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ANTY 220S:Culture and Society
G.G. Weix,Professor of Anthropology Ashley Hampton, M.A. Teaching Assistant
Office: Social Science 223 Ashley.Hampton@umontana.e
Phone: 243-2337
I am available for office hours by appointment after class, Monday through Friday. Contact me by email or phone if you have questions about the course including learning goals, concepts, readings, lectures, assessment and evaluation.
Ashley Hampton is the TA for this course, and shares her office, Social Sciences 252A with other TAs. Her office hours are 1:00-5:00 P.M. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week.
Course Information
This is the introductory course in sociocultural anthropology for the Major and Minor in Anthropology for a B.A.. The course also serves as general education, Social Sciences (Group VII) and Indigenous and Global (Group X) for all undergraduates. There are no prerequisites.
This course is organized weekly; each week is oriented around a central theme and readings that address that theme. You can anticipate interconnections that emerge as the course progresses. To connect theoretical concepts and assess comprehension, there are weekly quizzes for the first 12 weeks. There are no alternate dates for quizzes.
This course introduces cultural anthropology to Freshman and Sophomore students. Junior and Senior students are expected to complete written assignments at an upper division level for information literacy and writing.
The goals, or learning outcomes for this course are:
· To describe social and cultural aspects of diverse ways of life, past and present.
· To compare a cross-cultural perspective on beliefs, values, and behaviors among societies.
· To analyze ethnographic methods: what ethnographers do, how they do it, and why.
· To engage in thoughtful and respectful debates with peers about cultural diversity.
· To contrast how and why sociocultural anthropology differs from other social sciences.
Readings
Ethnographies for a Global Century Laue, C et al. (Eds) 2016. Cognella, Inc. This reader is available in digital and paper format online: https://students.universityreaders.com/store/.
Five copies of the reader are available on four-hour, in-building reserve at the Mansfield Library. Supplemental readings are available on Moodle.
Accessibility
This course has been designed with accessibility in mind. Any students who need further accommodations should notify me. You may also contact Disability Student Services directly with any questions you may have about access and your rights as a student. If any barriers to accessibility arise, or come to your attention during the semester, please notify me.
Student Conduct Code
All students are expected to read carefully, and to cite sources in writing assignments. Please review how to avoid plagiarism in the library course guide UM student code of conduct .
Attendance and Assessment
Attendance is required and participation expected. Students should show courtesy to fellow students and not distract others during class. Students who distract others will be asked to leave the classroom. No more than 3 absences are allowed in the semester; additional absences may affect the final grade adversely. In the case of documented illness or emergency, exams may be taken on Moodle within a reasonable period to remain current with the class. For athletic participation, religious observance, and other valid reasons for absence, exams must be taken in advance.
Required readings should be completed by Monday each week. Theoretical concepts are highlighted in lectures, which are posted on Moodle following class. Brief video clips, supplemental readings, and a variety of in-class exercises will give opportunities to apply concepts to diverse examples.
Weekly quizzes encourage you to keep pace with assigned reading, and develop a vocabulary and fluency discussing sociocultural concepts. Quiz questions are multiple choice, true/false and short answer. There are no make up quizzes. Midterm and final exams include synthetic questions on readings, lectures and film clips. The first midterm covers course topics for weeks 1 to 5; the second midterm covers weeks 6-10, while the final exam covers topics weeks 11 to 15. The writing assignment addresses general education learning outcomes and askes students to consider anthropology as a social science of cultural diversity.
Evaluation and Grades
Grades are based on consistent attendance and participation in discussion (in class, and on Moodle), performance on quizzes and exams, and the quality of the writing assignment. Total grade points are converted to a letter grade: 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, below 60% = F
+/- is at the discretion of the instructor.
