Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

50:070:213:01
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 9:05-10:00am
Cooper Street 213

Professor Cati Coe

405-407 Cooper Street, Room 214
Office hours: Mondays, 1-3pm or by appointment
phone: (856) 225-6455
email: ccoe@camden.rutgers.edu

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to one of the four major fields of anthropology---cultural anthropology---and to give you an appreciation of ways outside your own experience. After a brief introduction to key concepts in the field of cultural anthropology and a discussion of methods of research, we will begin to immerse ourselves in the lives of: the !Kung bands in the Kalahari Desert, a Shi'ite village in southern Iraq, an Apache community in the Southwest US, a Puerto Rican sugar cane plantation, and a Tongan migrant community. We will examine the cultures as well as the lives of particular individuals in these communities. Attention will be given to issues of cultural continuity and change, the relationships between individuals and their society, and what is universal in the human experience.

Five books are available at the campus bookstore.

shostak

Nisa
by Marjorie Shostak

fernea

Guests of the Sheik
by Elizabeth Fernea

basso

Wisdom Sits in Places by Keith Basso

mintz

Worker in the Cane by Sidney Mintz

small

Voyages
by Cathy Small

Please note: This is a reading intensive course. The readings are central to the lectures. Do not let yourself fall behind!

 

Requirements

1) Two Examinations (30% each)

2) Five Quizzes (6% each)

3) Attendance and Participation (10%)

To do by Friday, January 25th at the latest:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schedule of Readings, Films, Quizzes and Examinations

Date
Topics
Quiz/Exam
Where to be in the Readings
January 23
Orientation and Requirements

January 25-February 1

Some Concepts, A Bit of History, and a Guide to Reading the Texts and Viewing the Films

January 25
"Nacirema" by Harold Miner (1965) (on reserve)
January 28
Begin reading Nisa
January 30

Lec: The Concept of Culture and the Nature of Cultural Systems (continued)

February 1
Lec: On the Conduct of Inquiry in Cultural Anthropology
February 4

February 6-18

!Kung Bands of the Kalahari Desert

February 6
Quiz #1
Nisa completed
February 8
Begin reading Guests of the Sheik
February 11
Lec: Social and Political Organization
February 13
February 15
Film: "N!ai: The Story of a !Kung Woman" (1980)
February 18

Conclusions

Feb 20-March 5

A Shi'ite Village in Southern Irag

February 20
Quiz #2
Guests of the Sheik completed
February 22

 

Begin reading Wisdom Sits in Places
February 25

Lec: Fieldwork, Women's Worlds, the Abayeh, and Religion

Film: "Shi'ism: Awaiting the Hidden Imam" (2005)

February 27
February 29
March 3
March 5

By way of transition:
Film: "A Veiled Revolution" (1982)

March 7
Midterm Exam
Midterm

March 10-April 4

An Apache Community in the Southwest

March 10
Quiz #3
Wisdom Sits in Places completed
March 12
Film: "Geronimo and the Apache Resistance" (1988)
Begin reading Worker in the Cane
March 14
Lec: Kinship
March 17-21

Spring Break

   
March 24
March 26
Lec: Ways of Seeing the World
March 28 Lec: Sense of Place and Use of the Land    
March 31
Conclusions

April 2-18

A Capitalist Economy in Puerto Rico

April 2
Quiz #4
Worker in the Cane completed
April 4
Begin reading Voyages
April 7
Lec: Politics & Gender
April 9
Film: "Mi Puerto Rico"(1995)
April 11
Film: "Mi Puerto Rico" continued
April 14
Lec: Medicine
April 16
Lec: Religion & Race
April 18
Conclusions

April 21-May 2

A Pacific Island Community and its Diaspora

April 21
Quiz #5
Voyages completed
April 23
April 25
Lec: The Gift Economy and Commodities
April 28
April 30
Lec: Transnational Migration & Tonga
May 2
Conclusions
May 5

By way of Conclusion
Lec: Summary of the Themes of the Course

May 8, 9am

 

Final Exam