Course Description
This course will focus on the study of human beings around the world. The goal is to understand what it means to be human by exploring the similarities and differences of human cultures. Students will examine how people organize their work, bring meaning to their lives, create families, resolve disputes, and exercise power over each other. The course will explore some methods anthropologists have used to study culture, recent changes in their theories of culture, and the ethics of studying others. (3 credits)
Prerequisite
- None
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Identify and describe the variety of ways of being human measured by a quiz which will ask about terms and definitions
- Become aware of one’s own, often unconscious, tendency toward ethnocentrism as measured by quizzes which will ask about definitions and terms, and participation in threaded discussions on the topic
- Define key terms used in anthropology and discuss how anthropologists view the world as measured by quizzes
- Compare and contrast cultural practices of distinctive culture areas the world in threaded discussions and semester project
- Discuss and evaluate the ethical and political issues associated with the anthropological study of post-colonialism, neo-imperialism, and globalization as measured by threaded discussions and semester project
- Define and discuss anthropological theories and methods and use them in critical ways to questions of the modern world as measured in quizzes, threaded discussions and semester project.
Course Activities and Grading
| Assignments | Weight |
|---|---|
Weekly participation in discussion board. | 30% |
Three quizzes. (Weeks 4, 8, and 12) | 30% |
Semester project: 10 journal entries each critiquing a news article about anthropology or another culture. (Weeks 6, 10, and 15) | 20% |
Final exam which will be composed of three essay questions chosen randomly from those provided to students. (Week 15) | 20% |
Total | 100% |
Additional Grading Information
- There is no Midterm Exam. Midterm grades will be based on Quiz 1, semester project (first 4 entries), and discussion for first 7 weeks.
- Ten to twelve Final Exam questions will be posted in the course shell. Each student will be randomly assigned 3 questions to answer with a 5 paragraph essay. Answers are to be sent to Turnitin.com, and ALSO emailed to the professor.
Required Textbooks
Available through Charter Oak State College's online bookstore
- Haviland, William, Harald Prins, Dana Walrath, and Bunny McBride. Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge. 14th ed. Cengage, 2013. ISBN-10: 1133957420 or ISBN-13: 978-1133957423
Course Schedule
Week | SLOs | Readings and Exercises | Assignment(s) |
1 | 1, 3, 5, 6 | Topic: Anthropology: Mirror for Humanity
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2 | 1, 2, 3 | Topic: The Characteristics of Culture
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3 | 1, 2, 5 | Topic: Ethnographic Research
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4 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Language and Communication
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5 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Social Identity, Personality and Gender
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6 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Patterns of Subsistence
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7 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Economic Systems
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8 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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9 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Kinship and Descent
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10 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Grouping by Gender, Age, Common Interest and Class
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11 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Politics, Power and Violence
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12 | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Topic: Spirituality, Religion and the Supernatural Readings: Text: Chapter 13 |
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13 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Topic: Processes of Change
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14 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Topic: Global Challenges, Local Responses and the Role of Anthropology, Part I
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15 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Topic: Global Challenges, Local Responses and the Role of Anthropology, Part II |
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| Final Exam Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 SLOs 1-6 | |||
COSC Accessibility Statement
Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.
COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources
Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.