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Butler Community College
Sue Cecil 
Behavioral Science, Math, Science, and Physical Education Division
Fall 1999

Course Outline
Introduction to Anthropology

Course Description:
BS106. Introduction To Anthropology. 3 hours credit. The course will provide a process for using scientific observation to achieve a better understanding of human behavior. It will focus on the nature and processes of cultural change and the variation in the rates of change which have resulted in the development of humankind. The time span of the course will be from the Paleolithic period to the present.

Textbook:
Haviland, (2002). Cultural Anthropology, (10th Edition). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, .

Study Guide (Optional): Haviland, (2002). Cultural Anthropology, (10th Edition). Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Course Objectives:
At the completion of the course, the student will be able to:

  1. link anthropological fact and theory to important contemporary issues.
  2. denote the major areas of concern for anthropologists which are the study of; physical, linguistics, archaeology and the cultural branches of the field.
  3. prove that humankind, from ancient to modern peoples, are linked by an interdependent flow of developmental phenomena which can be best understood by the science of anthropology.
Topical Outline of Units:
Unit 1 - Introduction, The Study of Humanity
The student will be able to:
  1. define anthropology as a subdivision of the social sciences
  2. describe the "five" major subdivisions of anthropology
  3. describe ethnographic techniques as a distinctive strategy in anthropological research
  4. discuss cultural relativism.
Unit 2 - Culture
The student will be able to:
  1. discuss patterns of behavior
  2. explain enculturation as a social process
  3. understand the consequences of world view
  4. detail cultural universals.
Unit 3 - Culture and Language
The student will be able to:
  1. understand the structure of language
  2. discuss grammar and syntax
  3. discuss the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis
  4. detail the impact of sociolinguistic concepts.
Unit 4 - The Development of Anthropological Thought
The student will be able to:
  1. understand the process of evolution
  2. distinguish between functionalism and structualism
  3. explain interpretive anthropology.
Unit 5 - Methods of Investigation
The student will be able to:
  1. compare ethnographic and comparative methods
  2. understand problems in field research
  3. enumerate the ethics of anthropological research
  4. apply the concept of "culture shock" to his/her life.
Unit 6 - The Peoples of the World
The student will be able to:
  1. identify major culture areas
  2. describe European migration and settlement
  3. understand world geography.
Unit 7 - Adaptation: Foraging
The student will be able to:
  1. describe adaptation as a process
  2. understand the factors and orginization of production
  3. describe the foraging lifestyle
  4. apply nonethnocentric values to other lifestyles.
Unit 8 - Adaptation: Domestication
The student will be able to:
  1. explain the impact of domestication
  2. compare cultivation and horticulture
  3. distinguish between extensive and intensive land use
  4. discuss pastoralism.
Unit 9 - Exchange in Economics Systems
The student will be able to:
  1. understand reciprocity as a social bond
  2. define market exchange
  3. explain the significance of redistribution.
Unit 10 - Domestic Life: Marriage, Family and Residence
The student will be able to:
  1. define the family relative to cross-cultural domesticity
  2. compare the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear and extended families
  3. explain monogamy, and polygomy
  4. define incest and legitimacy
  5. produce kinship diagrams
  6. define residence patterns.
Unit 11 - Kinship: Forming Relationships and Groups
The student will be able to:
  1. explain kinship terminology
  2. distinguish between descent patterns
  3. compare the concepts pf lineage and clan
  4. define cognatic descent.
Unit 12 - Gender in Comparative Perspective
The student will be able to:
  1. understand the influence of culture on gender
  2. explain the sexual division of labor
  3. explain the status of women
  4. discuss the issue of universal female subordination
  5. discuss the status of women in industrialized societies
  6. discuss the women's liberation movement.
Unit 13 - The Organization of Political Life
The student will be able to:
  1. distinguish among the forms of political organization
  2. understand social control relative to law
  3. define self-help and court legal systems.
Unit 14 - Social Inequality and Stratification
The student will be able to:
  1. distinguish between egalitarian, ranked, and stratified societies
  2. differentiate between castes and social classes
  3. explain how ideologies are maintained
  4. understand the functionalist theory of inequality
  5. explain the conflict theory of inequality.
Unit 15 - Relations with the Supernatural
The student will be able to:
  1. define religion
  2. explain the functions of religion
  3. explain how religions deal with human misfortune
  4. define the forms of religious organization
  5. discuss revitalization movements.
Unit 16 - Personality Formation and The Life Cycle
The student will be able to:
  1. clarify how child-rearing practices affect personality formation
  2. understand modal personality and its consequences
  3. define age categories and age sets
  4. describe the life cycle
  5. explain initiation rites.
Unit 17 - The Changing Human World
The student will be able to:
  1. define culture change
  2. define the industrial revolution
  3. explain the global economy
  4. discuss demographic change
  5. discuss global interdependency.
Unit 18 - Ethnicity in the Modern World
The student will be able to:
  1. explain ethnic identy
  2. address the issue of stateless nationalities
  3. explain ethnic conflict
  4. explain differences in assimilation and accommodation.
Unit 19 - Applied Anthropology and World Problems
The student will be able to:
  1. define applied anthropology
  2. explain consequences of population growth
  3. explain the costs and benefits of having children
  4. discuss world hunger.
Unit 20 - The Survival of Indigenous
The student will be able to:
  1. describe contemporary indigenous people
  2. describe the disappearance of cultural knowledge
  3. discuss the indigenous medicines
  4. discuss the indigenous lifestyle as a model.
Methods of Instruction:
Methods of class instruction will include the following: lectures; instructor-led class discussion; video presentations; and textbook reading assignments.

Methods of Evaluation:
Methods of evaluation will include the following: tests; both subjective and objective; daily work; written papers; class participation; and other methods of evaluation at the discretion of the instructor.

Telecourse:
Textbook: Haviland, (1999). Cultural Anthropology, (10th Edition). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, .

Study Guide (Optional): Haviland, (1999). Faces of Culture, (7th Edition). Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Videos: Faces of Culture, 26 (30-minute) lessons.

Method of Instruction:
Independent study of audio/video materials augmented by text and study guide; collaboration and participation with class members and faculty via available means. Faculty role is facilitator of learning experiences.