What's posted here?
Schedule of readings, notes, slides, tests, and due dates: Shows what you should read before the class on each date. Some readings are in the assigned books. Others are links to online material. The schedule also shows dates of tests, assignment due dates, and so on. Lecture notes for each class are usually posted in advance, while the Powerpoint slides are usually posted after it. Some people print the the lecture notes and bring them to class to take notes on, rather than trying to write everything down. The notes are useful for studying and preparing assignments, but they do not necessarily make sense on their own, and they do not cover everything in the readings. They are no substitute for reading the assigned material and attending class.
The schedule will be adjusted during the semester, so check it frequently for current readings and deadlines.Handouts: The syllabus, assignment details, study guides, and so on.
Links: Links to other web pages about subjects we cover. These are completely optional, but may help you study or pursue questions raised by the course. Many have good photos or maps that add a visual element to the readings. All are recommended, and many are fun.
Email: Click the "Email me!" button to ask me a question or make a comment, or to turn in the computer version of an assignment. If you are not using your own computer, be sure to include your email address in the message so I can reply.
Everything on this site has been scanned for viruses and is safe to the best of my knowledge.
So why come to lectures?
First, hearing me explain the notes and slides will be far clearer than trying to figure them out without help. Second, numerous studies show that you understand and remember things better if you get the information in various different ways, like reading, hearing, and seeing. Third, you can ask questions, and listen as others ask questions that you might not have thought of. Finally, I fill in details, explain arguments, and highlight the important points, which should make it easier to see the big picture rather than getting lost in the details.
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.
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 items may take many seconds or minutes to load, especially with a telephone modem.
- Tuesday, Feb. 2: Introduction to the course
- Thursday, Feb. 4: What is anthropology?
- Notes (31 Kb)Slides (1.6 Mb)
- Bonvillain 2006 - Extracts from Ch. 1, "What is Anthropology?" in Cultural Anthropology (17 pgs, 1.4 Mb)
- Malinowski 1922 - Extract on fieldwork from Argonauts of the Western Pacific (5 pgs, plus some photos, 3.5 Mb)
- Notes (31 Kb)
- Tuesday, Feb. 9: The concept of culture: deeper than you think
- Notes (38 Kb)Slides (2.9 Mb)
- Kluckhohn 1949 - "Queer Customs" in Classic Readings in Cultural Anthropology (7 pgs, 81 Kb)
- Middleton 2003 - "Culture Shock" in The Challenge of Human Diversity (17 pgs, 105 Kb)
- Notes (38 Kb)
- Thursday, Feb. 11: Race and ethnicity
- Notes (35 Kb)Slides (1.3 Mb)
- Kottak 2005, extracts on race and ethnicity, in Kottak 2005, Mirror for Humanity (13 pgs, 1.2 Mb)
- Fish 1995, "Mixed Blood", in Spradley & McCurdy 2003, Conformity and Conflict (10 pgs, 72 Kb)
- Notes (35 Kb)
- Tuesday, Feb. 16: Understanding and judging others
- Notes (16 Kb)Slides (375 Kb)
- Robbins on culture, ethnocentrism, and morality: pp. 1-15 (15 pgs)
- Nanda and Warms 2002 - Extract on "Emic and Etic" in Cultural Anthropology (1 pg, 224 Kb)
- Kottak 2002 - Extract on "Emic and Etic" in Cultural Anthropology (2 pgs, 238 Kb)
- Notes (16 Kb)
- Thursday, Feb. 18: Anthropological methods: Ethnography
- Notes (39 Kb)Slides (1.0 Mb)
- Robbins on ethnographic fieldwork: pp. 15-20 (6 pgs)
- Lee Chapter 1, Introduction to doing fieldwork among the Ju/'hoansi: pp. 1-8 (8 pgs)
- Monaghan and Just 2000 - "Chapter 1, A Dispute in Donggo: Fieldwork and Ethnography", in Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction (21 pgs, 494 Kb)
- Notes (39 Kb)
- Tuesday, Feb. 23: Explaining culture in terms of adaptation, meaning, or system
- Notes (24 Kb)Slides (2.6 Mb)
- Middleton 2003 - Extracts from "Our Lived Difference" in The Challenge of Human Diversity (15 pgs, 147 Kb)
- Robbins on adaptations to poverty in El Barrio: pp. 267-273 (7 pgs)
- Lee Chapter 2, The People of the Dobe Area: pp. 9-22 (14 pgs)
- Notes (24 Kb)
- Thursday, Feb. 25: Explaining culture: cultural materialism and culture as text
- Notes (30 Kb)Slides (3.5 Mb)
- Robbins on reading the "text" of Dr. Watson's watch, the Balinese cockfight, and the Happy Meal: pp. 20-36 (17 pgs)
- Salzman 2001 - Extract on materialism from Understanding Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theory (9 pgs, 119 Kb)
- Lee Chapter 3, Environment and Settlement in the Dobe area: pp. 23-36 (14 pgs)
- Notes (30 Kb)
- Tuesday, Mar. 2: Catch-up: Finish Culture as system, begin Cultural materialism and culture as text
- Review and think about last week's readings.
