me at least, the greatest worth of writing, which is only incidentally a way of telling others what you think.  Its first use is for the making of what you think, for the discovery of understanding, an act which happens only in language.
                                                                  Richard Mitchell

The course will focus on six problems central to the study of human behavior, each of which is associated with an essay assignment; of the six essays assignments, you will be responsible for doing the first essay and choosing from two of the next five.  Essays should be approximately 5 to 7 pages in length.  

 

Familiarize yourselves with the essay assignment before you begin reading for the Assigned Section!!!!!!!

 

The essay topic will help you organize the material you read and that we discuss in class.  They will also provide an opportunity for you to apply what you have learned.  Information must be used to be of value.  Consequently your answers to these essays should reflect the discussions that occur in your groups, class discussion, your reading, films, as well as your own knowledge and ideas.  Each of your essays is due the class period after the completion of discussion of the problem.  They must be typed and should be error free--no spelling or grammatical errors.  Papers must be handed in when due or credit will be deducted.  NO PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED ONCE THE PAPERS ARE RETURNED TO THE REST OF THE CLASS.

 

You will receive graded feedback on your essays in four areas:

 

a) Spelling and Grammar: You will be expected to write grammatically and with correct spelling. (5 points--20%)

 

b) Clarity and Organization: You will be expected to sustain a coherent dialogue,  one that allows the reader to follow your arguments.  You should have a clear introduction and a conclusion that summarizes your major point or points. (5 points--20%)

 

c) Use of Course Material:  Course material (readings, class discussions, films, etc.) represent the raw material from which you will mold, construct, sculpt, assemble (or chose your own metaphor) your essays.  Thus you will be expected to use specific information from readings, class discussions, and films to support your points, answer the specific questions associated with each essay, and demonstrate your understanding of course issues.  (10 points--40%)

 

d) Originality: You will be expected to make connections between ideas and information. (5 points--20%)

 

Important: SINCE THE USE OF COURSE MATERIAL IS CRITICAL TO YOUR ANALYSIS, LIST YOUR SOURCES  (TEXTBOOK SECTIONS, READINGS, FILMS, CLASS EXERCISES, ETC.) AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR ESSAY.

5) Course Grade

Your individual grades in the course will be determined by two things:

 

1) Essays  (2/3)

2) Daily quizzes (approx. 1/3)

 

GIVEN THE GROUP ORIENTATION OF THE COURSE, AND THE FACT THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTRIBUTING TO WHAT OTHERS IN THE CLASS LEARN, ATTENDANCE IS EXPECTED. 

 

It is expected that all students enrolled in this class support the letter and the spirit of the SUNY Plattsburgh student Code of Conduct and the Honor Code Pledge.

 

 

 

Course Outline And Assignments

Problem 1: How can people begin to understand beliefs and behaviors that are different from their own?

Each group has been assigned some stuff, that is a specific object or commodity (shoes, coffee, x-boxes, etc) that comprises part of our cultural and everyday life.  Your task is to write a biography of the commodity.  To write a biography of a commodity you’ll need to answer such questions as:

What is the history of item?

How it is produced?

What is its impact on the environment?

What are the social functions it performs?

What is the political impact of the item?

What sort of meaning does it have in our lives?

You are free to range far and wide with your analysis (there is obviously no “right” answer), and feel free to be creative.  Each member of the group will write their own paper, but you are free (and encouraged) to share information with each other.  Your task is not unlike the brief analysis we did at the beginning of the class of a “happy meal,” although you’ll want to go into more detail.  Be sure to check out The Story of Stuff at http://www.storyofstuff.com/ and incorporate part of it’s analysis in your paper.

