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LUTHER COLLEGE
Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work
ANTH-101-C: Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2012: T/TH 12:45-2:15pm, Koren 217
Instructor: Dr. Evgenia Fotiou E-mail: fotiev01@luther.edu
Office
Hours:
Tuesday -Thursday 3:00-4:00pm
Wednesday 3:00-5:00pm
Or by appointment (Koren 304)
"...my Aunt Rebeca asks, 'Rutie, pero dime, what is anthropology?' While I hesitate, she confidently exclaims,
'The study of people? And their customs, right?' Right. People and their customs. Exactly. Así de fácil. Can't
refute that. Somehow, out of that legacy, born of the European colonial impulse to know others in order to
lambast them, better manage them, or exalt them, anthropologists have made a vast intellectual cornucopia. At
the anthropological table, to which another leaf is always being added, there is room for studies of Greek death
laments, the fate of socialist ideals in Hungary and Nicaragua, Haitian voodoo in Brooklyn, the market for
Balinese art, the abortion debate among women in West Fargo, North Dakota, the reading groups of Mayan
intellectuals, the proverbs of a Hindi guru, the Bedouin sense of honor, the jokes Native Americans tell about
the white man, the plight of Chicana cannery workers, the utopia of Walt Disney, and even, I hope, the story of
my family's car accident on the Belt Parkway shortly after our arrival in the United States from Cuba...
Anthropology, to give my Aunt Rebeca a grandiose reply, is the most fascinating, bizarre, disturbing, and
necessary form of witnessing left to us at the end of the twentieth century..." Ruth Behar, 1996. The
Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart
(pg. 4-5)
Course Description:
Anthropology is the study of humans. Reflecting the fact that humans can be studied from a
variety of viewpoints, anthropology in North America has traditionally been a four-field
discipline. Biological anthropology considers humans from a biological point of view – asking
questions about the range of diversity that exists among human groups, how this diversity
came about, and what the relationship is between our species and certain other species of
animals that resemble us in a number of ways. Archaeology investigates the evidence that
tells us what humans did in the past. Anthropological linguistics considers the diversity and
the commonalities in the most important tool which humans have used to develop our
cultures: language. Cultural anthropology considers the achievements of the human mind,
asks about the relationships between the needs of our physical bodies and the manners in
which cultures choose to fulfill these needs, and examines the methods which humans have
utilized to explain and control the environment, including such seemingly unrelated
phenomena as religion, kinship, and economics.

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In this course, we will be examining humans as cultural beings, as organisms whose primary
means for adapting to a changing world lies in altering their models of the world and
therewith their behavior. In pursuing the goals and objectives of the course, we will first
examine key concepts in understanding human behavior: human adaptation, culture, and
ethnocentrism. Then we will review the content of culture, such as the economics, kinship,
status, social control, and religious beliefs and practices involved in the behavior of different
groups around the world. We will also examine cultural change, and consider the impact that
the process of globalization is having on the traditional cultures of the world. We will finish by
contemplating the role of Anthropology in an increasingly globalizing world. Along our entire
path, we will consider and possibly deconstruct our own cultural assumptions and
contemplate what we can learn from other societies.
Course Objectives:
In this course, you’ll become acquainted with (and gain an appreciation of) the
anthropological perspective, and in so doing:
 understand and utilize concepts central to the field of Anthropology;
 be able to discuss ways in which human beings are simultaneously social, cultural
and biological creatures;
 become familiar with the range of ways human societies can be structured and
organized;
 have an increased appreciation and respect for the values of cultural diversity;
 change your perspective of cultures different from your own as well as alter your
perspective of your own culture;
 comprehend your own culture and society, and apply these perspectives in
understanding personal, societal, and global events;
 identify how socially constructed categories such as gender, race, class and sexual
identity shape people’s lives and reproduce social inequalities.
In addition, class assignments are meant to help you:
 extend and refine your capacity to read critically;
 extend your abilities to communicate these critical skills effectively (orally and in
writing);
 learn to work collaboratively on specific projects;
 become more open to and respect others' views and experiences, and develop
consciousness of ethics in personal, societal, and global affairs;
 be responsible citizens of our society and the global community.

