AN240, Fall 2003 TR
Instructor:
Dr. Bilinda Straight
Moore
Hall 118; Tel: 387-0409
email: bilinda DOT straight AT wmich.edu
Office
Hours: T,W,R
Web
Page: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~bstraigh
Principles of
Culture
This course is an introduction to the basic concepts, theoretical approaches, and methodological strategies employed in the study of traditional and contemporary sociocultural systems throughout the world. Attention will be given to research techniques and the insights derived from detailed case studies and cross-cultural comparisons. We will read some of the liveliest anthropological scholarship spanning the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Our discussions of these works will be complemented by films, activities, and a few demonstrations.
Required
Course
Hurston, Zora
Neal. 1935. Mules and Men.
Powdermaker, Hortense.
1966. Stranger and Friend.
Turner, Edith. 1992. Experiencing
Ritual: A New Interpretation of
African Healing.
Nanda, Serena. 1999. Neither Man Nor
Woman: The Hijras of
Holtzman, Jon. 2000. Nuer
Journeys, Nuer Lives: Sudanese
Refugees in
Also, On Reserve: Anthropology and Humanism
Volume 27, Number 1 (June 2002). Special Issue: Conflict at the
Grading
(See Grading Key for
complete instructions)
| Attendance 20% | |
| Exercises20% | Essay One 20% |
| Essay Two20% |
Attendance
(20% of grade)
Your
presence and participation are essential to the quality of the
experience for
others as well as yourself. Your attendance grade will be based on the
number
of days you are absent, calculated as points missed on a one-hundred
percent
scale. For example, if you attended 23 of 26 classes you would have 88
½% for
your attendance grade, which would be about 18 out of 20 possible
points for
this portion of your grade. You are allowed one excused absence only,
with
fully documented, appropriate excuse. Additional excused absences will
be fully
at my discretion (conference attendances are encouraged but only one
can be
used for an excused absence; additional conferences, family trips,
alternative
speakers or venues are your choice and will be tolerated but not
excused).
Reading
Proofs (20% of
grade)
There
will be no formal examinations in this class. However, I do expect you
to come
prepared to each class, having carefully read the assigned readings.
You will
be asked at each class to spend five minutes (and no more) writing an
answer to
a question (or two) I will pose. Your ability to answer these questions
will of
course depend on your having done the reading. You will get a 0 for the
day if
it is clear that you haven’t read. You will get a 1 for the day
if you have,
and a high pass (1.2) if your answer reflects a great deal of
thoughtfulness.
Your reading proofs grade will be calculated like your attendance
grade, but in
this case your high passes will allow you to get more than 20% of the
spread to
boost your overall grade.
Exercises
(20% of grade)
There
will be periodic small assignments relating to the topics we are
covering. Many
of these will be accomplished in class, although some will require work
outside
of class time. Combined, they will account for 20% of your overall
grade.
Essay
One
(20% of grade)
Using
the books we have read so far, write an essay on the topic of your
choice.
Suggestions will be given on a handout.
Essay
Two (20% of grade)
Using
the books and articles from the second half of the course, write an
essay on
the topic of your choice. Suggestions will be given on a handout.
Citation
method for essays:
Include a bibliography for anything you cite. When you cite, quote,
or paraphrase in text, put an in-text citation in parentheses
(author’s last
name, date, page number if a direct quote).
It looks like this: (Straight 1997) for citation or paraphrase,
(Straight 1997: 37) for direct quote. You should always cite when you
are
drawing upon someone’s research or ideas. If you conduct any of
your own
interviews, you should create pseudonyms for your respondents and cite
quotations from those interviews like this (Miller interview, 2002).
Academic
Integrity: You are
responsible for
making yourself aware of and understanding the
policies
and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog (pp. 268-269)/Graduate
Catalog (pp.
26-27) that pertain to academic integrity. These policies include
cheating,
fabrication, falsification
and
forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer
misuse. If
there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic
dishonesty, you
will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. You will be given
the
opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe
you
are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You
should
consult with me if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty
prior
to the submission of an assignment or test.
Bilinda Straight’s
Grading Key
All
letter grades are converted into a quantitative grade and quantitative
grades
into a qualitative grade for the semester (see key below). All
quantitative
semester grades are multiplied by the percentage of the spread they
represent.
Thus, if attendance is worth 20% of the grade, it would be calculated
as
follows: If you were absent 3 times out of 30 total class days, you
would be
counted as absent 3 times. Three out of 30 is 10 percent absence, or
90%
presence. So you have a 90 on attendance,
multiplied by 20%
of the spread, gives you 18. All grades thus calculated are
added
together to equal the total percentage out of one hundred.
Your semester grade is then calculated as per
the key below. Using this key and instructions, you can keep track of
your own
grade as the semester progresses, but always feel free to ask me for
assistance
in calculating it.
Grade Scale for Final Grades
97-100
A+
94-96
A
87-93
BA
84-86
B
77-83
CB
74-76
C
67-73
DC
60-66
D
below 60 E
Course schedule
Remember, as John Lennon
said, life is what happens while you're making other plans.
As Buddha said, change is
inherent in the universe.
Week One: 8/28
Topics: Overview of course (10
minutes). Introduction to Sub-Fields of
Anthropology (10
minutes).
Activities: Film:
Week
Two: 9/2 and 9/4
Week Three: 9/9 and 9/11
Thursday Activity: Transcribing a spoken
story excerpt with dialogue
Week Four: 9/16 and 9/18
Week Five: 9/23 and 9/25
Topics: Anthropology of exchange;
discussion of Powdermaker’s book
Tuesday Activity: Marriage Game (with
moieties, cross-cousin marriage)—20 minutes
Thursday Activity: Cost/benefit, “rational
choice” prestige game (with Hershey Kisses)—20 minutes
Week Six: 9/30 and 10/2
Week Seven: 10/7 and 10/9
Topics: Approaches to conflict,
conflict in fieldwork experience, critical approaches to reading and
writing
anthropology
Week Eight: 10/14 and 10/16
Topics: Victor Turner and symbolic
approaches to anthropology, art and aesthetics
Activities: Material Culture
Demonstrations
Reading: Edith Turner, Preface
through Chapter Two (pp. xi-53).
ESSAY ONE
DUE OCTOBER 14th IN CLASS
Week Nine: 10/21 and 10/23
Topics: Rationality arguments,
problem of belief; discussion of film
Activities: Film: Inventing Reality.
Week Ten: 10/28 and 10/30
Topics: Phenomenological and
experiential approaches, religion, belief
Activities: Ritual (with write-up
assignment)
For Next Tuesday: Gendering in Television
Ads Assignment (handed out)
Week Eleven: 11/4 and 11/6
Topics: Gender: critical
approaches
Tuesday Activity:
Gendering in
television ads assignment discussion
Thursday Activity: Film Shorts: “XXXY” and
“No Dumb Questions”
Week Twelve: 11/11 and 11/13
Topics: Gender and transgender
Tuesday Activity: Film, “
Week Thirteen: 11/18 NO CLASS 11/20 (Anthro Mtgs)
Topics: Globalization and
inequality, issues in economic development
Activities: Participatory Development Strategic Mapping
Week Fourteen: 11/25 NO CLASS 11/27
(Thanksgiving)
Topics: Refugee issues,
anthropology of peace and war
Tuesday Activity: Refugee exercise
Week Fifteen: 12/2 and 12/4
Topics: Applied anthropology on
Tuesday; Review of Course and concluding discussions on Thursday
ESSAY TWO
DUE FINALS WEEK