This page was created at 7:49 AM on Wed, Oct 4, 2000.
Open courses in Cultural Anthropology
Wolverine Access Subject listing for ANTHRCUL
Take me to the Fall Term '00 Time Schedule for Cultural Anthropology.
To see what first-year courses have been added or changed in Cultural Anthropology this week go to What's New This Week.
Anthro. 101. Introduction to Anthropology.
Introductory Courses
Section 001.
Prerequisites & Distribution: Primarily for first- and second-year students. (4). (SS). (R&E). Does not count toward anthropology concentration requirements.
Credits: (4).
Course Homepage: https://coursetools.ummu.umich.edu/2000/fall/lsa/anthrcul/101/001.nsf
This introductory course explores the distinctive modes of anthropological inquiry and surveys the field's four subdisciplines (biological, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology). It provides a first glimpse of the field's overall context, history, present concerns, and importance. The principal aim of the course is to help students develop a coherent view of the essential concepts, structures, and intellectual methods that typify the discipline. It stresses unifying principles that link the subdisciplines and thereby create anthropology’s comprehensive, holistic world view. It teaches students various ways of learning and thinking about the world's many cultures in time and space. It prepares them to integrate and interpret information, to evaluate conflicting claims about human nature and diversity, and to think critically.
Topics covered include: the nature of culture and ethnicity; human genetics, evolution, and the fossil record; the concept of race; primate (monkey and ape) behavior; language and culture; systems of marriage, kinship and family organization; gender roles and personality; economics, politics, religion, and the arts in global perspective; and the cultural dimension of economic development and contemporary social change. Required readings include an introductory text and two paperbacks. Lectures and section discussion. Two objective exams (multiple choice) cover the two halves of the course. The second exam is given on the last day of class. There is no final exam and no term paper. Section leaders require quizzes and perhaps a short paper.
Anthro. 101. Introduction to Anthropology.
Introductory Courses
Section 150.
Prerequisites & Distribution: Primarily for first- and second-year students. (4). (SS). (R&E). Does not count toward anthropology concentration requirements.
Credits: (4).
Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.
This introductory course exposes and explores the structures of inquiry characteristic of anthropology and surveys the field's four subdisciplines (biological, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology), providing a first glimpse of the field's overall context, history, present status, and importance. The principal aim of the course is to help students develop a coherent view of the essential concepts, structures, and intellectual methods that typify the discipline. It stresses unifying principles that link the subdisciplines and thereby create anthropology's comprehensive, holistic world view. It teaches students various ways of learning and thinking about the world's many designs for living in time and space. It prepares them to integrate and interpret information, to evaluate conflicting claims about human nature and diversity, and to think critically.
Topics covered include: the nature of culture and ethnicity; human genetics, evolution, and the fossil record; the concept of race; primate (monkey and ape) behavior; language and culture; systems of marriage, kinship and family organization; sex and gender roles; economics, politics, and religion in global perspective; the cultural dimension of economic development and contemporary social change; and globalization. Required readings may include an introductory text and various paperbacks. Lectures and discussion/recitation. Two objective exams (multiple choice and true or false questions) cover the two halves of the course. The second exam is given on the last day of class. There is no final exam and no term paper. Section leaders require quizzes and perhaps a short paper.
Anthro. 202. Ethnic Diversity in Japan.
Ethnology-Regional Courses
Section 001.
Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (Excl).
Credits: (4).
Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.
This course explores the history and cultures of Japanese
ethnic groups and minorities. Among the groups we will focus on are the
("aboriginal") Ainu, resident Koreans, migrant workers (of Japanese
ancestry) from South America, children of mixed parentage, etc. Japanese
expressions and ideologies of "race" and "ethnicity" are also analyzed
comparatively. Anthropological readings are augmented by novels and short
stories, comics, videos and films.
Anthro. 256/NR&E 256. Culture, Adaptation, and Environment.
Introductory Courses
Section 001.
Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl).
Credits: (3).
Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.
This course provides a wide-ranging introduction to the field of ecological anthropology, focusing on issues related to the management of common property. The main goal for the course is to help students acquire an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of competing approaches to the question of the relationship of ecology to the social world. On the natural science side, the major approaches to be considered are behavioral and systems ecology. From the social sciences, we will investigate the basic techniques of social anthropology, as well as evolutionary game theory. Why combine the social and natural sciences in a single course? Traditionally, social scientists study social systems, and natural scientists study ecosystems. But many of the most important problems in environmental studies only come into focus when we are able to combine both perspectives. This is particularly true of one of the most pressing issues of our time – the management of common property (resources that are held in common and utilized by a social group). Today, the oceans are our common property, and the recent collapse of many fisheries illustrates the dangers posed by over-exploitation, the so-called "tragedy of the commons." To investigate systems of common property, we need to know something about how they function as ecosystems, as well as how societies relate to them. In this course, we will explore systems of common property utilized by a wide range of societies, including Native American salmon fishermen, African nomads, and Asian rice farmers.
Anthro. 258. Honors Seminar in Cultural Anthropology.
Museum, Honors, Reading, Research, and Field Courses
Section 001 – Culture & Medicine. (Honors).
Instructor(s): Holly Peters-Golden (hollypet@umich.edu)
Prerequisites & Distribution: Admission to the College Honors Program. (3). (Excl).
Credits: (3).
Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.
In this seminar, we will examine the ways in which health and illness are both constructed out of, and interpreted within, cultural settings. Focusing on Western biomedicine, we will discuss a broad range of illness experiences – from schizophrenia to cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder to asthma, Tourette's to Alzheimer's, among others – to address a number of questions currently central to medical anthropology. Topics may include (but will not be limited to) the meaning and alteration of self and personhood in illness; the ways in which medical knowledge is produced and imagined, the culture of science and technology, immunity and risk, illness narrative, and social and historical views of the body. Classes will be largely discussion based, with students expected to prepare for active participation and leadership in discussion. By keeping enrollment small, I hope we will be able to include students' suggestions for additional topics to explore.
Anthro. 258. Honors Seminar in Cultural Anthropology.
Museum, Honors, Reading, Research, and Field Courses
Section 002 – Anthropology of the Bible. (Honors). Meets with Humanities Institute 212.001.
Instructor(s): Gillian Feeley-Harnik (gfharnik@umich.edu)
Prerequisites & Distribution: Admission to the College Honors Program. (3). (Excl).
Credits: (3).
Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.
This course explores the Bible from the comparative perspective of
anthropology. Since the late nineteenth century, anthropologists have
done archaeological and ethnographic fieldwork, trying to recapture the
ancient social worlds in which the biblical texts were first created.
Anthropologists also study the historical and contemporary societies in
which biblical books were and are read, showing how key themes are
translated, reinterpreted, and relived in new cultural circumstances.
This course will introduce students to the broad range of anthropological
approaches to the Bible. In the process, students will become acquainted
with anthropological methods of documentation and analysis used in
cross-cultural research. Reading will include such books as Rogerson's,
An Introduction to the Bible; Cohn's Noah's Flood: The Genesis Story in
Western Thought; Delaney's Abraham on Trial: The Social Legacy of Biblical
Myth; Dundes' Holy Write As Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore;
Feeley-Harnik's The Lord's Table: The Meaning of Food in Early Judaism and
Christianity; Niditch's Ancient Israelite Religion; Salamon's The Hyena
People: Ethiopian Jews in Christian Ethiopia; Brown and Brightman's The
Orders of the Dreamed (on Cree and Northern Ojibwa religion and
missionization); and Toumey's God's Own Scientists: Creationists in a Secular World.
This is a small, seminar-style course in which students can expect lots of reading for discussion in class. Assignments will include: weekly discussion papers (1 p): two short research papers (5-7 pp) due in the 5th and 8th weeks; and one longer research paper (10-15 pp), due in the last week of class. Students (probably in groups of 2-3) will also be responsible for making oral presentations and leading one or two discussions of the reading during the academic term.
Grades: will be based on the assignments and on class participation.
Readings: The required books will be available at the Shaman Drum Bookstore (313 State Street), and on reserve in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. A course pack of articles will be available from the Accu-copy (402 Maynard Street).
Class Size: 20 students
Anthro. 282. Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology.
Introductory Courses
Section 001.
Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (SS).
Credits: (4; 2 in the half-term).
Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.
This course combines an introduction to the techniques, methods, and theories of modern archaeology with a general survey of world prehistory. Discussion of method and theory will cover field and laboratory techniques for acquiring information about past cultures, methods for using that information to test ideas about past cultural organization and evolution, and current theoretical developments in anthropological archaeology. The survey of world prehistory will focus on three major topics: (1) the emergence in Africa of the first proto-humans, between two and six million years ago; (2) the appearance of the first anatomically and behaviorally "modern" humans; (3) the origins of domesticated plants and animals, and the development of the first village farming communities. The course will be oriented as much toward students with a general curiosity and interest in the human past as toward students who will become eventual concentrators. There will be three one-hour lectures plus one discussion section per week. Requirements: two in-class hourly exams, plus 2-3 take-home exercises that give students firsthand experience with the analysis and interpretation of archaeological data. Required readings: Archaeology: Down to Earth, by David Hurst Thomas.
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