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Required Texts:
Kottak, Conrad. 2012. Mirror for Humanity. McGrawHill.
This is a brief, basic introductory anthropology text. It will allow you a quick general overview of
anthropological terms. You will be expected to review most of the material on your own (before
each class) and be able to apply the concepts you learn in class discussion.
Ward, Martha. 2005. Nest in the Wind: Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island.
Waveland.
Ward’s book is a lively account of her first sustained fieldwork on the Pacific island of Pohnpei, and
of a return visit thirty years later. The book should give you a taste of what doing actual fieldwork
is like, and how anthropologists use field experience to reflect both on the cultures they study and
on their home cultures.
Murphy, Yolanda and Robert. 2004. Women of the Forest. Columbia University Press.
This is a classic ethnography on gender in the Amazon. It will provide insight on gender relations
in a culture radically different from yours as well as the challenges of doing fieldwork in such a
setting. In addition, it sheds light on the relations between humans and the environment and the
effects of social change on the lives of indigenous peoples.
Bourgois, Philippe. 1995. In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge University
Press.
The most challenging book of the course is also the last one. Bourgois lived among crack dealers in
East Harlem for several years. His ethnography applies anthropological methods to contemporary
American problems. It’s provocative, and many students find it distressing. The book’s
exploration of how economic inequality, cultural practices related to gender and power, and social
marginalization intersect in one community fit well with the final themes of the semester.
Additional assigned articles will be placed on KATIE in the corresponding week slot.
Resources: Throughout the semester, I will use KATIE to post important information
(handouts, additional readings to supplement the required materials, links to useful research
and writing resources, etc.). The information posted online will NOT be distributed in class.
It is your responsibility to check the site for updates.
Class notes: Students are responsible for all materials covered in lectures and discussions. I
will be posting PowerPoint slides online after lectures but they will not necessarily include
everything covered in class. They are meant more as visual aids than comprehensive notes.
If you miss a lecture, you are responsible for getting notes from a classmate. Please be
generous with your notes if a classmate requests them – whether you know them or not (it
may be you who misses a lecture next time around).
Requirements:
1. This class consists of reading, discussion, and writing about a significant amount of
material. You are expected to read the assigned material by the day it is designated to be

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read in the class schedule and come to class prepared to discuss it. Bring your questions and
comments about the readings to class!
2. Regular attendance and discussion participation (10% of final grade):
Attendance matters. Exams and papers are based on lectures as well as readings. Lectures
will often discuss material not included in class readings. Therefore attendance in lecture is
important if you want to succeed in this class. On occasion, at the end of lecture, I will ask
you to turn-in a brief written response to a question that I will pose based on the lecture or
readings which I will collect. This will serve as a way of stimulating dialogue in the
classroom. It will not be graded. However, students who do not turn in a response to the question
(presumably because they were absent) will have points deducted from their participation grade.
Excessive absences, defined as more than half of all class meetings without satisfactory
explanation, constitute grounds for a failing grade for the course (“F”) regardless of the
grades of other work completed for the course.
Active participation in class discussion means you have done the reading and are willing to
engage in intellectual exploration of the themes and topics brought up in the material. All
contributions to class discussion need not be well-thought-out or scholarly, but they should
be RELEVANT! A consistent pattern of participation in discussion and evidence of critical
insight will be significantly rewarded.
3. Team Presentation (15% of final grade):
Each student will participate in a team working on an exercise related to a topic discussed in
the class. Instructions for these exercises will be posted ahead of time on KATIE and will
require some research outside of class. The team will work on the exercise collaboratively
and present their results to the class on the date indicated in the course schedule. Each team
will have 30 minutes to present their findings. The team will need to meet with me outside
of class before their presentation. A team sign-up sheet with topics and dates will be
distributed in class during the first couple of lectures.
Team presentations are intended to promote more in-depth critical thinking, individual
participation, and dialogue. After the presentation, each member of the team will write a
report on the experience and submit it to me within a week of their presentation. It should
address what you learned from the research you conducted as well as from working with
your team mates. The report should be 300-500 words long (no more than a page single
spaced).
4. Ethnographic Skills: Interviewing an artifact (15% of final grade):
This exercise emphasizes the everyday skills of listening, questioning, and researching
people. Researching people means "stepping in" to the worldviews of others and "stepping
out" of your own. To investigate, from another person's point of view, the story behind an
object, I will partner you with another classmate (but not someone you already know) and
each of you will act as both interviewer and consultant. Each of you will bring to class an
interesting artifact, one that is meaningful to you. It may be something that is worn or
carried (such as a key chain, a piece of jewelry, an item of clothing, a special purse or bag,
etc). As you share your own artifact and learn to interview others about theirs, you learn the

