Anthropology 203.1: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Fall 2010

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What's posted here?

So why come to lectures?

Schedule of readings, notes, slides, tests, and due dates

This schedule will change, so don't rely on a printed copy. Read the assignments before the class session. Scroll down for more. Most items are PDF (Adobe Acrobat) files and should open in a new window to view, save, or print. Move it aside or close it to see this one again. If the PDF files do not open, install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader or a less standard but faster alternative, the free PDF-XChange Viewer.

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The slides are the Powerpoint presentations you see in class. They do not include all the information in the notes or readings. They should open in a new window. Navigate with PageUp/Down, Arrow Left/Right, Space/Backspace, Mouse clicks and scroll wheel, and Home/End to jump to the start or end of the presentation. Esc or close the window to quit. If your browser downloads the file, just double-click the file to open it. If your computer does not have Powerpoint, install the free Powerpoint viewer for Windows or Impress, part of the free OpenOffice for Macintosh.

User ID and Password: Due to copyright restrictions, many items require the class user ID and password. These are different from your Peoplesoft ID and password. If you can't recall them, email me.

Be patient: Some files are large and may take a while to load.

  1. Thursday, Aug. 26: Introduction to the course
  2. Tuesday, Aug. 31: What is anthropology?
  3. Thursday, Sept. 2: The concept of culture
  4. Tuesday, Sept. 7: Culture as meaning: constructs that affect us profoundly
    • Notes (38 Kb)Slides (2.6 Mb)
    • Fernea Chapters 2-4: pp. 24-56 (33 pgs)

  5. Thursday, Sept. 9: Race and ethnicity
  6. Tuesday, Sept. 14: Understanding and judging others
  7. Thursday, Sept. 16: Anthropological methods: Ethnography
  8. Tuesday, Sept. 21: Explaining culture in terms of adaptation, meaning, or system
  9. Thursday, Sept. 23: Explaining culture: cultural materialism and culture as text
  10. Tuesday, Sept. 28: Making a living: foraging
    • Notes (36 Kb)Slides (2.6 Mb)
    • Lee Chapter 4, Foraging for a living: pp. 37-58 (22 pgs)

  11. Thursday, Sept. 30: Making a living: agriculture and pastoralism
  12. Tuesday, Oct. 5: Reciprocity and socially embedded economic relations
  13. Thursday, Oct. 7: Catchup, review, exam preparation
    • Review the readings, notes, and slides so far, and bring questions!

  14. Tuesday, Oct. 12: Midterm exam
    • No additional reading

  15. Thursday, Oct. 14: Social and economic hierarchies
    • Notes (29 Kb)Slides (817 Kb)
    • Fernea Chapters 8: pp. 95-102 (8 pgs)
    • Lee Chapter 8, Conflict, Politics, and Exchange: pp. 109-123 (15 pgs)

  16. Tuesday, Oct. 19: An "exploitative" theory of social inequality: The Marxian model
  17. Thursday, Oct. 21: Naturalizing inequality: Social race and gender
  18. Tuesday, Oct. 26: Constructing identity: self, group, and rites of passage
  19. Thursday, Oct. 28: Constructing identity: gender and gender roles
  20. Tuesday, Nov. 2: Family, kinship, and descent
  21. Thursday, Nov. 4: Catch up: We actually cover part of family, kinship, and descent
  22. Tuesday, Nov. 9: Forms of marriage, residence, and their logic
    • Notes (82 Kb)Slides (1.4 Mb)
    • Quiz: review the readings for Nov. 2 and Nov. 4, as well as the new Fernea reading below.
    • Lecture: finished notes and slides posted under November 2.
    • The notes and slides posted for today will not be presented in class, but they might help you understand the readings for November 4 and 9. The slides include some graphics that may clarify the marriage and residence practices. The notes help to explain the slides.
    • Fernea Chapters 12-14: pp. 136-170 (35 pgs)
  1. Tuesday, Nov. 16: Language
  2. Thursday, Nov. 18: No class - I will be at the American Anthropological Association meeting
  3. Tuesday, Nov. 23 Sociolinguistics
  1. Tuesday, Nov 30: Religion, witchcraft, and magic
  1. Thursday, Dec. 2: Religion, ritual, and creating and maintaining belief
  2. Tuesday, Dec 7: Globalization
  1. Thursday, Dec 9: Globalization, catchup, last-minute business
    • In this class meeting we actually covered the notes and slides posted for Dec. 7, which refer to the readings below, as well.
    • Turner 1993 - The Kayapo Resistance, in Conformity and Conflict, Readings in Cultural Anthropology (18 pgs, 777 Kb)
    • Lee Chapter 12, The Ju'/hoansi today: pp. 167-192 (26 pgs)
    • Fernea Chapters 21-26 and Postscript: pp. 269-302, 305-333 (63 pgs)
    • Review the readings, notes, and slides so far, and bring questions!
    • Remember to bring and turn in a printed copy of your interview with an immigrant paper.

Final exam week:

Handouts

Scroll down if you don't see what you need. Click on the Handout that you want. If you have been here before, press your browser's "reload" button to see the latest additions.

Links to sites related to this course

Interesting, often illustrated, from easy to challenging... check these out. Many of these make excellent study aids for preparing for tests. All are optional. If you have been here before, press your browser's "reload" button to see the latest additions.

...News, discoveries, and controversies

...Specific subjects covered in class

...Ethics in anthropology

...University policies

...Annoyed by lack of classes, fee increases, etc.?

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology by Bruce Owen
Anthropology 203.1, Sonoma State University, Fall 2010
Copyright (c) 2010, Bruce Owen. All rights reserved.
Please send comments on content and presentation to bruce.owen@sonoma.edu.
URL of this document: http://bruceowen.com/introcultural/a203-10f.htm
Revised: 9 December 2010