Introduction to Anthropology
ANTH 1100
Fall 2021
T/TH 8:30-10:20
Professor Laurie Greene
 |
| Anthropology the Age of Globalization: Why Study Culture? |
AC Campus Office: 224-G
Email: laurie.greene@stockton.edu
Cell Phone: 609.214.6596 (text or call)
Office Hours: by appointment
Required Texts:
(1) Guest, Kenneth J. (2018) Essentials of Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit for a Global Age, 2E. Norton.
(2) Guest, Kenneth J. , ed. ((2018) Cultural Anthropology: A reader for a global age. Norton
(3) Blog Posts with lecture outlines https://introanthfall2019.blogspot.com
Anthropology is the study of the full scope of human diversity, past and present, and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds better understand one another. Anthropology provides a unique set of tools, including strategies and perspectives, for understanding our rapidly changing, globalizing world. Whether your field is business or education, economics or psychology, we all need a skill set for analyzing and engaging a multicultural and increasingly interconnected world and workplace. That is what this class is about! Applying anthropological knowledge, skills and perspectives to understanding the complex world around us.
Course Objectives:
(1) Guest, Kenneth J. (2018) Essentials of Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit for a Global Age, 2E. Norton.
(2) Guest, Kenneth J. , ed. ((2018) Cultural Anthropology: A reader for a global age. Norton
(3) Blog Posts with lecture outlines https://introanthfall2019.blogspot.com
Anthropology is the study of the full scope of human diversity, past and present, and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds better understand one another. Anthropology provides a unique set of tools, including strategies and perspectives, for understanding our rapidly changing, globalizing world. Whether your field is business or education, economics or psychology, we all need a skill set for analyzing and engaging a multicultural and increasingly interconnected world and workplace. That is what this class is about! Applying anthropological knowledge, skills and perspectives to understanding the complex world around us.
Course Objectives:
- To understand the value of studying anthropology in our modern world (applied practice)
- To understand the unique perspective and methodology of anthropology (fieldwork/ethnography)
- To understand the nature and functions of culture
- To understand the impact of the forces of globalization on our modern world (inequality, migration, diversity)
- To understand our own beliefs and behaviors as a function of culture (ethnocentrism/cultural relativity)
- To understand the key concepts in the discipline of anthropology
I. Week#1: September 8-10 Introduction, Anthropology in the Global Age
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 1, pages 4-29
PODCAST Here (Waiting in line: cross-cultural experienecs)
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is anthropology?
---Through what lenses do anthropologists gains comprehensive view of human cultures?
---What is globalization and why is it important for anthropology?
---How is globalization transforming anthropology?
II. Week #2: September 15-17, The Nature and Meaning of Culture
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 2, pages 30-59
CA reader, Chapter 1-2
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is culture?
---How has the concept of culture developed in anthropology?
---How are culture and power related?
---How much of who you are is shaped by biology and how much by culture?
---How is culture created?
---How is globalization transforming culture?
September 15 Class Discussion Opener: Reading Culture in a Can of Coke:After reading about the Coca-Cola bottling factory in Plachimada, India, note how a can of coke has "a social life of its own"(Appadurai). It is produced, distributed and consumed. It moves about through space, is acted upon by others and shapes people's lives. Considering that "all commodities have a biography"(Kopytoff), try to look at a can of coke through an anthropologist's eyes, making something that is very familiar...strange by seeing the complex human interactions that are organized around a can of coke.
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is culture?
---How has the concept of culture developed in anthropology?
---How are culture and power related?
---How much of who you are is shaped by biology and how much by culture?
---How is culture created?
---How is globalization transforming culture?
September 15 Class Discussion Opener: Reading Culture in a Can of Coke:After reading about the Coca-Cola bottling factory in Plachimada, India, note how a can of coke has "a social life of its own"(Appadurai). It is produced, distributed and consumed. It moves about through space, is acted upon by others and shapes people's lives. Considering that "all commodities have a biography"(Kopytoff), try to look at a can of coke through an anthropologist's eyes, making something that is very familiar...strange by seeing the complex human interactions that are organized around a can of coke.
- Consider a can of coke: (buy one!) Prepare at least THREE of these questions for discussion
- what is in it and where did it come from?
- who made it, what is life like for them?
- what is the impact of Coke on the local community where it is produced? Where it is consumed?
- what is the relationship of the people in Plachimada to a can of Coke? Do they drink it? Do they work in the factory that makes it? How much do they earn? How much has the Coca-Cola factory changed their lives? Has it affected people in the community differently depending on their age, gender or class?
