Dallas L. Browne
Office: Peck 0227, Tel.:650-2138
Introduction to
Anthropology 111 Time: 8:00 - 8:55 A.M../M,W,F
Section 007 Office Hours 9:00- 10:00 A.M.
Classroom PH 0405 Web
Site: http://www.siue.edu/~dbrowne
Introduction to Anthropology: FALL 2003
Course Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to
fulfill the university's general education goals by helping students to learn
the processes anthropologists use to gain knowledge. They will become familiar with the philosophy
that guides anthropological research, and will understand the relationship of
anthropology to other major traditions of society. In the process, they will become acquainted
with the broad cultural foundation of human societies. Students will learn about communication
abilities that we share with other animals and the distinctive skills that set
us apart from other living creatures.
They will briefly study the role of religion, economics, politics and
kinship in culture.
Each student is expected to READ
ALL ASSIGNED MATERIAL, whether it is COVERED IN CLASS or NOT. You must TAKE GOOD NOTES on ALL READINGS and
LECTURES, as well as REVIEW these once each week in preparation for classroom
discussions and examinations. Knowledge
of basic terms, concepts, theories, vocabulary and important personalities is
required.
Course Requirements:
1. Vigorous class participation. This will count as ten percent of your course
grade. Prepare well.
2. Study
groups. To be explained in
class. Three persons per group.
3. Quizzes: Can be taken weekly on line through WebCT!
4.Controversial
essay. Imagine that you work
for the SIUE Anthropology Department. Your job is to help students your age and
rank who attend school at the KwaZulu University in Durban South Africa.
These students belong to the Zulu tribe.
English is their third language.
Up-to-date books are rare, yet Zulu youth hunger for accurate
information and they are eager to improve their English. They have heard a great anthropological
monograph by Shostok titled NISA!
Kung Woman. Imagine the
Department of Anthropology at SIUE has hired you as a teaching assistant for
their distant learning experiment. Your job is to study this
monograph and write an interesting, informative, exciting, and if possible
humorous review of this book. Remember
that English is not the mother tongue of your students, so keep your language
clear, simple, unambiguous, and easy to understand. Your review should try to
make your Zulu students excited by and interested in anthropological issues.
The Kung Bushmen live nearby, so they might be stimulated to visit them and
learn more if you write well. Legal racism known as apartheid has just recently
ended, but racial discrimination in schools and jobs lingers on and many young
Zulu despair. You can help to keep their
minds active until their tragic circumstances improve or they can find jobs and
hope. Give them the help that you would
want if you were in their shoes. Write a three-page review of this book.
Please purchase a clean folder and
print or type your full name, the course title and the course number on a
separate title page. In your review
raise interesting questions, such as “Why did the Kung have such difficulty
finding water?” “What natural signs did
the Kung look for to identify sources of water?,” “How
did the Kung traditionally cure illness?” “Did the Kung use natural herbs,
roots, etc. to cure illness?” “How did
the Kung know which natural substances were poisonous?” “What role did women play in their culture
and how were women treated?” “How does hunting and gathering influence their
culture and identity?” “How is their culture changing and why?” Use five KEY
WORDS correctly (identified by bold type in the Scupin
& Decorse textbook) from the reading, such as
egalitarianism, achepalous society (leaderless),
shaman, subsistence economy, animism, etc.
Your argument should contain five to seven major points that support
your thesis with evidence. Use examples
and or quotations three lines or longer from the Nisa
book to illustrate each point, where possible.
After demonstrating that you understand what you read, then write a page
that shows that you can use this information by relating it to what you are
learning in at least one other class, through reading, or from personal
experience. At the very end of your
review you can offer your opinion and state whether you liked or disliked the
book and whether you agreed or disagreed with the author and explain why, so
that your Zulu students will understand why you hold your views. Focus on one
central concept, such as the role of women to organize your ideas around. You should have at least one quotation per
page from the Nisa book.
This assignment
is worth 30% of your total grade. You should begin reading Nisa!
Kung Woman August 27, have read half the
book by September 15, and complete reading the
book by October 22, 2003. A FIRST DRAFT is due in
class for peer review on November 17, 2003.
The FINAL PAPER is DUE December 1, 2003 in class.
5.
Examinations. There will be
three examinations. The first exam is September 29, 2003.
The second exam is November
3, 2003. Your final examination begins at 8:00 A.M. on Monday December 15, 2003.
Prepare early and review often.
6. Quizzes.
May be given at any time. One class
period advance notice is customary.
