Course Name (short): Cultural Anthropology
School: All Sheridan Schools
Program(s): Degree Breadth
Program Coordinator(s): Morgan Dennis
Course Leader or Contact: Anna Boshnakova
Originator: Adele Dodge
Designate: Jackie Ansara
Version: 2.0
Status: Approved (APPR)

Calendar Description
This course offers an introduction to the study of social and cultural diversity in human populations, past and present. Students will be introduced to a number of topics including the meaning of culture, how cultures develop and change, similarities and differences between cultures and how cultures influence each other. The ultimate goal of the course is to help students view their own culture more critically.

Typical Instructional Format

Courses may be offered in other formats.

Section I Notes: COURSE CODE CHANGED SEPTEMBER 2012. This was previously SOCS16500GD.

Detailed Description
This course offers an introduction to the study of social and cultural diversity in human populations, past and present. Students will analyze the meaning of culture, how cultures develop and change, similarities and differences between cultures and how cultures influence each other. Special attention is paid to the relationship between social, economic and political organizations in different human populations. Topics that will be covered include "culture" and its relationship to "race" and "ethnicity", the importance of language in understanding culture, human adaptive systems, modes of production, kinship, marriage, family, religion, industrialism, capitalism and the emergence of the world system. Students will also have the opportunity to develop such skills as written and oral communication, analysis, critical thinking, and problem solving.

Program Context

 By the end of this course, students will have demonstrated the 
ability to analyze the impact of the development of the society and 
cultures that surround them.

Learning Outcomes:
To achieve the critical performance, students will have demonstrated 
the ability to:

1.  Identify the techniques used by cultural anthropologists to study
    different cultures.
2.  Differentiate between culture, race, and ethnicity.
3.  Explain the development of historical cultural systems.
4.  Explain the development of social inequality in historical
    cultural systems.
5.  Differentiate between industrialization and capitalism and
    their developments in Canada.
6.  Compare and contrast industrial capitalism in Canada to 
    non-industrial societies.
7.  Evaluate the meanings of Canadian culture.

TESTS:       3 @ 20% =  60%
TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENTS:  30%
IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS:   10%

TEST AND ASSIGNMENT PROTOCOL 

To encourage behaviours that will help students to be successful in 
the workplace and to ensure that students receive credit for their 
individual work, the following rules apply to every course offered 
within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.  
            
1. Students are responsible for staying abreast of test dates and 
   times, as well as due dates and any special instructions for 
   submitting assignments and projects as supplied to the class by 
   the Professor.
2. Students must write all tests at the specified times. Missed 
   tests, in-class activities, assignments and presentations are   
   awarded a mark of zero. If an extension or make-up opportunity 
is  
   approved by the professor as outlined below, the mark of zero 
may  
   be revised by subsequent performance.  The penalty for late   
   submission of written assignments is a loss of 10% per day for 
   up to five business days (excluding weekends and statutory 
   holidays), after which, a grade of zero is assigned.  Business
   days include any day that the college is open for business, 
   whether the student has scheduled classes that day or not.  
3. Students, who miss a test or in-class activity or assignment or 
   fail to submit an assignment on time due to exceptional
   circumstances, are required to notify their professor in advance
   of the class whenever possible.  A make-up test may be supplied 
   for students who provide an acceptable explanation of their  
   absence and/or acceptable documentation explaining their absence
   (e.g., a medical certificate).  All make-up tests are to be 
   written at a time and place specified by the professor upon the
   student's return.  Alternately, students may be given an 
   opportunity to earn the associated marks by having a subsequent 
   test count for the additional marks.  Similarly, exceptional 
   circumstances may result in a modification of the due dates for
   assignments.
4. Unless otherwise specified, assignments and projects must be 
   submitted at the beginning of class. 
5. Students must complete every assignment as an individual effort  
   unless, the professor specifies otherwise.
6. Since there may be instances of grade appeal or questions 
   regarding the timely completion of assignments and/or extent of   
   individual effort, etc., students are strongly advised to keep,  
   and make available to their professor, if requested, a copy of 
all 
   assignments and working notes until the course grade has been 
   finalized.  
7. There will be no resubmission of work unless this has been 
   previously agreed to or suggested by the professor. 
8. Students must submit all assignments in courses with practical 
lab 
   and field components in order to pass the course.

