OTHER PEOPLE'S WORLDS (ANTH 1000)

SYLLABUS
Course and Instructor Information
Course Title:

Other People's Worlds (ANTH 1000-027)

MW 11:15-12:05 Austin 105
plus Friday Discussion Sections

Instructor:

Elle Shoreman-Ouimet
eleanor.ouimet@uconn.edu

Department of Anthropology
Office and hours: Beach 439, M/W 12:30-2
TA information:

Joy Ciofi (sub for first 6 weeks), Beach 433,

joy.ciofi@uconn.edu, office hours by appt
Ronnie Shepard, Ronnie.shepard@uconn.edu
office hours by appt.

Course Description:
This course is an introduction to the discipline of Cultural Anthropology. Students
will examine the diverse life-ways, social arrangements, and belief systems found
among human groups around the world. The course presents the research
methods used by cultural anthropologists; students will learn about the practical
difficulties and ethical dilemmas of doing anthropological research in familiar and
far-off settings. By comparing different societies and cultures with our own,
students will acquire new conceptual tools for understanding domestic and global
problems, culture change, and current events. The course emphasizes the
connections between social institutions, cultural ideas and customs, economic
transformation, and historical events. Students will learn how anthropological
methods and insights can be applied to the solution of contemporary problems.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course students will be able to:
demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture,
define and explain cultural relativism as the fundamental anthropological
perspective,

describe the research methods used by cultural anthropologists,

identify, describe, and compare the major structural types of human
society,
discuss the cross-cultural diversity of gender ideologies and cite examples
to show how gender ideology is related to women's social status,
explain the nature and basis of social inequality in human societies,
develop generalizations about the historical effects of foreign contact and
colonization on indigenous societies,
identify and explain the processes of globalization, and give specific
examples of globalizations impact on local cultures,
cite examples to demonstrate how the anthropological perspective can be
applied to current events and problems.
Course Requirements and Grading

Your final course grade will be based on the following factors:

Review Quizzes
25%
Mid-term and Final exams
25%
Presentations and Participation in Section
25%
Thought Question Assignments in Section
25%
**IN-LECTURE EXTRA CREDIT: Up to 4 points to final grade**
Review Quizzes: Review quizzes are weekly assignments due on FRIDAY by
11:30 PM of each week. They are based on your reading of the chapter and you
will be taking them AT HOME, ONLINE through HuskyCT.
Exams: Exams are straightforward and consist of multiple choice questions. The
Final Exam is NOT cumulative. Study guides for the Mid-term and Final will be
posted on HuskyCT and reviewed in Section before each exam.
Discussion Section assignments (Presentations, Participation, Thought
Questions):
Discussion sections for this class are intended to be discussions and your
attendance and participation is essential to your grade in the course. You will be
assigned short articles that must be read before section. Your TAs will be
assigning each of you one of these articles to present to your section during the
semester. For every discussion section during which you are not presenting, you
are expected to hand in thought questions, as well as participate in the studentguided discussion. Your TA will review the expectations for presentations and
thought questions in discussion section this week. (NOTE: Your TAs teach
multiple sections and communicate on a daily basis - DO NOT REUSE
EACH OTHER'S PRESENTATIONS AND/OR THOUGHT QUESTIONS IN

DIFFERENT SECTIONS. Doing so will result in a failing presentation

grade.)
Extra Credit: At the end of some lectures I will bring up activities and exercises
to the class. Students who complete the exercise will receive extra points tacked
on to their cumulative grade at the end of the semester. Complete 10-11: 4 pts; 79: 3 pts; 4-6: 2 points; 1-3: 1 pts ADDED ON TO FINAL GRADE
FAQ (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS):
Q. How do I get an A?
A. Come to class (including the discussion sections) regularly and on
time. It is during lecture that you will learn the terms and concepts critical to the
subject, class, and most likely to be highlighted on exams. Do the readings
during the week(s) in which they are assigned. If you miss class, it is YOUR
responsibility to get notes from another student. The discussion sections
present additional class material not covered in the lecture; therefore, attending
your section is critical.
Q. How should I study for the exams?
A. The best way to study for the exams are to read each chapter and test
your understanding using the Glossary cards, Glossary Matching Activities, and
Review Quizzes links available for each chapter under 'Course Materials' on
HuskyCT.
Q. What is HuskyCT?
A. HuskyCT is an online teaching tool and you should log on to the
course site as soon as possible! The Syllabus, TA contact information, lecture
outlines, study guides, announcements, assignments, and supplementary course
readings will be posted on the site. If you are properly registered for the class,
ANTH 1000 will automatically appear when you log on.
Grading Scale for the Final Course Grade:
Grade