- Thursday, Mar. 4: Making a living: foraging
- Notes (38 Kb)Slides (2.6 Mb)
- Robbins on subsistence and foraging: pp. 40-47 (8 pgs)
- Lee Chapter 4, Foraging for a living: pp. 37-58 (22 pgs)
- Notes (38 Kb)
- Tuesday, Mar. 9: Making a living: agriculture and pastoralism
- Notes (35 Kb)Slides (3.6 Mb)
- Robbins on agriculture: pp. 47-52 (6 pgs)
- Pospisil 1978 - Extract on agricultural subsistence from The Kapauku Papuans of West New Guinea (11 pgs, 77 Kb)
- Fratkin 2004 - Extracts on pastoralism from Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya (15 pgs, 188 Kb)
- Lee Chapter 10, The herding and farming neighbors of the Ju/'hoansi: pp. 141-150 (10 pgs)
- Notes (35 Kb)
- Thursday, Mar. 11: Economic exchange embedded in social relations
- Notes (36 Kb)Slides (1.7 Mb)
- Cronk 1989 - Strings Attached, in Applying Cultural Anthropology (5 pgs, 81 Kb)
- Robbins on how we communicate and more by exchanging goods: pp. 221-232 (12 pgs)
- Harris 1974 - The Potlatch, in Classic Readings in Cultural Anthropology (9 pgs, 79 Kb)
- Optional: Malinowski 1932 [1922] - Extract about Kula exchange, from Argonauts of the Western Pacific (www.archive.org) This is the classic description of the Kula exchange ring that Robbins refers to on page 222, with pictures. (15 pgs, 2.1 Mb)
- Notes (36 Kb)
- Tuesday, Mar. 16: Social and economic hierarchies
- Notes (43 Kb)Slides (623 Kb)
- Robbins on social and economic inequality: pp. 244-256 (13 pgs)
- Lee Chapter 8, Conflict, Politics, and Exchange: pp. 109-123 (15 pgs)
- Notes (43 Kb)
- Thursday, Mar. 18: Naturalizing inequality: Social race and gender This material will be on the final exam, not the midterm.
- Notes (33 Kb)Slides (2.1 Mb)
- Robbins on naturalizing hierarchies of race and intelligence: pp. 257-265 (9 pgs)
- McIntosh 1988 - White Privilege, in Applying Cultural Anthropology (4 pgs, 392 Kb)
- Friedl 1978 - Society and Sex Roles, in Classic Readings in Cultural Anthropology (7 pgs, 78 Kb)
- Robbins on the Hutterites, a non-stratified society: pp. 274-277 (4 pgs)
- Lee Appendix A, Eating Christmas in the Kalahari: pp. 207-216 (6 pgs)
- Notes (33 Kb)
- Tuesday, Mar. 23: Midterm exam
- No additional reading
- Thursday, Mar. 25: Catch-up: Finish hierarchies and naturalizing inequality
- See the notes and slides posted under Thursday, March 18.
- Review and think about last week's readings. Don't assume there will be no quiz on them!
