156-100 Syllabus
Varieties of World Culture
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Spring 2006
Instructor: Dr. Lynn Walter Lecture: 10 MWF in WH 215
Office: MAC B308 Phone: 465-2474
Office Hours: M W 1-2, T 2-3 E-mail: walterl@uwgb.edu
Webpage: http://www.uwgb.edu/walterl/culture
Texts:
Robbins, Richard H. Cultural Anthropology. 4th edition.
Loftin, John D., Religion and Hopi Life in the Twentieth Century.
Benjamin, Gail R., Japanese Lessons.
Apffel-Marglin, Frédérique, “Counter-Development in the Andes” (e-reserve)
Farrell, Elizabeth “Getting Schooled in Student Life” (e-reserve)
Requirements Possible Points
1st Exam 50
2nd Exam 50
Final Exam (includes a Map) 50
Total Points 150
Course Description: This course will explore the concepts of culture, cultural relativism and ethnocentrism, subsistence base, and adaptation in order to understand our various ways of living and the meaning we make of them. In order to accomplish these goals, we will study a number of different cultures, placing these in a framework provided by the textbook, Cultural Anthropology. We will also examine why and how cultures change and what relationships exist between culture, subsistence base, and the natural environment. Finally, we will address the questions of whether the changes in cultures over time are positive or negative and what anthropology's role should be in addressing contemporary human problems.
SCHEDULE
Week 1 Introduction to the Course of Study, The Concepts of Culture, Cultural
Jan. 17-20 Relativism and Ethnocentrism
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 1.
Week 2 Hunters & Gatherers: The Baka
Jan. 22-27
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 2.
Film: "The Baka"
Week 3 Family and Kinship
Jan. 30-Feb. 3
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 5.
Week 4 Subsistence Agriculturalists: Hopi
Feb. 6-10
Reading: Religion and Hopi Life, Introduction, Chapters 1-3 (omit pp. 38-56)
Film: "Slash & Burn Agriculture"
Week 5 The Hopi
Feb. 13-17
Reading: Religion and Hopi Life, Chapters 4-6.
Film: "Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World"
Week 6 ****FIRST EXAM, Monday, Feb. 20.
Feb. 20-24
Intensive to Industrial Agriculture
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 4.
Week 7 Class Hierarchy and States: India
Feb. 27-Mar. 3
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 7.
Week 8 Gender Hierarchy and States: India & Iraq
Mar. 6-10
Film: "Dadi's Family"
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 6.
Week 9 Continued.
Mar. 13-17
Reading: Apffel-Marglin, Frédérique, “Counter-Development in the Andes” (e-reserve)
Spring Break
March 18-26
Week 10 Ethnic/Racial Hierarchy and States: the Otavalo
Mar. 27-31 http://www.pbs.org/race/002_SortingPeople/002_00-home.htm
Week 11 ****SECOND EXAM, Monday, April 3.
Apr. 3-7
Culture, Nation and Pluralism
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 3
Japanese Lessons, Chapters 1-4.
Week 12 Education and Culture: Japan & the U.S.
Apr. 10-14
Reading: Japanese Lessons, Chapters 5-9.
Farrell, Elizabeth “Getting Schooled in Student Life” (e-reserves)
Film: "The Heart of the Nation"
Week 13 American Culture or American Cultures?
Apr. 17-21
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 3.
Japanese Lessons, Chapters 10-12.
Concepts of Welfare: Denmark and the U.S.
Week 14 Continued.
Apr. 24-28
The Costs and Benefits of "Development"
Reading: Cultural Anthropology, Chapter 8.
Week 15 The Concept of Progress Revisited
May 1-5 Film: "The Elder Brother's Warning"
****FINAL EXAM: Monday, May 8, 10:30-12:30.