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value of honoring difference as well as the skills to write and read about it. When you can
confront "difference" as it appears in one another’s' possessions, you enter others'
perspectives by "stepping out" of you own. Insider and outsider stances support one
another. In short, we can ask the ethnographic question, "What's it like for that person in this
place?"
The interview will take place during class time on Thursday, September 13 and you will
have a week afterward to type up your report/summary of the interview. You should either
take notes or record the interview. Your report should be 3 pages long (double-spaced) and
should include your evaluation of how the interview went/lessons learnt for future
interviews. For example, ask yourself: were you able to establish rapport with your
consultant? Were you a good listener? Did you seize opportunities to probe deeper about
something your consultant might have mentioned?
5. Book Review (20% of final grade): During the semester, we will read three full-sized
ethnographies (books). You will write a short response paper to one of them (your choice).
This paper should not be a summary, but should reflect on the links between the book, class
readings and discussions. It is an opportunity for you to critically engage with material that
particularly excites you or makes you think about something in a new way.
The review should be 3 pages in length. Instructions will be posted on KATIE.
The review will be due in class on Tuesday, November 20.
A note on all written assignments: Please observe page limits strictly. Papers should be
typed and double-spaced, using black ink and any readable twelve-point font, with 1”
margins all around. Your name should be at the top of the page.
6. Exams (20% each for a total of 40% of final grade)
There are two equally weighted exams in this class. They consist of short answer questions,
true/false questions, essay questions and some multiple choice questions, pertaining to the
readings, lectures or films shown in class. The goal is to be able to operate with important
terms and concepts, and think about them within various contexts and practical
applications. You will have to demonstrate the knowledge and ability to operate with the
main concepts introduced in class.
No make-up work is allowed in this class so that all students receive equal opportunity and
conditions for their successful work. However, I might offer extra-credit events that will be
announced in class and via email. Watch for these opportunities.
My experience with previous classes over the years shows that to succeed in this course,
both in terms of developing your learning abilities that will help you in your life and career
goals and of earning higher grade is mainly a matter of doing the work on time. You should
expect to spend at least twice the amount of hours outside of class as you spend in-class.
Thus, for this class you are expected to spend 3 hours per week in-class and at least 6 hours
per week doing homework.

