SS 110: GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGY

PROFESSOR LAGANA

FALL 2009: READING LIST AND COURSE OUTLINE

Section LC  Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 11:10AM-12:00 PM Room S-417

Section G124 Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-2:00 PM Room S-417

Section H24 Tuesday and Thursday 2:00-3:25 PM Room S-417

Section M24 Tuesday and Thursday 6:40-7:55 PM Room M-123

• Please make sure that you read this course outline: answers to just about any questions you have about the course can be found here. If you ask me a month from now, for example, when my office hours are or what chapters you should be reading, that probably means you haven’t read this course outline. This course outline is also posted on my web page here at Queensborough:

        http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/SocialSciences/flagana/flagana.asp

• This course is an introduction to the four fields of anthropology. We will discuss what these four fields can tell us about both the biological and the cultural evolution of the human species, starting with some of our earliest ancestors.

• This is a college-level course and you’re all expected to treat it like one. That means coming to class regularly, coming to class prepared, paying attention, acting like grown-ups, as well as doing all of the assigned readings.  If you’re not prepared to do all of this, then you would be better off dropping the course now while you can still get a refund. Please remember that this is college and not the 13th grade.

I  REQUIRED BOOKS:  these two books will be the basis for class lectures and discussions. They are both available in the bookstore and there should be at least one copy of each book on reserve in the library. If you expect to pass this course, you must read both books. I will also be giving the class some handouts during the semester; you’re expected to read those as well.

A. Robert Edwards Lenkeit: Introducing Cultural Anthropology (McGraw Hill Publishers). Please make sure that you buy the fourth edition of this book.

 

B.  Luke Eric Lassiter: Invitation to Anthropology (AltaMira Press). Please make sure that you buy the third edition of this book.  This is a relatively short book that gives you an introduction to how anthropologists think and the tools they use to make sense of this complex and very diverse world we live in.

II  COURSE REQUIREMENTS: there will be three exams, the first one  sometime in mid-October, the second in November, and the third (final exam) in December. There will also be a writing assignment which will be due at the end of the semester. This writing assignment will be based on Invitation to Anthropology and will be part of the third exam.  Details about the writing assignment will come later in the semester.

 III OFFICE HOURS: if you’d like to talk to me about anything, my office is in room        119 of the Medical Arts Building (phone number 718-281-5017). My office hours this semester are as follows: Monday 10:30-11 AM, Tuesday 4:30-6 PM, Thursday 10:30-11 AM and 3:30-4:00 PM. If you can’t make it during those times, please talk to me before or after class and we can try to arrange another time to meet.

IV E-MAIL: please send any e-mail to the following address: frankL@ att.net

I can also be reached at this address: flagana@qcc.cuny.edu.

While I’m on the subject of e-mail,  here are three things to remember whenever you send  e-mail to one of your professors.

              A) Whenever you send e-mail to a professor, please make sure that you use   

                   some semblance of proper written English. For example, do not use common

                   e-mail and  text messaging shorthand such as “u” instead of “you”, “r u”

                   instead of “are you”, “plz” instead of “please”, etc. I will not reply to any

                   email unless it’s written in proper English.

               B) When you send e-mail to a professor, please make sure that you put

                   something in the subject line of the e-mail to let the professor know that it’s 

                   from a student.

                    Any email you send to a professor should come from the free email

                    account you have here at Queensborough (Tigermail). This account

                    be can easily accessed either from home or at school.

               C)  Last year I got an e-mail from a student with the e-mail name of 

                    “RagingPimp”. Another e-mail came from a student calling herself           

                    “HotnSexyChicana”. Amusing as these sort of names might be, you

                     should all try to use a more neutral sounding name for school-related

                     e-mail. Would you send a resume to a prospective employer with the name

                     “RagingPimp”? I hope not. I will not reply to any email with an

                     inappropriate name. Once again, always use your Tigermail account

                     when you’re writing about school-related matters.

V FINAL GRADE: your final grade will be based primarily on a combined average of the three exams. The writing assignment will be part of the third exam. Class participation and especially class attendance  will also be taken into account. Please keep in mind that no make-up exams will be given without a very good reason (like a doctor’s note). Please organize your life so that you can be here for each of the three exams.

VI ATTENDANCE:  since much of the material on the exams will come from things we talk about in class, it’s a very good idea to come to class regularly. If you’re absent from more than six class sessions (four if you’re in one of the classes that meets twice a week), you stand a good chance of having your grade reduced because of excessive absences. If you miss more than 10 classes (6 if you are in one of the classes that meets two days a week), you will likely fail the course. Your work schedule, parking problems, minor illnesses, court appearances, etc do not qualify as excused absences so please don’t ask.  If you do miss a class or two, it’s your responsibility to get the notes for that day from another student. If you’re going to miss several classes because of illness or some other good reason, please let me know (by phone or email).

Please do not ask me to tell you how many times you’ve missed class; it’s your responsibility to keep track of your own absences.

