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Department: Anthropology

Course No: 220W/220

Credits: 3

Title: Social Anthropology

Contact: Penn Handwerker

Content Area: Social Sciences (CA2)

Diversity: CA4 International

WQ: Writing

Catalog Copy: 220. Social Anthropology

Either semester. Three credits. Open to sophomores or higher.

A comparative study of social structure including an analysis of kinship, marriage, community organization, political and economic institutions, and the role of the individual in these institutions.

220W. Social Anthropology

Prerequisite: ENGL 105 or 110 or 111 or 250. Open to sophomores or higher.

Course Information: 1. provide the following information about the course :

a. A brief (2-3 sentences) course description that includes course goals and objectives.

This course introduces students to Ethnology, the comparative analysis of social relations and cultures. We direct attention to significant differences in power-based social relations (e.g., equality and hierarchy, competition and cooperation, and reciprocity) and the ways in which new cultural forms that integrate politics, economics, psychology, religion, and ecology build on and transform prior cultural patterns and create new configurations of social relations. We aim for students to acquire an understanding of the broad sweep of human history over the last 50,000 years as well as the ability to both see and analyze ongoing, globalization-induced changes in social relations and cultures.

b. Course requirements: Specify exam formats, nature and scope of weekly reading assignments, nature and scope of writing assignments, problem sets, etc.

Course requirements consist of a paper (12 pt font, single spaced) of at least 15 pp typed double-spaced (approximately 4000 words), written in four parts plus a final synthesis. Each part contributes 15% of the course grade, 60% total. The final synthesis contributes the remaining 40%. Late submissions will lose half a grade for each day late, up to three days; after 3 days the overdue submission will be assigned a zero. Half of each grade is the grade for the W part of the course. Students must pass the W part of the course to pass the course.

c. List the major themes, issues, topics, etc., to be covered.

Class lectures, films, and readings provide data on social relations and the cultural patterns of people who make a living as hunters & gatherers (foragers), pastoralists, subsistence farmers, as well as those who now make a living in our globalized, industrial economy. The first part of the paper analyzes similarities and differences among foragers; the second part of the paper analyzes similarities and differences between foragers and pastoralists; the third part of the paper analyzes similarities and differences between foragers, pastoralists, and subsistence farmers; the fourth part of the paper extends this analysis to similarities and differences between foragers, pastoralists, subsistence farmers, and the social relations and cultural patterns of today's world, structured by a globalized, industrial economy. The final synthesis reflects on the dynamics and determinants of cultural evolution and social change.

Meets Goals of Gen Ed: 1. Become articulate; Successive, cumulative writing assignments, with instructor feedback, improve students' ability to present complex ideas directly and simply.

2. Acquire intellectual breadth and versatility; The wide range of subject matter (e.g., politics, economics, psychology, social relations, religion, ecology) shows students interrelationships that allow them to escape disciplinary boundaries and, thus, increase their intellectual breadth and versatility.

3. Acquire critical judgement;

Successive, cumulative writing assignments, along with class discussion, help students formulate standards by which to distinguish what's important from what's not.

4. Acquire moral sensitivity;

Readings and class discussion explore the construct of cultural relativism, and cross-cultural and historical variation in the foundations of moral judgments.

5. Acquire awareness of their era and society; Readings and class discussion give students a 50,000 year long historical perspective on the foundations of their era and society.

6. Acquire consciousness of the diversity of human culture and experience; and The diversity of human cultures and experience constitutes the primary content of this course.

7. Acquire a working understanding of the processes by which they can continue to acquire and use knowledge.

Reading, discussion, and analysis help students refine their skills in the application of empiricist epistomology to elicit and critically evaluate information bearing on the solution to important human problems.

CA2 Criteria: 1. Introduce students to theories and concepts of the social sciences.

The central goal of the course is to introduce students to the theories and concepts of Ethnology, the comparative analysis of social relations and cultures. Core constructs include culture and key forms of power-based social relations (inequality and equality, competition and cooperation, and reciprocity).

2. Introduce students to methods used in the social sciences, including consideration of the ethical problems social scientists face.