Date	Question	Readings
1 8/25	Introduction
	1.1  Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and behaviors?
9/1	1.2.  How do people judge the beliefs and behaviors of others?	Text[1], Chapter 1, Question. 1.1; DM,[2]  Encounters with the Elderly in America, by Yohko Tsuji; A Russian Teacher in America by Andre Toom. C&C[3], Ethnography and Culture, p. 7; Eating Christmas in the Kalahari, p. 15 Text, Question 1.2; DM, Growing Up American: Doing the Right Thing, by Amparo B. Ojeda
	1.3  Is it possible to see the world through the eyes of others?	Text, Question 1.3 C&C, Shakespeare in the Bush, p. 23;
2 9/8	1.4.  How can the meanings that others find in experience be interpreted and described?	Text, Question 1.4; DM, Giving, Withholding, and Meeting Midway: A Poets Ethnography C&C, Body Art as Visual Language
	1.5.  What can learning about other peoples tell Americans about themselves?	Text, Question 1.5; Case Study # 1 DM, My American Glasses, by Francisco Martins Ramos C&C, Lessons from the Field, p. 46; Using Anthropology, p. 422

Problem 2: How do we explain the transformation of human societies from small-scale, nomadic bands of hunters and gatherers, to large-scale, urban-industrial states?

In July 1972, while doing research on bird evolution in New Guinea, biologist Jared Diamond strolled along a tropical beach with a local politician named Yali. Yali, who had helped his people prepare for self-government, questioned Diamond about the origins of the people of New Guinea and about the commodities that Europeans brought to New Guinea, such as steel axes, matches, clothing, and soft drinks-items that people in New Guinea referred to as "cargo." Then he posed for Diamond the key question: "Why is it," he asked, "that you White people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we Black people had so little cargo of our own?"  Yali's question goes to the heart of what we mean by the notion of progress.  Yali's view is that people from the West has more.  The question is, more of what?  Your task is to provide an answer to Yali's question.  Some of the issues you need to address are:

1.     What does the West have more of?  Does it infer a level of superiority?

2.     Is having more of whatever it is an advantage?

3.     Why does it seem to people such as Yali that people of the West are better off?

 

Your essay should, at a minimum, reflect and incorporate class discussion, your text readings 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5,  and film discussion

 

Problem 5: Why are modern societies characterized by social, political, and economic inequalities?

Essay Assignment:  The Nature of Social Hierarchy

 

This paper will require some research.  You are to conduct interviews with at least five people on the subject of social hierarchy.  Your task will be to find out how your subjects justify or explain the uneven distribution of wealth in the United States.   Before you conduct the interviews you will need to carefully read over chapter seven in your text (Cultural Anthropology), particularly question 7.3.  Your paper should compare the responses of your informants with the information in Chapter 7.  You should focus on describing the ideology that your informants use to legitimize the unequal distribution of wealth and compare it to the ideologies described in your readings.  You are free, of course, to devise any questions you wish to elicit information from your informants, and to use as many informants as you like.  However indicate how many people you interviewed, and include the questions that you asked them in your paper.

 

Problem 6: How do societies give meaning to and justify collective violence?

 

There has been much debate over the past 30 years regarding the relationship of violence in the United States and violence depicted on television shows.  This essay will address that debate.  Begin your discussion by addressing the following questions:

 

1)     Using the readings and our class discussions, to what extent do you think our culture encourages or discourages violent or aggressive behavior? 

2)     Which of the cultures discussed in Chapter 8 of the text do you think American culture most resembles.

3)     How would you evaluate the research that relates violence on T.V. with aggressive behavior in children? (For some sources check out http://www.abelard.org/tv/tv.htm or http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/V/htmlV/violenceand/violenceand.htm or do your own search for material on violence and television)

 

Feel free to add your own questions, but be sure to demonstrate your mastery of the readings and class discussions.

Date	Questions	Assignments
11/24	Question 8.1 How do societies create a bias in favor of collective violence?	Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 8, Intro. and Ques. 8.1 FIFTH PAPER DUE
	Question 8.2 How do societies create a bias against violent conflict?	Cultural Anthropology, Ques. 8.2; C&C, Cross-Cultural Law, p. 265
12/1	Question 8.3 What are the economic, political, or social differences between peaceful and violent societies?	Cultural Anthropology, Ques. 8.3
	Question 8.4 What are the effects of war on society?	Cultural Anthropology, Ques. 8.4
	Question 8.5 How do Americans create a bias toward collective violence	Cultural Anthropology, Ques. 8.5, Case Study #8 SIXTH PAPER DUE THE LAST DAY OF FINAL EXAM WEEK