- What did you pay for the can of Coke? What are the "social costs"of producing a can of Coke? (water, power, sewage, pollution, garbage disposal, roads for transportation, etc)Who pays for these costs?
- What is the environmental impact of making a can of Coke? (grow and process ingredients, amount of water required, etc)
III. Week#3: September 22-24, Fieldwork and Ethnography
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 3, pages 60-89
CA reader, Chapter 3
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is unique about ethnographic fieldwork and why do anthropologists conduct this type of research?
---How did the concept of fieldwork develop?
---How do anthropologists get started conducting fieldwork?
---How do anthropologists write ethnography?
---What moral and ethical concerns guide anthropologists in their research and writing?
---How is fieldwork changing in response to globalization?
September 22 Class Discussion Opener: After Reading the article on the Nacirema Culture, discuss the "ethnocentric gaze" and how understanding ourselves, is a window to understanding others (Spradley).
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is unique about ethnographic fieldwork and why do anthropologists conduct this type of research?
---How did the concept of fieldwork develop?
---How do anthropologists get started conducting fieldwork?
---How do anthropologists write ethnography?
---What moral and ethical concerns guide anthropologists in their research and writing?
---How is fieldwork changing in response to globalization?
September 22 Class Discussion Opener: After Reading the article on the Nacirema Culture, discuss the "ethnocentric gaze" and how understanding ourselves, is a window to understanding others (Spradley).
- Who are the Nacirema? If you know, does this change your reading of the essay?
- How does the outsider's view of American Culture allowed you to see yourself and your culture in a new light?
- What we consider rational, scientific and logical may appear irrational, unscientific and illogical in another. How does Miner's article challenge us to confront our ethnocentrism?
- How might you update the story of the Nacirema today? Can you write a similar piece about a ethnocentric view of a practice we take for granted (cell phone usage, eye contact on public transport, seating habits in class).
IV. Week#4: September 29-October 1, Language and Culture
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 4, pages 90-117
CA reader, Chapter 4
PODCAST HERE and HERE
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is language and where does it come from?
---How does language shape our ways of thinking?
---How do systems of power intersect with language and communication?
---What are the effects of globalization on language?
September 29 Class Discussion Opener: After Reading Shakespeare in the Bush, discuss the ways in which language and culture appear to be connected.
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is language and where does it come from?
---How does language shape our ways of thinking?
---How do systems of power intersect with language and communication?
---What are the effects of globalization on language?
September 29 Class Discussion Opener: After Reading Shakespeare in the Bush, discuss the ways in which language and culture appear to be connected.
- In what ways does the Tiv culture shape their interpretation of Hamlet?
- Is "human nature" the same all over the world? Use Bohannan's fieldwork experience to support your position
- Does language shape the way we think? Support your positioning the interpretations of the TIv.
- Can our culture shape the way that we use and understand language? Consider words like "terrorist" or "Communist" or "liberal" or "Feminist".
V. Week#5: October 6-8, Race and Racism
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 5, pages 119-149
CA reader, Chapter 5
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---Do biologically separate races exist?
---How is race constructed around the world?
---How is race constructed in the United States?
---What is racism?
October 6 Class Discussion Opener: Race and Racism may be one of the most contentious and least understood concepts in American Culture. Considering your Readings in Chapter 5 (Part 2),
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---Do biologically separate races exist?
---How is race constructed around the world?
---How is race constructed in the United States?
---What is racism?
October 6 Class Discussion Opener: Race and Racism may be one of the most contentious and least understood concepts in American Culture. Considering your Readings in Chapter 5 (Part 2),
- Racism is more than individual prejudice, it is a power structure supported by the institutions in society and the tacit beliefs in culture. Describe the key institutions that helped reshape the US racial landscape after WWII (article on Jews-hint)
- How were African Americans shut out of the post-war suburban building boom (and other impacts of racism)/ Do we see these same impacts still today?
- How did Jews become "white folks"?
- How is race understood differently in the US and Brazil?
- What role can social media play in activism and anti-racism today? How does this work and why? Consider #blacklivesmatter
- What are the challenges to eliminating racism from a cultural perspective?
VI. Week#6: October 13-15, Ethnicity and Nationalism
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 6, pages 151-175
CA reader, Chapter 6
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What does ethnicity mean to anthropology?
---How and why is ethnicity created, mobilized, and contested?
---What is the relationship of ethnicity to nation?
October 13 Class Discussion Opener: After reading the article by Paul Farmer, consider the notion of ethnicity, violence, and "stupid deaths"
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What does ethnicity mean to anthropology?
---How and why is ethnicity created, mobilized, and contested?
---What is the relationship of ethnicity to nation?