7. Grading. A letter grade "C" indicates
acceptable performance; a grade of "B" indicates excellent
performance; and an
"A" is reserved for outstanding performance that demonstrates
originality and an
ability to apply what has been learned in this course to daily life or to
other
courses.
8. Summary of Grade:
a. Class participation.........…......................................................10%
b. Controversial book review essay..........................................30%
Due dates:
08/27, 08/29 - 09/01, 09/15, 10/01, 10/22, 11/17, 12/01
c. Examinations:
1. First
exam
09/29.......................................................................20%
2. Second exam
11/03..................................….............................20%
3. Final
exam
12/12.......................................…...........................20%
TOTAL 100%
#####Unless otherwise indicated, all in-class examinations will be
multiple-choice. All make-up exams will
be long answer essay examinations. The
questions will be selected from the questions which
follow each reading assignment.
9. Text
used: All students are expected
to have their own copies of the following text, which are
available from the
SIUE textbook rental center.
a.
Raymond Scupin & Christopher Decorse. Anthropology: A Global Perspective.
b. Cronk
and Bryant. Through The Looking Glass.
2nd Edition.
c. Shostak. Nisa! Kung Woman.
These books are available at the SIUE Textbook Rental Center and the SIUE library Reserve Desk.
COURSE
OUTLINE
DATE ASSIGNMENT TOPICS
M 08/25 Scupin pp. 2-19 Introduction to course and Orientation.
Cronk and Byrant. pp. 1-6
Everyman
1.What is anthropology? How do you describe the four major sub
disciplines within anthropology? What do
anthropologists in each sub-area do?
2.Be able to discuss participant observation,
holism, cultural relativity, and ethnocentrism.
W 08/27 Scupin pp. 47-57 Evolution:
Theory vs. hypothesis
Are
we closer to Angels or Apes?
1. Which
scholars and theories paved the way for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution?
2.How would you
explain Darwin's theory of evolution?
3. How would you describe Gregor
Mendel's genetic experiments and his particulate
theory of heredity?
4. Why does Melvin Konner believe that people
of every race, religion, and culture have far
more that unites them than separates them?
What is his evidence?
BEGIN READING THE BOOK NISA
AND TAKING NOTES ON IT.
F 08/29 Scupin. pp. 58-71 The
Mechanisms of Evolution: Natural Selection & Mutation
FILM: Evolution in Process 06 M 030
Questions 1.
Discuss the forces responsible for biological diversity among primates.
2. Discuss the role of mutation and natural
selection in evolution.
3. Discuss the role of random genetic drift,
recombination and gene flow in evolution.
M 09/01 LABOR DAY:
No class, use this time to read ahead, take notes, and review.
READ NISA FOR YOUR BOOK REVIEW.
W 09/03 Scupin. pp. 72-80 Primate
Relatives?
Are
monkeys our uncles?
F 09/05 Scupin pp. 80-98 Primate Evolution
1. List and explain the four major anthropological applications of primatology.
2. Explain what
differentiates primates from other types of mammals.
3. Discuss the
statement: "Primate evolution was directed toward an ultimate
primate - the human." Include in
your discussion some mention of primate characteristics and the evolutionary trends of primates.
4. Explain what
you think might have been the evolutionary process that led to the growth of
the human brain. Keep in mind that
archaeological evidence that hominid brain growth did not precede bipedalism, tool use or a home base and sharing.
M 09/08 FILM: Jane Goodall: A
Life in the Wild - The Chimpanzees # 145
W 09/10 Cronk & Bryant. Pp. 53-67 Primate Behavior Patterns
1. Explain the
significance of Smuts' conclusion in the article "What Are Friends
For?" which reads, "Maybe it is time to pay more attention to what
men must do, in order to obtain women's cooperation?" Do power and dominance play any role in sex?
Explain.
2. Why does
Barry Bogin claim that the stereotype that the Tutsi
tribe of Rwanda are the “world’s tallest people” is a
myth? What causes the short stature of Pygmies, genetics or their environment?
What did Ralph Garruto’s team discover caused
Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease among
the native Chamorro people of Guam?
What is the relationship between high calcium diets and brain damage due
to aluminum poisoning, paralysis, and death?
3. Explain why Cronk
believes that our bodies are adapted to a Stone Age conditions, which do not
fit our current lifestyles? This clash
leads to high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and a host of other
aliments. Do you agree or disagree with Cronk? Explain.
VISIT THE ST.