Letter Grade

GPA

93-100

4.0

90-92

A-

3.7

87-89

B+

3.3

83-86

3.0

80-82

B-

2.7

77-79

C+

2.3

Grade

Letter Grade

GPA

73-76

2.0

70-72

C-

1.7

67-69

D+

1.3

63-66

1.0

60-62

D-

0.7

<60

0.0

IMPORTANT: Policy on missed assessments: If you miss an exam or your

discussion presentation and want to request a make-up, you must inform your
professor or your teaching assistant by email before the
exam/quiz/presentation begins AND you must produce a written note from your
doctor, parent, advisor, or some other authority, or receive a failing grade.

Course Schedule
Weeks / Topics / Reading Assignments:
MW Aug 29/Aug 31 Introduction to the Course
Lecture: Anthropology in a global Age
Readings: Ch. 1
Complete Review Quiz for Ch. 1 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: You DO have section this week
M Sept 5 Labor Day--NO CLASS
W Sept 7

Lecture: What is Culture?

Readings Ch. 2
Complete Review Quiz for Ch. 2 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read Body Ritual among the Nacirema (Miner),
and The Yuck Factor (George); 3 thought questions

MW Sept 12/14

Lecture: Ethnographic Fieldwork

Readings Ch. 3
Complete Review Quiz for Ch.3 by Friday 11:30 PM

Friday Section: Read Christmas in the Kalahari (Lee) and

Tricking and Tripping (Sterk); 3 thought questions

MW Sept 19/21

Lecture: Language and Sociolinguistics

Readings: Ch. 4
Complete Review Quiz for Ch.4 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read Shakespeare in the Bush (Bohannan); How
Language Shapes Thought (Boroditsky); 3 thought

questions
MW Sept 26/28

Lecture: Race and Racism

Readings: Ch. 5
Complete Review Quiz for Ch.5 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read White Privilege (Unpacking the Invisible
Knapsack); Diamond's "Race Without Color"; 3 thought

questions

MW Oct 3/5

Lecture: Ethnicity and Nationalism

Readings: Ch. 6
Complete Review Quiz for Ch. 6 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Exam Review

M Oct 10

MIDTERM: ONLINE AT HOME

W Oct 12

Film

Save

Friday Section: Read The Lost tribes of the Amazon (Hammer);

We Belong to the Land: Samburu People's Legal Battle to
Lands in Kenya; 3 thought questions

MW Oct 17/19

Lecture: Gender

Readings: Ch. 7
Complete Review Quiz for Ch.7 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read Kidnapping Women: Discourses of Emotion
and Social Change in the Kyrgyz Republic; and The Hijras: An
Alternative Gender in India; 3 thought questions

MW Oct 24/26

Lecture: Kinship
Readings: Ch. 9
Complete Review Quiz for Ch. 9 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read Arranging a Marriage in India (Nanda); and
Death without Weeping (Scheper-Hughes), 3 thought

questions

MW Oct 31/Nov 2

Lecture: Class and Inequality

Readings: Ch. 10
Complete Review Quiz for Ch.10 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read Cell Phones, Sharing, and Social Status in
an African Society; The Evolution of Inequality (Rogers); 3
thought questions

MW Nov 7/9

Lecture: Global Economy

Readings: Ch. 11
Complete Review Quiz for Ch.11 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read Why Can't People Feed Themselves (Lappe
and Collins); The Price of Progress (Bodley); 3 thought

questions

MW Nov 14/16

Lecture: Religion
Readings: Ch. 13
Complete Review Quiz for Ch. 13 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: Read The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual
(Sosis); Understanding Islam (Jost); 3 thought questions

MW Nov 21/23

NO CLASS

MW Nov 28/30

Lecture: Politics and Power

Readings: Ch. 12
Complete Review Quiz for Ch. 12 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: The Arrow of Disease (Diamond); 3 thought
questions

MW Dec 5/7

LAST WEEK OF CLASS

Lecture: Health and Illness
Readings Ch. 14
Complete Review Quiz for Ch. 14 by Friday at 11:30PM
Friday Section: FINAL Review

FINAL EXAM: ONLINE AT HOME, date TBA