200 points (10 highest quiz scores; students take all quizzes)
400 points (two midterm exams)
200 points (final exam during finals week and on Moodle)
200 points (writing assignment)
1000 points total
Syllabus
Week One: Aug 29 – Sept 2 Culture and Society Quiz 1
Readings: “An Invitation”, “Introduction from Telling about Society”
Supplemental Readings: “Culture Shock” “Body Ritual among the Nacerima” “100% American”
Week Two: Sept 5 – 9 Past and Present September 5 Holiday-Labor Day No Class Quiz 2
Readings: “Coffee and the Rise of the World System” “Conclusion from Routes to Remembrance”
Supplemental Readings: “What do you do when you see a white man?”
Week Three: Sept, 12-16 Place Quiz 3
Readings: “Conclusion from Territories of Difference”
Supplemental Readings: “The Dreaming: Time and Space”
Week Four: Sept 19-23 Language and Expression Quiz 4
Readings: “Introduction from I won’t stay Indian”
Supplemental Readings: “Shakespeare in the Bush” “Body Art as Visual”
Week Five: Sept. 26-30 Relatedness and Personhood Quiz 5
Readings: “The Dog-Human Bond”
Supplemental Readings: “The Physical Person”, “Death be not strange”
“Death without weeping” “The Death Scene”
Week Six: Oct, 3-7 Life Cycle October 7 Midterm Quiz 6
Readings: “Epilogue from Islands of Love”
Supplemental Readings: Mardu Kinship “Matrilineal and Patrilineal Descent”
Week Seven: Oct. 10-14 Gender and Sexuality Quiz 7
Readings: “Introduction in A Day in the Life” “Appendix from Temporarily Yours”
Supplemental Readings: ”Sworn Virgins of Albania” “Ladies Behind Bars”
Week Eight: Oct. 17-21 Family and Marriage Quiz 8
Readings: “Preface” from Accidental Ethnography
Supplemental Readings: “To have and to hold” “Arranging a Marriage” “When Brothers Share a Wife” “Gay Marriage”
Week Nine: Oct.24-28 Health and Healing Quiz 9
Readings: “Prologue: Haunting Decisions” “Segredos Da Casa from Family Secrets”
Supplemental Readings: “Spirit Catches You” “Surgeries of Brazilian Spiritists” “Swallowing Frogs”
Week Ten: Oct.31-Nov. 4 Religion Quiz 10
Readings: “Witchcraft” November 4 Midterm
Supplemental Readings: Why we become Religious” “Homer in the Heretic” “The Religious Life”
“Ritual Regulation” “Religion”
Week Eleven: Nov, 7-11 Politics November. 11 Holiday Veteran’s Day No class Quiz 11
Readings: “The Cell Phone and the Crowd”
Supplemental Readings: “A Tribal Chair’s perspective” “Kpelle Moot” “Inventing Hispania”
“Mardu politics”
Week Twelve: Nov. 14-18 Economy and Livelihood Quiz 12
Readings: “Money makes us Relatives” “Consumer Citizenship”
Supplemental Readings: “Class and inequality”
Week Thirteen: Nov. 21-25 Animals and Ecology Nov. 23-25 Holiday Thanksgiving no class
Readings: “Animals as Persons”
Supplemental Readings: “A Tale of three chimps” “The Gift of Life”
Week Fourteen: Nov. 28-Dec. 2 Technology
Readings: “Gendering Robots”
Supplemental Readings: Programmed for Love” “Bots on the Ground” “Virtual Worlds”
Week Fifteen: Dec. 5-9 The Future of Anthropology Writing due December 9
Readings: “E-thropologist”
Dec. 12 Conclusion and Course Evaluation
Final Exam: December 19th 8:00-10:00 A.M.
Extra Credit:
Laurel Kendall, Natural History Museum and the President of the Association of Asian Studies,
will give the keynote lecture for the Western Conference of Asian Studies at noon Friday, Sept. 23rd You are welcome to attend and write a short review of her presentation for extra credit.
Her lecture is entitled, “What Global Asia gave Anthropology, c. 1900.” The place will be announced in class.
Information Literacy The following list of concepts and skills provide a framework for faculty to address during each of the indicated class levels.