William A. Haviland, Gary W. Crawford, Shirley A. Fedorak 4th Edition
"Cultural Anthropology", Scarborough, Ontario, Thomson-Nelson

SUPPLEMENTAL/SUGGESTED READINGS:

Emily A. Schultz and Robert H. Lavenda, Cultural Anthropology:  A 
Perspective on the Human Condition

Barbara D. Miller, Cultural Anthropology

Shirley Fedorak, Windows on the World:  Case Studies in Cultural 
Anthropology

Conrad Phillip Kottak, Mirror for Humanity:  A Concise Introduction 
to Cultural Anthropology

Roberta Edwards Lenkeit, Introducing Cultural Anthropology

Abraham Rosman and Paula G. Rubel, The Tapestry of Culture:  An 
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

John H. Bodley, Cultural Anthropology:  Tribes, States and the Global 
System.

Richard H. Robbins and Sherrie N. Larkin, Cultural Anthropology:  A 
Problem-Based Approach

Mari Womack, Being Human:  An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Joanne Naiman, How Societies Work:  Class, Power, and Change in a 
Canadian Context

______________________________________________________________________
PART 1:  INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Week 1
Introduction to the Course
-the relationship of anthropology to other disciplines
-what is cultural anthropology?
-research methods in cultural anthropology (critical perspectives)
-brief overview of course content and outcomes.

READ CHAPTER 1 FOR NEXT CLASS
______________________________________________________________________

Week 2:  Perspectives on "Human Nature"			
	
-what does it mean to be human?
-anthropological approaches to understanding human nature
-biology, culture and human evolution
-in-class assignment
-read chapter 2 for next class


PART 2: UNDERSTANDING CULTURE

Week 3: Understanding the Meanings of Culture
-what is culture?
-cultural diversity and change
-culture, "race" and "ethnicity"
-ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
-in-class assignment
-read chapter 4 for next week

Week 4: Language
-the importance of language for culture
-origins of language
-nature and structure of language
-language, thought and culture
-Sapir-Whorf hypothesis vs. sociolinguistics
-linguistic change
-discuss 1st take-home assignment
-in-class assignment
-review for 1st test

Week 5: TEST #1 (content from weeks 1-4)
-read chapters 5 and 6 for next week

PART 3: ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION

Week 6: Cultural and Economic Systems
-cultural adaptation
-historical development of societies
-the importance of labour
-distribution, consumption and exchange
-the development of social inequality
-in-class assignment
-readings TBA

Week 7: Capitalism and Industrialization
-what is capitalism?
-what is industrialization?
-what is the relationship between capitalism and industrialization?
-industrial capitalism in Canada
-in-class assignment
-read chapter 11 for next week
-1ST TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT DUE (worth 15% of final grade)



PART 4: POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

Week 8: Political Systems
-political organization in different societies (bands, tribes, 
 chiefdoms, states)
-leadership/social status
-change in political systems
-in-class assignment
-review for 2nd test

Week 9: TEST #2 (content from weeks 6-8)
-read chapter 10 for next week

PART 5: SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

Week 10: Social Groups, Social Stratification and Inequality
-cultural anthropology's contribution to understanding social 
inequality
-social differentiation and structural inequality
-caste, status, and class inequalities
-discuss 2nd take-home assignment
-in-class assignment
-read chapters 7, 8, and 9 for next week

Week 11: Marriage, Family and Kinship
-historical development of marriage, family and kinship relations
-why marriage?
-marriage patterns
-women and the family
-kinship as inclusiveness and exclusiveness
-in-class assignment
-read chapters 12, 13, and 14 for next week

PART 6: SELECTED TOPICS IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Week 12: The Anthropology of Religion, the Arts and Health
-cultural anthropology's contribution to understanding diverse fields 
of study
-in-class assignment
-read chapter 15 for next week

PART 7: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE

Week 13: Cultural Change and the Future of Humanity
-mechanisms of change
-globalization
-one-world culture?
-in-class assignment
-review for 3rd test
-2ND TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT DUE (worth 15% of final grade)

Week 14: TEST #3