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Grading Scale:
A+ 100 B 83-86 C- 70-72 F 0-59
A 93-99 B- 80-82 D+ 67-69
A- 90-92 C+ 77-79 D 63-66
B+ 87-89 C 73-76 D- 60-62
More detailed information about how I will be grading assignments will be posted on
KATIE.
Accessibility: Please let me know if you require any alternative accommodations or if you
have any accessibility concerns that may affect your performance in this course.
Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct: Plagiarism means presenting the words or ideas of
others without giving them credit. It is your responsibility to learn what constitutes
plagiarism and the correct rules for citing sources. In general, if your paper implies that you
are the author, the ideas and words must be your own.
If you use someone else’s exact words, they should be enclosed in quotation marks with the
exact source listed. Examples of Academic Misconduct include but are not limited to:
cutting and pasting portions of a text from the web without quotation marks or proper
citation; paraphrasing from the web without crediting the source; using another person’s
ideas, words, or research and presenting it as your own by not properly crediting the
originator.
Classroom etiquette: So that you will not be a distraction to your classmates or to your
instructor, and so that you are able to focus on class while in class, no non-class-related use
of the Internet, or of any communication device, is allowed. This means no texting,
Twittering, or checking email, Facebook, YouTube, or other social network websites. No
Googling or online searches for non-class purposes. Remember to turn all your
phone/electronic device ringers off before class. Also, no reading of newspapers or other
class material is permitted once class has begun. Violation of these rules will be counted
against your class participation grade. Please respect your classmates and your instructor
and avoid embarrassment by adhering to these standards of classroom etiquette without
having to be reminded in class.
E-mail Etiquette: Some students have taken to using e-mails to the instructor in lieu of
asking questions in class. Any question that can be asked in class should be asked in class.
Some of your classmates might not have thought of something from the same angle, so
speak up! In all emails, please be courteous and address me by my name. I will do my best
to answer all emails within 24 hours. However, in certain occasions (such as travel for
conferences) it might take longer than that.

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My Expectations (and some tips on doing well in the class)
This course is designed to be a fun challenge. It will be a challenge in the sense that it will
suggest to you alternative ways of being and knowing, all of which make sense within the
context of a particular society’s history. I will try and offer you the opportunity to explore
what we and other people think is normal (as well as abnormal). Engaging with the ideas of
others present challenges that at times will be intriguing, unsettling and eye opening. That
process should be enjoyable (even though I know it won't always be!) even if what you are
learning sounds completely bizarre. I expect you to learn to be critical. That does not mean
critical in the negative sense, but rather, I expect that by the end of the semester you are able
to look for and uncover the assumptions in any argument and can evaluate data from other
contexts in culturally relative terms. All knowledge is equally truthful – an often difficult
perspective. (Bear in mind that truth, like incest, is relative. Or as the 19th century explorer
Richard Burton put it: All faith is false; all faith is true. Truth is the shattered mirror strewn
in myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to own.)
During the semester, we will have several opportunities to observe how we tend to
naturalize things in every culture and how truths really vary worldwide. I welcome your
own perspectives in various formats. Other things I expect and you are required to do:
 Attend class (I take it as a contractual agreement that you will be here when you
signed up for it).
 Attend prepared. I will often refer to readings during lectures, and may ask questions
based on the readings, thus reading these beforehand will make lectures more
understandable. I may occasionally invite comments from you during lecture.
 Read each assigned reading, listen to each lecture and view each film with an open
mind.
 Actively participate in class. Active, respectful discussion is a skill. You will develop
this skill in sections in this course. To do well, attend all classes, bring your readings
and notes, and be ready to engage with the readings and your classmates. Be an
active listener and contributor to the discussion. Be respectful of the differing
viewpoints of your student colleagues and your instructor.
 Feel free to come and see me if you are having any difficulties or just want to talk
more about the class, anthropology or whatever else you need.
 Hand in all assignments on time as I do NOT accept late assignments (it is not fair to
those who meet deadlines).
 Feel free to voice your insights and simultaneously respect the freedoms of others to
voice theirs!
In a class such as this, students frequently discover that not everyone shares their personal
beliefs, experiences, and convictions. Respect for many points of view is required in this
class. Disagreements are healthy and help us to learn, but students must maintain a
respectful attitude and courteous conversation at all times. My goal as an instructor is not to
convince you to hold a particular opinion on controversial issues, but to encourage you to

