ANTH 100 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

ANTH 100 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
SummerSession 2014Online Session W1
May 27-June 27

Instructor:Dr. Renee B. Walker
Office:11 Denison Hall
Phone:(607) 436-3346 (Office), (607) 263-2516 (Home), (607) 353-9075 (Cell)
Email Address:
Virtual Office Hours: M-Th 5-6 pm (I will be available via the course email or by phone).
Description:

Cultural anthropology provides an understanding of contemporary human issues through the systematic study of cultural and social similarities and differences around the world. This course will introduce students to this major sub discipline of anthropology, its subject matter, history, unique approach, and major contributions to knowledge. Students will complete the course with an understanding of culture, evolution and human variation, race and ethnicity, language and communication, kinship and descent, marriage and gender and modern world systems.

GEN ED Learning Outcome—Social Sciences (S2):

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the methods scientists use to explore social phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of mathematical and interpretive analysis; and knowledge of major concepts, models and issues of at least one discipline in the social sciences.

Angel© Learning Management System:

This course is a taught as an online course via Angel©( For those of you unfamiliar with Angel©, I recommend referring to the User Manual (this is a link on the first page of the course). The Summer Online Page at Oneonta also has a “Getting Started on Angel” guide ( You can also contact the help desk at ( or 607-436-4567).

Each week begins on Monday and runs through Sunday (except for the first week, which begins on Tuesday and the last week, which ends on Friday). Each week, you will be responsible for responding to discussion questions and posting responses to your classmates. There will also be two quizzes each week (available online) that will assess your understanding of the reading assignments; you can use your text while taking these quizzes. You will also prepare for an annotated bibliography, which will be submitted at the end of this course. The online learning environment is fun and flexible and I think you will enjoy it tremendously.

Your Angel© Course Page is set up with a Home Page that includes Course Announcements, the Course Syllabus, Course Mail and my Virtual Office Hours. The Calendar Page will contain the due dates for the readings and assignments. The Lessons Page will contain multiple folders and has all of the information for your weekly assignments. There are three folders under the Lessons Tab: Discussion Questions, Quizzes and Annotated Bibliography. Each week you will go to the Discussion Questionsfolder and select that week’s Discussion Question for posting your responses. Similarly, you will access the Quizzes folder that will have each week’s quizzes. Your grades will also be available on the My Grades tab.

Text:
Kottak, Conrad. 2013. Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity. Fifteenth Edition, McGraw-Hill.

Assignments: Please refer to the Calendar for due dates
Weekly Discussion
You are required to post a response to the weekly discussion question (posted on the Discussion Board) and two substantive responses to your classmates each week. A substantive response means that you are saying more than “I agree” or “good answer”. It should be a thoughtful consideration of the response that helps spark discussion. The discussion question response should be posted by Tuesday and the responses to your classmates should be posted before the end of the week (Sunday). Initial DQs should be between 150-200 words and responses should be 50-100.

Weekly Movie Quizzes
There will be one movie quiz each week, available on the Milne Library web site. Go to the Milne Library homepage, select the “Databases” tab, select “F”, select “Films on Demand”, enter your username and password if needed, type the movie title in the dialog box, select “titles” (segments is the default), then click search. Due Wednesday of each week. Responses should be between 200 and 250 words.

Weekly Chapter Quizzes

There will one multiple choice chapter quiz each week on Thursdays.

Weekly Essay Questions

In addition, there will be essay quizzes to complete each week, due on Sundays.Essay Question responses should be 300-500 words. You are welcome to bring in other sources that relate to the textbook readings. Just make sure they are properly cited.

Annotated Bibliography

The annotated bibliography will be on a topic of your choosing, within the realm of Cultural Anthropology (June 27). An annotated bibliography is a reference with a short (annotated) description of the reference and you should have at least five references in your annotated bibliography. If you use web resources, please make sure that they are authored by reputable authorities in the subject area. You must follow a standardized style format, such as MLA or APA. Information on these style guides can be found through the Milne Library website (

The total requirements are:

Course Schedule:

Assignment Schedule: