Instructor:  Richard Burns           email: rburns@astate.edu
Office:  Wilson 213 Office phone: 972-3043 Office hours: TR: 1-2 PM or by appointment

Required Texts:
Philip R. DeVita and James D. Armstrong eds. Distant Mirrors: America as a Foreign Culture.  3rd ed. Wadsworth, 2002.
Richard B. Lee. The DobeJu/’hoansi. 2nd ed. Harcourt College Publishers, 1993. (=Lee)
Serena Nanda, Cultural Anthropology, 7th edition. Wadsworth, 2002. (=Nanda)
Recommended:  Karen K, Daar. Study Guide forCultural Anthropology.

Course Outline:

August 23:   Course Introduction

28: The Nature of Anthropology and Human Diversity
Readings:  Nanda, Chapter 1, pp. 1-17; Distant Mirrors: Miner, "Body Ritual Among the Nacerema," pp. 27-31.

30: The Nature of Anthropology
Reading:  Nanda, Chapter 2, pp. 19-47.

September 4: Doing Anthropological Fieldwork
 Reading:  Nanda, Chapter 3, pp. 49-69.

6: Doing Anthropological Fieldwork
Reading: Distant Mirrors: Cerroni-Long, "Life and Cultures: The Test of Real Participant Observation," pp. 148-161.

11: A Sample Ethnography: Introduction to the !Kung
 Reading:  Lee, pp. iii-22.

13: The Concept of Culture
 Reading:  Nanda, Chapter 4, pp. 71-91.

18: The Concept of Culture
Reading: Distant Mirrors: Holmes/Holmes, "The American Cultural Configuration", pp. 4-26.

20: Exam #1

25: Language and Communication
 Reading:  Nanda, Chapter 5, pp. 93-121. Video: American Tongues

27: Learning Culture
Reading: Nanda, Chapter 6, pp. 123-143; Distant Mirrors: Ojeda, "Growing Up American: Doing the Right Thing," pp. 44-48.

October  2: Making a Living
Reading: Nanda, Chapter 7, pp. 145-167; Distant Mirrors: Linton, "One Hundred Percent American," 1-3.

9: Foragers: The Dobe
 Reading:  Lee, pp. 23-60.

11: Economics
 Readings: Nanda, Chapter 8, pp. 169-193.

16: Exam #2

23: Marriage and the Family
Readings:  Nanda, Chapter 9, pp. 193-217; Distant Mirrors: Tsuji, "Encounters with the Elderly in America," pp. 84-94.

25: Marriage and Kinship Among the Dobe Ju/’hoansi
Reading:  Lee, pp. 61-92.

30: Family and Kinship
 Reading:  Nanda, Chapter 10, pp. 219-239.

November 1:  Gender
 Reading: Nanda, Chapter 11, pp. 241-261

6: Political Systems and Conflict Resolution Among the !Kung
 Reading: Nanda, Chapter 12, pp. 263-285.

8: NO CLASS    Continue reading ethnography by Lee, 93-107.

13: Exam #3

15: Stratification
 Reading:  Nanda, Chapter 13, pp. 287-307

20: Ethnicity
Readings:  Nanda, Chapter 14, pp. 309-333; Distant Mirrors: Ernst, "Reflections on Ethnic Labels, Dichotomies, and Ritual Interaction," pp. 102-109.

22: THANKSGIVING

27: Belief Systems
 Reading:  Nanda, Chapter 15, pp. 335-363; Lee, 109-124.
 
29: The Dobe Ju/’hoansi Worldview and Their Neighbors/Social Changes
 Reading: Lee, 125-176.

December 4 Expressive Culture
Readings:  Nanda, Chapter 14,  pp. 365-383; Distant Mirrors: Peerandina, " Giving, Withholding, and Meeting Midway: A Poet’s Ethnography," pp. 110-121).

6: Cultural Change
 Readings, Nanda, Chapter 17, pp. 385-411; Lee, pp. 177-188.

13: Final Examination (8-10 am)
 
Course Requirements:

Examinations: (20 September, 23 October, 15 November, 13 December).  These will be objective and use a variety of testing methods.  The final will have a comprehensive component, and is mandatory to pass the course.  Each exam counts 20% of your final grade.

Reading quizzes: Expect short multiple-choice quizzes over assigned readings, which you need to read before each class meeting.  I will give several quizzes throughout the semester and will take the ten best scores to determine your quiz average, which will count 20% toward your final course grade.  To take a quiz, you must seated at the time I distribute it, which is often at the beginning of class.  Under no circumstances will you be allowed to take a make-up quiz.

Make-up work: Exams may be made up only with a verified, justifiable excuse (illness, serious family emergency, university business, inclement weather [commuter students only]). A make-up examination must be taken within one week of a student’s return to class.  If you do not take required exam, you will receive a 0 for 20% of your final course average. You must take the Final Exam to pass.  To repeat, there are no make-up quizzes.

Attendance Policy:  The university attendance policy specifies that missing more than two weeks’ worth of classes (four classes) without a verified, justifiable excuse (illness, serious family emergency, university business, inclement weather [commuter students only]) may result in a failing grade for the course.  However, I have moderated this policy by lowering your final average by one grade if you miss six classes and failing after you miss eight.  Leaving class immediately early or after immediately taking a quiz will be considered an absence.  Similarly, excessive tardiness will also be considered an absence.

Grading Scale:  The numerical ranges of letter grades for mid-term and final grades will be: A = 90-100, B = 80-89, C = 70-79, D = 60-69, F = below 60.