- Tuesday, Mar. 30: Constructing identity: self, group, and rites of passage
- Notes (34 Kb)Slides (1.1 Mb)
- Robbins on personhood and identity: pp. 206-212 (7 pgs)
- Saitoti 1986 - The Initiation of a Maasai Warrior, in Annual Editions: Anthropology 2004/2005 (5 pgs, 390 Kb)
- Simmons 1998 - Where Fat Is a Mark of Beauty, in Annual Editions: Anthropology 2004/2005 (2 pgs, 149 Kb)
- Notes (34 Kb)
- Thursday, Apr. 1: Constructing identity: gender and gender roles
- Notes (36 Kb)Slides (1.1 Mb)
- Robbins on constructing male and female identities: pp. 212-221 (10 pgs)
- Kottak 2005 - Extract on gender and sexual orientation from Mirror for Humanity (3 pgs, 28 Kb)
- Williams 1986 - The Berdache Tradition, in Annual Editions: Anthropology 2004/2005 (6 pgs, 567 Kb)
- Fernea and Fernea 1986 - Symbolizing Roles: Behind the Veil, in Conformity and Conflict (8 pgs, 404 Kb)
- Notes (36 Kb)
- Tuesday, Apr. 6: Spring Break - No class meeting
- Apply sunscreen!
- Consider reading Chavez while you have plenty of time...
- Thursday, Apr. 8: Spring Break - No class meeting
- Catch some rays!
- Wouldn't this be a good time to read the rest of Chavez?
- Tuesday, Apr. 13: Catch-up: Constructing identity: gender and gender roles
- See the notes and slides posted under Thursday, April 1.
- Review and think about the readings for April 1. Don't assume there will be no quiz on them!
- This is very interesting material - don't miss it!
- Midterms are graded and will be returned in class.
- Thursday, Apr. 15: Furlough day: No class, and no email replies
- Chavez Chapters 1, 2, and 3: pp. 1-65 (65 pgs)
- I cannot reply to emails while on furlough.
- Tuesday, Apr. 20: Furlough day: No class, and no email replies
- Chavez Chapters 4, 5, and 6: pp. 67-120 (54 pgs)
- I cannot reply to emails while on furlough.
- Thursday, Apr. 22: Family, kinship, and descent
- Notes (36 Kb)Slides (480 Kb)
- Robbins on kinship and families: pp. 168-193 (26 pgs)
- Lee Chapter 5, Kinship and social organization: pp. 59-76 (18 pgs)
- Notes (36 Kb)
- Tuesday, Apr. 27: Forms of marriage, residence, and their logic
- Notes (25 Kb)Slides (1.5 Mb)
- Lee Chapter 6, Marriage and sexuality: pp. 77-90 (14 pgs)
- Yuan & Mitchell 2000 - Land of the Walking Marriage, in Talking About People, Readings in Contemporary Cultural Anthropology (3 pgs, 297 Kb)
- Goldstein 1987 - When Brothers Share a Wife, in Through the Looking Glass, Readings in General Anthropology (7 pgs, 244 Kb)
- Notes (25 Kb)
- Thursday, Apr. 29: Language and thought
- Notes (52 Kb)Slides (1.1 Mb)
- Kottak 2002 - Extract on animal communication from Cultural Anthropology (4 pgs, 432 Kb)
- Kottak 2005 - Extract on language from Mirror for Humanity (7 pgs, 566 Kb)
- Robbins on language, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and metaphor: pp. 123-134 (12 pgs)
- Robbins on metaphor in politics: pp. 157-163 (7 pgs)
- Thomson 1975 - The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Worlds Shaped by Words, in Conformity and Conflict (8 pgs, 161 Kb)
- Notes (52 Kb)
- Sunday, May 2: Interview with an immigrant optional DRAFT due
- If you choose to submit a draft of your interview with an immigrant paper, it is due by midnight, Sunday, May 2.
- Tuesday, May 4: Catch-up: Language and thought
- Review and think about the readings for April 29. Don't assume there will be no quiz on them!