October 13 Class Discussion Opener: After reading the article by Paul Farmer, consider the notion of ethnicity, violence, and "stupid deaths"
- How does the article on Rwanda reveal how ethnicity is constructed?
- What role does the socialite of landmines play in the modern history of Rwanda?
- How does Farmer connect the construction of ethnicity and genocide in Rwanda to global causes and dynamics?
- What is farmer's challenge to anthropologists about their role in addressing violence, genocide and "stupid deaths"?
- What are "stupid deaths" and who suffers most from them?
VII. Week#7a: October 20, Gender and Culture
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 7, pages 177-203
CA reader, Chapter 7
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---Are men and women born or made?
---Are there more than two sexes?
---How do anthropologists explore the relationship between gender and power?
---How is globalization transforming gender roles and stratification?
October 20 Class Discussion Opener: In the current cultural moment, concepts of "gender identity" as fixed and definitive are being challenged. After reading Emily Martin's the Egg and the Sperm, discuss how culture shapes our understanding of gendered realities.
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---Are men and women born or made?
---Are there more than two sexes?
---How do anthropologists explore the relationship between gender and power?
---How is globalization transforming gender roles and stratification?
October 20 Class Discussion Opener: In the current cultural moment, concepts of "gender identity" as fixed and definitive are being challenged. After reading Emily Martin's the Egg and the Sperm, discuss how culture shapes our understanding of gendered realities.
- How is the story of reproduction in the US gendered? How does the American notion of the reality of gender impact the scientific description and understanding of reproduction?
- What terms and descriptions did Martin find in medical texts that she felt were gender biased (for females? for males?)?
- How do these misrepresentations of the biological activities of the egg and the sperm provide an ideological basis and rationale for gender stereotypes and inequality? Why do you think these myths persist?
- Do these stereotypes contribute to women's reproductive choices?
- What does Martin mean by "sleeping metaphors"?How can the anthropological perspective "wake them up"?
VIII. Week#7b: October 22, Sexuality and Culture
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 8, pages 205-231
CA reader, Chapter 8
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is sexuality and where does it come from?
---How can we understand sexuality from a global perspective?
---How has sexuality been constructed in the United States?
---How is sexuality an arena for working out relations of power?
---How does globalization influence local expressions of sexuality?
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is sexuality and where does it come from?
---How can we understand sexuality from a global perspective?
---How has sexuality been constructed in the United States?
---How is sexuality an arena for working out relations of power?
---How does globalization influence local expressions of sexuality?
MIDTERM REVIEW: Thursday, October 22
--Review all readings, blog posts and notes and come to class prepared with questions
--Review all readings, blog posts and notes and come to class prepared with questions
No Class October 27: Preceptorial Advising
MIDTERM EXAM October 29 (Weeks 1-7).
IX. Week#9: November 3-5, Kinship family and Marriage
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 9, pages 233-259
CA reader, Chapter 9
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---How are we related to one another?
---Are biology and marriage the only basis for kinship?
---How are ideas of kinship linked to the nation-state?
---How is kinship changing in the modern world?
November 3 Class Discussion Opener: Mapping your kinship relationships.
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---How are we related to one another?
---Are biology and marriage the only basis for kinship?
---How are ideas of kinship linked to the nation-state?
---How is kinship changing in the modern world?
November 3 Class Discussion Opener: Mapping your kinship relationships.
- after drawing out your "family tree" (kinship chart) discuss the terms (language) used to describe your relatives. What kinds of things does our kinship terminology reveal to be significant?
- What "stories" does your family tree reveal?
X. Week#10: November 10-12, Class and Inequality
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 10, pages 261-291
CA reader, Chapter 10
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---Is inequality a "natural" part of human culture?
---How do anthropologists analyze class and inequality?
---How are class and inequality constructed?
---Why are class and inequality largely "invisible"?
---What are the effects of global inequality?
November 10 Class Discussion Opener: Economic activity is less about supply and demand, and more about the social VALUE of exchange.After reading the two articles in chapter 10 of your reader, discuss the surprising social meaning of exchange revealed through the anthropological perspective.
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---Is inequality a "natural" part of human culture?
---How do anthropologists analyze class and inequality?
---How are class and inequality constructed?
---Why are class and inequality largely "invisible"?
---What are the effects of global inequality?
November 10 Class Discussion Opener: Economic activity is less about supply and demand, and more about the social VALUE of exchange.After reading the two articles in chapter 10 of your reader, discuss the surprising social meaning of exchange revealed through the anthropological perspective.
- what economic forces and cultural definitions contribute to the "underground economy" (Bourgeois)
- What is the social impact of the second hand clothing trade?