LOUIS ZOO/WRITE A ONE PAGE SUMMARY OF
PRIMATE OBSERVATION
F 09/12 FILM:
Apes and How They Live. Video.
M 09/15 Scupin
pp. 95-99 Sociobiology
& Human Behavior.
YOU SHOULD BE HALF
WAY THROUGH THE BOOK NISA AT THIS
POINT.
W 09/17 Scupin. pp. 100-114 Australopithecines/
Missing Links?
F 09/19 Scupin.
pp. 114-125 Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, & Neanderthals
1. When and why
did the "Great Leap Forward," occur?
Did modern humans automatically replace Neanderthals in Europe, the Near East and Asia?
2. Describe the
cultural life of early hominids and Neanderthals then compare and contrast them
with the cultural life of Homo Sapiens and Cro-Magnon.
3. What does the Piltdown Hoax tell us about
fraud and skepticism in science?
4. When, where
and for how long did the Neanderthals live?
What do you think caused their
extinction?
M 09/22 Cronk
& Bryant: 112-122 & 149-156 Diet,
Sex & Human Evolution.
Cronk & Bryant: 84-94 Ice
Age Women.
W 09/24 Scupin. pp. 147-166 Paleolithic/Oldowan,
Acheulian, Mousterian.
First Exam
Review: Time and place announced in class.
*****First exam coming Monday - Be prepared!!!
F 09/26 STUDY
DAY: Re-read, review, & prepare for exam.
M 09/29 FIRST EXAM:
Bring Number 2 pencil with an eraser.
*****
W 10/01 Review
FIRST EXAM in class.
CONTINUE READING THE LAST HALF OF NISA.
F 10/03 Scupin. pp. 127-137 Human
Variation & “Race”
1. Discuss the
statement that ". . . in diversity
lies strength and resilience" in relation to the eugenics movement of the
early 20th century.
M 10/06 Scupin.
pp. 138-146 What Do We Measure/Race & I.Q.
1. Why did
participants at the UNESCO symposium on race conclude, "It is false to see racism as the
mere consequence of economic phenomena, when it is not objective economic
situations that encourage racism but their subjective
interpretations." What did they
mean? Discuss this, using examples like Schinler's List and the holocaust, the Turkish massacre of
Albanians, race relation in Mississippi, etc.
2. Discuss
Ashley Montague’s findings when he re-examined Yerkes
Alpha Army Test administered to 1.5 million veterans during W.W.I. Why did Yerkes
believe that the 15 point reported difference in I.Q. between whites and blacks
was genetically determined and explain why Montague believed that this was due
to environmental factors?
W 10/08 Cronk & Bryant: 43-48 RACE:
Black, White, Other
Cronk & Bryant: 36-42 Ethnicity
F 10/10 Scupin. pp. 20-30 Archaeology
1. What are the
tenets of the "new" archaeology?
Use the Koster to provide examples.
2. Discuss the
three major goals or levels of analysis which archaeology has.
3. What does
archaeology have to tell us about the value of fossils and artifacts for the human species? Why does the preservation and study of
ancient artifacts and sites matter?
M 10/13 Scupin.
pp. 31-45 Relative vs. Absolute Dating
W 10/15 Cronk & Bryant: 94-112 Arrival
of the First Americans.
Cronk & Bryant: 123-130. Strings Attached.
1. Why are
hunters so nomadic? Why did people hunt for 4 million years?
2. Which came
first, pastoralism or farming?
3. Does farming
change the sexual division of labor & the value of children?
F 10/17 Scupin. pp. 335-357 Band
Societies, Leadership & Affluence
M 10/20 Scupin. pp. 168-182 Neolithic/Origins
of Agriculture
1. Was farming
invented once or many times? Where & Why?
2. How does
farming influence population growth and density?
3. Why do cities
occur only in societies with an agriculture base?
4. Can
hunter-gather groups build complex civilizations?
5. Whys do
private property and social inequality correlate with crime?
FILM: Slash and Burn Agriculture 06 M 043
W 10/22 Scupin. pp. 183-190 Population
Growth/Stratification
1. Are social
equality and stratification compatible?
2. Why do social
complexity and war correlate so highly?
3. Discuss the
theories of V. Gordon Childe, Bradford, Braidwood, & Bosorop.
4. Does
technological advancement equate with civilization? Control of energy?
YOU SHOULD HAVE READ NISA COMPLETELY
& BEGUN WRITING YOUR REVIEW.
