Course Description and Course Outline

Course Description:
The course will introduce to the students concepts, fundamental theories, and perspectives vital in understanding human beings as biological and social entities. Concentration will be made on cultural diversity as distinct among societies, as well as the cultural changes that they underwent. In so doing, the students are expected to describe their local culture and understand its social significance.

Course Outline:

The Basics of Anthropology

• What is anthropology?
• The subdisciplines of anthropology
• Anthropology and other academic fields
• Applied Anthropology
• Ethnography and Ethnology

Physical Anthropology : A Brief Background

• Primates
• Hominid Evolution

Cultural Diversity

• What is culture?
• Components of Culture
• Characteristics of Culture
• Universal, Particular, and General Culture
• Cultural Change
• Ethnicity
• Ethnic groups and Ethnicity
• Ethnic relations

Human Diversity and Race

• Race : A discredited concept in Biology
• Social Race

Language and Communication

• Animal communication
• Nonverbal communication
• Structure of Language
• Language, Thought and Culture
• Sociolinguistics

Making a Living

• Adaptive strategies and Transformation of Societies

Families, Kinship, and Descent

• Marriage
• Political Systems
• Bands and Tribes
• Origin, Function, and Expression of Religion
  Kinds of Religion
  Religion and Change
  Social Control
  

The Modern World

• Modern World System
• Industrialization
• Stratification
• World System Today
• Colonialism and Development
• Cultural exchange and Survival
• Applied Anthropology

References:

Border, R. and Maltz, D. (2001). Applying Cultural Antrhopology: An Introductory Reader. Mayfield Publishing Company. USA
Kottak, C. (2002). Cultural Anthropology. 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill, Inc. USA.
Kottak, C. (2004). Anthropology. The Exploration of Human Diversity. 10th Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New York, USA.
Kottak, C. (2005). Mirror for Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill, Inc. USA
Lenkeit, R.E. (2004). Introducing Cultural Anthropology. 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill Inc., USA.
http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/theory.htm
http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/information/biography/index.pl
http://www.wsu.edu/gened/learn-modules/top_culture
http://www.tamu.edu/anthropology/news.html