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think critically and with an open mind about the facts, evidence, ideas and theories
presented in class.
I urge you to take advantage of the Student Academic Support Center - learning to craft a
well written essay and communicate ideas in a persuasive manner are cornerstones of
anthropology, your education and life itself.
Course Schedule:
Week 1 Encountering Difference
R 8/30
Introductions and course overview
FILM: “Cannibal Tours”
Week 2 Introducing Anthropology: The Ethnographic Looking-Glass
T 9/4
Kottak, chapter 1
Ward, introduction and chapter 1
Miner, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” (pdf)
R 9/6
Kottak, chapter 2
Ward, chapter 2-3
FILM: "Franz Boas: The Shackles of Tradition"
Week 3 Research Methods and Ethical Considerations
T 9/11
Kottak, chapter 3
Murphy & Murphy, Chapter 3
Ward, chapter 4
FILM: “Bronislaw Malinowski: Off the Verandah”
R 9/13
Ward, chapter 5-6
IN-CLASS EXERCISE: INTERVIEWING AN ARTIFACT
Week 4 Language and Culture
T 9/18
Kottak, chapter 4
Ward, chapter 7
TEAM 1 PRESENTATION
R 9/20
Ward, chapter 8-9
FILM: “American Tongues”
INTERVIEW REPORT DUE IN CLASS
Week 5 Subsistence and Economic Systems
T 9/25
Kottak, chapter 5
Ward, chapter 10-11
Lee, “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari”(pdf)

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R 9/27
Murphy & Murphy, chapter 1-2
TEAM 2 PRESENTATION
Week 6 Political Systems and Social Control
T 10/2
Kottak, chapter 6
TEAM 3 PRESENTATION
R 10/4
Murphy & Murphy, chapter 4
FILM: “The Feast”
Week 7 Families and kinship
T 10/9
Kottak, chapter 7
Murphy & Murphy, chapter 7
TEAM 4 PRESENTATION
R 10/11 EXAM #1
Week 8
T 10/16 NO CLASS TODAY (fall vacation)
Gender and Sexuality Across Cultures
R 10/18
Kottak, chapter 8
FILM: “Tough Guise”
Week 9 Gender and Sexuality Across Cultures cont’d
T 10/23
Murphy & Murphy, chapter 6 & 9
TEAM 5 PRESENTATION
Religion, magic and ritual
R 10/25
Kottak, chapter 9
FILM: “Mammy Water: In Search of the Water Spirits in Nigeria”
Week 10 Religion, magic and ritual cont’d
T 10/30
Murphy & Murphy, chapter 5
Gmelch, “Baseball Magic.” (pdf)
TEAM 6 PRESENTATION
The World System and Colonialism
R 11/1
Kottak, chapter 10
Murphy & Murphy, chapter 8
FILM: “Columbus Didn’t Discover Us”

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Week 11 The World System and Colonialism cont’d
T 11/6
Bourgois, introduction & chapter 1
TEAM 7 PRESENTATION
Ethnicity and Race
R 11/8
Kottak, chapter 11
Bourgois, chapter 2
Browse “Understanding Race” website (http://www.understandingrace.org)
FILM: “Race: the power of an illusion”
Week 12 Inequality and Privilege
T 11/13
McIntosh, Peggy. 1988. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” (pdf)
Bourgois, chapter 3-4
R 11/15 READING DAY (NO CLASS)
Week 13 Inequality and Privilege cont’d
T 11/20
Bourgois, chapter 5-6
FILM: “Mirrors of Privilege”
BOOK REVIEW PAPER DUE IN CLASS
R 11/22 THANKSGIVING
Week 14 Applying Anthropology
T 11/27
Kottak, chapter 12
Bourgois, chapter 7
R 11/29
Bourgois, chapter 8-9
TEAM 8 PRESENTATION
Week 15 Anthropology’s Role in a Globalizing World
T 12/4
Kottak, chapter 13
TEAM 9 PRESENTATION
R 12/6
Concluding remarks/wrap-up
DISCUSSION OF FINAL EXAM
Final Exam: 3:30 - 5:30 Tuesday, December 11