- How is inequality created and perpetuated?
XI. Week#11: November 17-19, The Global Economy
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 11, pages 295-331
CA reader, Chapter 11
And This one TOO
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is an economy, and what is its purpose?
---What are the roots of today's global economy?
---What are the dominant organizing principles of the global economy today?
---How does today's global economy link worker's with consumers worldwide?
---How is today's global economy reshaping migration?
---Is today's global economic system sustainable?
November 17 Class Discussion Opener: Economies exist on a global scale
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is an economy, and what is its purpose?
---What are the roots of today's global economy?
---What are the dominant organizing principles of the global economy today?
---How does today's global economy link worker's with consumers worldwide?
---How is today's global economy reshaping migration?
---Is today's global economic system sustainable?
November 17 Class Discussion Opener: Economies exist on a global scale
- what is "neoliberalism" and how has it arranged the global economy?
- How is migration a function of global markets? How does this migration impact cultures?
- How would an anthropologist understand crypto-currencies?
XII. Week#12: November 24, Politics and Power
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 12, pages 333-361
CA reader, Chapter 12
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---How do anthropologists view the origins of political history?
---What is the state?
---How is globalization affecting the state?
---What is the relationship among politics, the state, violence, and war?
---How do people mobilize power outside of the state's control?
November 21 Class Discussion Opener: Are warfare and violence an inevitable part of human existence?
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---How do anthropologists view the origins of political history?
---What is the state?
---How is globalization affecting the state?
---What is the relationship among politics, the state, violence, and war?
---How do people mobilize power outside of the state's control?
November 21 Class Discussion Opener: Are warfare and violence an inevitable part of human existence?
- Is warfare universal according to Mead?
- What determines the levels of violence in a culture?
- What is Nordstrom's definition of shadow networks and how do they relate to modern warfare?
- what truths about warfare are revealed through the anthropological perspective?
No Class November 26: Thanksgiving
XIII. Week#13: December 1-3, Religion and Systems of Meaning
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 13, pages 363-393
CA reader, Chapter 13
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is religion?
---What tools do anthropologists use to understand how religion works?
---In what ways is religion both a system of meaning and a system of power?
---How is globalization changing religion?
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is religion?
---What tools do anthropologists use to understand how religion works?
---In what ways is religion both a system of meaning and a system of power?
---How is globalization changing religion?
XIV. Week#14a: December 8, Health, Illness and the Body
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 14, pages 395-423
CA reader, Chapter 14
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---How does culture shape our ideas of health and illness?
---How do different cultural conceptions of the body affect health practices?
---How can anthropologists help solve health-care problems?
---Why does the distribution of health and illness mirror wealth and power?
---How is globalization changing the experience of health and illness and the practice of medicine?
December 3 Class Discussion Opener: Health, Illness and the Body
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---How does culture shape our ideas of health and illness?
---How do different cultural conceptions of the body affect health practices?
---How can anthropologists help solve health-care problems?
---Why does the distribution of health and illness mirror wealth and power?
---How is globalization changing the experience of health and illness and the practice of medicine?
December 3 Class Discussion Opener: Health, Illness and the Body
- What is the "political economy of disease" and why is it needed to understand health and illness?
- What is "structural violence" and how does it shape individual experiences?
- How does labor migration impact health and illness?
XV. Week#14b: December 10, Art, Media and Cultural Representation
Readings: EoCA, Chapter 15, pages 425-449
CA reader, Chapter 15
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is art?
---What is unique about how anthropologists study art?
---What is the relationship between art and power?
---How do art and media intersect?
Key Concepts/learning objectives:
---What is art?
---What is unique about how anthropologists study art?
---What is the relationship between art and power?
---How do art and media intersect?
Last Day of classes. December 10
December 14-18 Finals week
Final Exam TBA (weeks 8-15)
Class Grading:
Midterm: 50 total points
Final: 50 total points
Class Discussion Openers 50 points (5 points each/10 plus 1)
Total Possible Points: 150
146-150 A+
140-145 A
135-139 A-
130-134 B+
124-129 B
118-123 B-
114-117 C+
109-113 C
102-108 C-
97-101 D+
93-96 D
90-92 D-
below 90 F
Class Grading:
Midterm: 50 total points
Final: 50 total points
Class Discussion Openers 50 points (5 points each/10 plus 1)
Total Possible Points: 150
146-150 A+
140-145 A
135-139 A-
130-134 B+
124-129 B
118-123 B-
114-117 C+
109-113 C
102-108 C-
97-101 D+
93-96 D
90-92 D-
below 90 F