F 10/24 Scupin. pp. 358-387 Tribe, Sodalities, Religion &
Art
M 10/27 FILM: Cahokia
Mounds: Ancient Metropolis. Video.
1.Choose two of the following anthropologists and
discuss their theories on the origin of civilization: Childe, Adams, Flannery, Hassan,
Haas, and Carniero.
2. Discuss
“Prime-Mover” theories, on the origin of civilization.
3. Compare the
ancient cities of the Old
World with the
ancient cities of the New
World.
4. Explain the
rise and fall of Cahokia. Do civilizations grow old and die?
5. Discuss the
role of invasion, economic decline, technological backwardness, value shifts, natural disasters, ecological
neglect, etc. in the fall of civilizations.
VISIT CAHOKIA
MOUNDS AND WRITE A ONE PAGE REPORT FOR EXTRA CREDIT.
W 10/29 Scupin. pp. 389-408 Chiefdoms,
Rank, Law, & Religion
Cronk & Bryant: 185-191 Judas
& Mayan Indian Culture
F 10/31 Scupin. pp. 409-426 State
Societies Caste, Divine Rulers, & Mediation
M 11/03 Scupin.
pp. 427-444 Industrial States
& Modernization, Class, Ethnicity
W 11/05 FILM:
Holy Ghost People
F 11/07 In
Class REVIEW for SECOND EXAM
M 11/10 SECOND EXAMINATION:
Bring a pencil & eraser to class. *****
W 11/12 Review
Second Exam in class.
F 11/14 Scupin. pp. 215-237 Culture
M 11/17 Scupin.
pp. 238-248 Freud, Culture
& Personality
***** FIRST DRAFT OF BOOK REVIEW ESSAY DUE IN CLASS/
PEER REVIEW.
W 11/19 Scupin. pp.249-264 What is ‘Abnormal’ Behaivor?
F 11/20 Shostak. Discuss
Nisa! Kung Woman
Paper due Monday December 1, 2003 *****
NOVEMBER 24-30 THANKSGIVING BREAK: No classes, read,
and review for FINAL EXAM
M 12/01 Scupin.
pp. 268-278 Language &
Culture
1. Discuss the
influence of culture on language and of language upon culture. Bringthe Sapir-Whorf hypothesis into your discussion.
2. Discuss the
difference between pidgins and creoles. How does the concept of diglossia
apply to the use of Haitian Creole and standard French in Haiti?
3. What are the cultural implications of the creation of a national language?
4. How does the U.S. compare to other cultures in terms of
touching? Note gender differences
in U.S. touching patterns.
5. Many people believed for centuries
that language made man closer to angels and put us above other primates. What implications does Koko's
ability to learn sign language and understand spoken speech have for this
belief?
PAPER DUE IN CLASS, typed
and corrected.
W 12/03 FILM:
Washoe-Teaching Sign Language to a Chimpanzee 12 M 516
FILM: With or Without Words # J 3
F 12/05 Scupin. pp. 279-293 Chomsky,
Sapir-Whorf, Kinesics, & Proximecs
M 12/08 Cronk & Bryant:130-140 Kinship,
Marriage, & Gender
W 12/10 FILM:
Not Without My Veil. # 88
1. In many hunting and gathering societies women
bring in a greater proportion of the daily diet than men do. Why then, according to Friedl,
do men still have some dominance in most foraging
societies?
2. How does purdah limit women’s access to family planning
services? What is Gameen
Bank’s strategy for reducing women’s isolation?
Explain the use of contraceptives and economics. What do women mean when
they say that through Gameen Bank they have “learned
to talk”?
3. What values
do Chinese instill in their children? Explain how working Chinese mothers
provide childcare. Describe kindergarten
children's punishment. Why did Mao
consider it important that Chinese women work outside of the home? Has the large number of women in the Chinese
workforce contributed to social or psychological problems for youth or to the
decline of the Chinese family? Boys are
“little princes” and valued more than girls are - why? Why do some rivers have signs that read “Do
not dump the bodies of dead female infants here”?
F 12/12 In
class review for FINAL EXAM. Bring a pencil, eraser & lots of
preparation.
BEST
OF LUCK TO EACH OF YOU!
FINAL EXAMINATION, Monday, December 15, 2003
in PH 0405 from 8:00 – 9:40 A.M.
*****If you need your final grade before it is
officially available through the Registrar then please supply Dr. Browne with a
STAMPED, SELF-ADDRESSED POSTCARD requesting your grade.