- Lee Chapter 11, Perceptions and directions of social change: pp. 151-166 (16 pgs)
- Thursday, May 6: Sociolinguistics
- Notes (33 Kb)Slides (778 Kb)
- Kottak 2005 - Extract on sociolinguistics from Mirror for Humanity (8 pgs, 523 Kb)
- Rickford 1997 - Suite for Ebony and Phonics, in Applying Cultural Anthropology (5 pgs, 141 Kb)
- Tannen 1994 - Conversation Style: Talking on the Job, from Conformity and Conflict (8 pgs, 165 Kb)
- Malz & Borker 1982 - A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication, in Applying Cultural Anthropology (10 pgs, 227 Kb)
- Notes (33 Kb)
- Tuesday, May 11: Religion, witchcraft, and magic
- Notes (29 Kb)Slides (1.4 Mb)
- Kottak 2005 - Extract on religion, in Mirror for Humanity (5 pgs, 158 Kb)
- Evans-Pritchard 1937 - The Notion of Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events, in Classic Readings in Cultural Anthropology (9 pgs, 631 Kb)
- Gmelch 2000 - Baseball Magic, in Conformity and Conflict, Readings in Cultural Anthropology (10 pgs, 68 Kb)
- Lee Chapter 9, Religion, world view, and healing: pp. 125-140 (16 pgs)
- Notes (29 Kb)
- Thursday, May 13: Religion, ritual, and creating and maintaining belief
- Notes (26 Kb)Slides (4.0 Mb)
- Robbins on ritual, belief, interpretive drift, and rationalizing: pp. 134-147 (14 pgs)
- Robbins on revitalization movements: pp. 152-157 (6 pgs)
- Kottak 2005 - Extract on religions, revitalization movements, cargo cults, and ritual, in Mirror for Humanity (6 pgs, 388 Kb)
- Notes (26 Kb)
- Sunday, May 16: Interview with an immigrant paper due
- The final draft of your interivew with an immigrant paper is due by midnight, Sunday, May 16.
- Tuesday, May 18: Globalization: impacts and reactions
- Notes (19 Kb)No slides
- Lee Chapter 12, The Ju'/hoansi today: pp. 167-192 (26 pgs)
- Bestor 2000 - How Sushi Went Global, in Podolefsky & Brown 2003 Applying Cultural Anthropology (7 pgs, 703 Kb)
- Turner 1993 - The Kayapo Resistance, in Conformity and Conflict, Readings in Cultural Anthropology (18 pgs, 777 Kb)
- Notes (19 Kb)
- Thursday, May 20: Globalization: Undocumented immigrants in California
- Notes (17 Kb)No slides
- Chavez: review earlier readings
- Chavez Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, Epilogue: pp. 121-200 (80 pgs)
- Notes (17 Kb)
Final exam week:
- Tuesday, May 25: Final Exam
- 5:00-6:50, in our regular classroom, Stevenson 1002
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.
- Syllabus: Anthropology 203.2, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Spring 2010 (34 Kb)
- Map: Location of North Light Books & Cafe relative to SSU (95 Kb)
- What plagiarism is and how to avoid it (6 Kb)
- Study guide for the midterm exam (16 Kb)
- "Interview with an Immigrant" instructions (27 Kb)
- Study guide for the final exam (17 Kb)
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.
...Discoveries and controversies
- Anthropology in the News. Links to the latest finds, discoveries, and controversies in cultural anthro, linguistics, biological anthro, and archaeology. Updated frequently.
- President Bush's speech on the marriage amendment. Can you spot the example of naive realism?
- American Anthropological Association's statement on the marriage amendment. Short and to the point. Also links to more extensive disussions.
- War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. The author's brief of a recent book on the paradoxical appeal of collective violence. The book starts with a quote from philosopher David Hume, saying the same thing back in 1740.
...Ethics in anthropology
- American Anthropological Association Code of Ethics.
- Anthro Ethics Cases 1-12 and Anthro Ethics Cases 13-25. Challenging real-life dilemmas from the AAA Handbook on Ethical Issues in Anthropology.
...University policies
- Important Policies and Procedures for Students: SSU policy details on adding and dropping classes, cheating and plagiarism, diversity, and so on.
...Annoyed by lack of classes, fee increases, furloughs, etc.?
- Contact your Governor or legislators: Names, phone numbers, emails, and addresses. Let'em know how you feel.
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology by Bruce OwenAnthropology 203.2, Sonoma State University, Spring 2010Copyright (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/203-10s.htmRevised: 20 May 2010