Reading, discussion, and analysis apply empiricist epistomology to elicit and critically evaluate information bearing on the solution to important human problems. Class discussion explores the ethical problems of community interventions, data collection, and publication.

3. Introduce students to ways in which individuals, groups, institutions, or societies behave and influence one another and the natural environment.

The central goal of Ethnology, the comparative analysis of social relations and cultures, is to understand how individuals, groups, institutions, and societies behave and influence one another and the natural environment. Class lectures, films, and readings provide data on social relations and the cultural patterns of people who make a living as hunters & gatherers (foragers), pastoralists, subsistence farmers, as well as those who now make a living in our globalized, industrial economy, and a perspective on cultural evolution over the last 50,000 years.

4. Provide students with tools to analyze social, political, or economic groups/organizations (such as families, communities, or governments), and to examine social issues and problems at the individual, cultural, societal, national, or international level. Social issues may include issues of gender, race, social class, political power, economic power, and cross-cultural interaction.

The theories and concepts of Ethnology provide students tools with which to analyze social, political, or economic groups/organizations (such as families, communities, or governments), and to examine social issues and problems at the individual, cultural, societal, national, or international level. Core constructs include culture and key forms of power-based social relations (inequality and equality, competition and cooperation, and reciprocity) as expressed in culturally variable forms of gender and family relations, community, national, and international political, economic, social, and religious systems, as well as the contemporary dynamics of our globalizing world.

CA4 Criteria: 1. Emphasize that there are varieties of human experiences, perceptions, thoughts, values, and/or modes of creativity; The diversity of human cultures (experiences, perceptions, thoughts, values, and modes of creativity) constitutes the primary content of this course.

2. Emphasize that interpretive systems and/or social structures are cultural creations; One central point is that interpretive systems and social relations are cultural creations.

3. Consider the similarities that may exist among diverse groups;

Ethnology, the comparative analysis of social relations and cultures, examines both similarities and differences among diverse groups.

4. Develop an understanding of and sensitivity to issues involving human rights and migration;

Class discussion applies lessons from our exploration of the construct of cultural relativism, and cross-cultural and historical variation in the foundations of moral judgments to contemporary human rights issues that arise from the dynamics of our globalizing world.

5. Develop an awareness of the dynamics of social, political, and/or economic power in the context of any of the above four items.

Readings and class discussion focus on key forms of power-based social relations (inequality and equality, competition and cooperation, and reciprocity) as expressed in all of the above four items, but particularly with regard to #4 and the contemporary dynamics of our globalizing world.

International: Class lectures, films, and readings provide data on social relations and the cultural patterns of people who make a living as hunters & gatherers (foragers), pastoralists, subsistence farmers, as well as those who now make a living in our globalized, industrial economy, and a perspective on cultural evolution over the last 50,000 years.

W Criteria: 1. Describe how the writing assignments will enable and enhance learning the content of the course. Describe the page requirements of the assignments, and the relative weighting of the "W" component of the course for the course grade.

Course requirements consist of a paper (12 pt font, single spaced) of at least 15 pp typed double-spaced (approximately 4000 words), written in four parts plus a final synthesis. Each part contributes 15% of the course grade, 60% total. The final synthesis contributes the remaining 40%. Late submissions will lose half a grade for each day late, up to three days; after 3 days the overdue submission will be assigned a zero. Half of each grade is the grade for the W part of the course. Students must pass the W part of the course to pass the course. Successive, cumulative writing assignments help students work through and master the intellectual content of the course.

2. Describe the primary modes of writing instruction in the course (e.g. individual conferences, written commentary, formal instruction to the class, and so on.)

Writing instruction will be conducted through written commentary and successive drafts of papers, together with individual conferences.

3. Explain how opportunities for revision will be structured into the writing assignments in the course.

Successive and cumulative drafts of a single paper integrate opportunities for revision into the primary course assignment.

Role of Grad Students: Graduate students who have been trained in how to teach writing may teach specific sections of 220W under the supervision of a regular faculty member. Graduate students who teach 220W must have taken a course on how to teach writing offered by either the Department of English or the Anthropology Department.