100-level / 200-level*The role of students as scholars; discourse communities inside and outside the university
*Developing research questions and relevant keywords
*Critical evaluation of information; value and distinctness of information resources (e.g., data sets, finding aids, Internet, library catalog, librarians, subscription databases, etc.)
*Citing research sources of all types formats; academic honesty and plagiarism
*Information production and organization; copyright and fair use
*Ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information / *Choosing and stating a research topic; using research to refine topic
*Keyword and subject searching; broadening and narrowing search terms
*Value and distinctness of general and subject-specific information resources
*Value and distinctness of information sources (e.g., popular, trade, and scholarly; primary and secondary; current and historical, etc.)
*Tracing citation data back to original source
*Interdisciplinary research
*Critical evaluation of information
*Citing research sources of all types formats; academic honesty and plagiarism
*Information production and organization; copyright and fair use;
*Ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information
100-level / 200-level
The following are the learning outcomes for the completion of courses at the indicated class levels.
*Identify and explain discourse communities*Identify research questions; translate questions into keywords for searching
*Recognize different information resources and explain the value and differences between them (e.g., finding aids, library catalog, subscription databases)
*Construct in-text citations and a bibliography, inclusive of all source types and formats (e.g., articles, images, music; print, electronic)
*Explain the importance of citing research sources and academic honesty
*Describe how information is produced and organized, as well as the role of copyright and fair use
*Recognize ethical, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information (e.g., academic freedom, right to privacy, free and fee-based information, intellectual property)
*Assess the reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point or view or bias of information sources / *Identify and describe a research topic
*Recognize that, based on research, an initial topic may need to be refined
*Confer with instructors and librarians about appropriate research topics, information resources and search strategies
*Execute both keyword and subject searches; execute revised searches to refine results
*Explain why there is usually not “one” source that will meet all research needs
*Recognize and explain the value and differences between general and subject-specific information resources
*Recognize different information sources and explain the value and differences between them, including their scope, audience and intent (e.g., archival collections; government information; popular, trade, and scholarly publications)
*Trace source citation to original material, regardless of citation style and source format
*Categorize research topics by discipline; explain what constitutes an interdisciplinary topic
GENERAL EDUCATION: Group VII and Group X
Group VII: Social Sciences (S)
Social science courses describe and analyze human social organization and interaction, employing social data at a broad scale with statistical relevance, experimental data on individuals or groups, or qualitative data based on observation and discourse.
(Learning outcomes) Upon completion of a Social Sciences course, students will be able to:
1. Describe the nature, structure, and historical development of human behavior, organizations, social phenomena, and/or relationships;
2. use theory in explaining these individual, group, or social phenomena; and/or understand, assess, and evaluate how conclusions and generalizations are justified based on data
Group X: International and Cultural Diversity (formerly Indigenous and Global)
These courses foster an appreciation for diverse cultures, their histories and contemporary forms, and their positions in world spheres of power and change. This includes knowledge of diverse cultures in comparative and thematic frameworks. Knowledge gained through courses in the X perspective prepares students to cultivate ways of thinking that foster an understanding of the complexities of indigenous or international cultures and global issues, past and present.
(Learning outcomes) Upon completion of a course in this group, students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate an understanding of the diverse ways humans structure their social, political, and cultural lives;
2 Interpret human activities, ideas, and institutions with reference to diverse cultural, historical and geo-political perspectives and physical environments; and Recognize the complexities of inter-cultural and international communications and collaborative endeavors, and relate this to the complex challenges of the 21st century.
Learning Outcomes for Writing
1. Compose written documents that are appropriate for a given audience or purpose
2. Formulate and express opinions and ideas in writing
3. Use writing to learn and synthesize new concepts
4. Revise written work based on constructive feedback
5. Find, evaluate, and use information effectively
6. Begin to use discipline-specific writing conventions (largely style conventions like APA or MLA)
7. Demonstrate appropriate English language usage