ANTHROPOLOGY 102
WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?
Course # 41104
DEC F
SBC, GLO, SBS
SYLLABUS
SPRING SEMESTER 2019
Class Days/Times
M/F 1:00-2:20 pm.
Location: Earth & Space Science (ESS) 001.
Course instructor: Dr. David Hicks.
Department of Anthropology, Social & Behavioral Sciences.
Phone: 2-7617 Please leave a message at 2-7606 (Dept. Office)
Office: Social & Behavioral Science Building, Room: South-549.
My Office Hours: Mondays, 11:0 am -12:00 pm. and other times by appointment.
TA: Fanny Cornejo.
Office Hours: To be finalized.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
An anthropologist has said that “The World would be a better place if we understood
one another better” and another that “To know ourselves we must first understand
others.” This course – which is an introduction to cultural anthropology — is designed
to provide empirical illustration of these propositions. Yet the question that comes to
mind then is “who are we?” “We”, of course, are human beings, or – to give “us” our
scientific identifying label — homo sapiens. But what are homo sapiens? How do we
differ from other primates? In other words, “What makes us human?” In this course
you will find out for ANT 102 is about what makes us human. In doing so you should
acquire, by critical reasoning and analysis, an appreciation of cultural diversity and
gain some understanding of the interconnectedness among cultures throughout the
world. A wide range of cultures and ethnicities are therefore considered in this course
in addition to a variety of cultures in the USA. ANT 102 considers the institutions that
organize human behavior and the influence the nation-state, globalization, and
international development has had and continues to have on such peoples as the
Azande of central Africa, Eskimos of Canada (film: People of the Seal on the Netsilik
Eskimo and in the prescribed book, The Netsilik Eskimo); Zuni of New Mexico, and the
Tetum people of Southeast Asia whom I have been studying for many years and
whose lives I describe in Tetum Ghosts and Kin ( a book prescribed for this course). A
case study from the U.S. comes in the form of a study of the lives of waitresses in a
mid-West college campus as depicted in the prescribed book The Cocktail Waitress.
The influence of cultures upon one another is a central theme of the course, as in
colonialism, more specifically the impact of colonialism by the West. Other topics
considered include Eskimo-Canadian cultural relationships as well as the impact of
Canadian culture on the indigenous cultures of the Northwest Pacific coast. Another
theme of the course is the cross-disciplinary overlaps between cultural anthropology
and related academic disciplines like history (the anthropological/historical
interpretations of Salem witchcraft in 1692 provides us with a case study) and
linguistics (The Cocktail Witness again). These themes, in one form or another, are
exemplified in the material presented in class, the videos shown, and in the required
and recommended readings.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By taking this course you are expected to have acquired knowledge about the
interconnectedness of cultures throughout the world and global issues involving
religion, politics, the impact of western culture on non-western societies, ecology, and
the environment; in addition to the place of Native American ethnic groups in the
USA, such as the Zuni, Indians of the Northwest Coast, and Eskimo, and a combined
anthropological/historical perspective on Colonial North America. Knowledge of the
culture of the people of East Timor and the changes brought about by foreign cultures
on their indigenous culture is a major outcome. There will be specific questions to test
your how well you have learned satisfied these learning outcomes. As the course title
implies you will also learn what it is that makes homo sapiens different from other