• One more thing: make sure you get to class on time – students who walk in late disturb everyone, especially me. If you’re going to be more than 10 minutes late to class, don’t bother coming at all; if you arrive more than 10 minutes after the start of class you’ll be marked absent

VII  CLASS RULES:  make sure that you get to class awake and on time. Refrain from catching up on your sleep, reading the newspaper, playing on your laptop,  or conducting your courtships in class.  Do not eat your breakfast or lunch or anything else during class. If you carry a cell phone or any other electronic device, turn it off and put it away before class begins.  If you use your cell phone during class for any reason (that especially includes text messaging), you will be asked to leave for the day and you will be marked absent. Anyone whose cell phone goes off during an exam will be penalized 5 points. And please pay attention, or at least do a good job of pretending to pay attention; students whose minds start wandering might find themselves being called on to comment on what’s been said in class.

VIII  NEWSPAPERS: you should all make a point of reading a good newspaper regularly, whether you do it online or the old fashioned way. Be on the lookout for articles that have something to do with some aspect of anthropology. The NY Times has a section every Tuesday devoted to news about science; you’ll usually find at least one article there that’s relevant to anthropology. Those of you  who read newspapers from other countries might want to bring to class articles about local customs, holidays, problems, etc. Expanding your reading is important, not just for this class but for all of your other classes as well. Being an educated person means being aware if what’s happening in the world around you. If you’re not willing to make that effort, then perhaps you should think about whether or not you really belong in college at this point in your life.

IX.  MAPS:  it would also be a very good idea if you got yourself a good map of the world and learned how to use. This course presupposes at least a basic knowledge of world geography. If you’ve never learned much about the world you live in, now is as good a time as any to start learning. It would also be a very good idea to get yourself a good college level dictionary; keep it handy and get into the habit of using it.

X.  ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:  don’t even think of cheating on any of the exams in this class – the result will be a failing grade for the semester if you’re caught (you do have the right to appeal to the department committee on academic integrity). Any written work that you hand in has to be entirely your own work and not the work of anyone else:  handing in someone else’s work on a written assignment will  also warrant a failing grade for the semester: no excuses and no second chances.

OUTLINE OF READINGS FOR THE SEMESTER

I’d like you to start reading the book by Luke Lassiter, Invitation to Anthropology , as soon as possible. Please have it finished by the first week of October at the latest.

As for the other book, Introducing Cultural Anthropology , here is a week-by-week schedule of the chapters you should be reading. Although my lectures will not always correspond exactly to this outline of readings, I expect you to keep up with the assigned readings for each week. If you fall behind in your reading, you will have trouble understanding what’s going on in class. You cannot do well in this course unless you do all of the assigned readings. I will also be giving the class some handouts during the semester; I expect you to read those as well. Also, please keep in mind that I will not be talking about everything that’s in the two books; you, on the other hand, are responsible for everything in both books. If there’s anything that you’re not clear about, it’s your responsibility to ask about it.

WEEK OF:

August 31 and September 7: Chapter 1 – What Is Anthropology ?

September 14 and September 21:  Chapter 2 – The Concept of Culture.

September 28: Chapter 3 – Doing Fieldwork.

• Finish reading the book Luke Lassiter by Luke Lassiter, “Invitation to Anthropology”, by the first week of October.

October 5 and October 12:  Chapter 4 - Human Communication.

October 19 and October 26: chapters 5 and 6 – Subsistence Strategies – what’s for dinner?.

November 2 and November 9:  Chapters 7 and 8:  Marriage, Families, Kinship and Descent.

November 16: Chapter 9 – Gender and Sexuality.

November 23: Chapter 10: Political Organization: From Bands to States.             

November 30: Chapter 11 – Religion: Explaining the Unexplainable.

December 7: Chapter 13 –Culture Change and Globalization.        

• Note:  the first exam will cover chapters 1, 2 and 3 in the textbook. The second exam will cover chapters 4, 5 and 6 in the textbook. The third, or final exam, will cover the remainder of the semester’s work. The third exam will also include the writing assignment that I mentioned: an essay about Invitation to Anthropology .

IMPORTANT DATES

August 31 (Monday) – first day of classes.

September 7 (Monday) – no classes.

September 28 (Monday) – no classes.

October 12 (Monday) – no classes.

October 14 (Wednesday) – classes follow a Monday schedule.

November 26 (Thursday) – no classes.

December 10 (Thursday) – last day of classes.

December 14à21 – final exam week.

Final Exam week is scheduled to run from December 14 à 21. Please organize your life so you can be here during that week.

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• REMEMBER:  you cannot expect to do well in this course unless you come to class regularly, participate in class discussions, and do all of the assigned reading (including the handouts)

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Notice for Students with Disabilities

Any student who feels that he/she may need an accommodation based upon the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss his/her specific needs. Please contact the office of Services for Students with Disabilities in ScienceBuilding, room 132 (718 631 6257) to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

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