SOCY 121/ANTH 121
UNDERSTANDING CULTURES (GE)
Catalog Entry
SOCY 121/ANTH 121. Understanding Cultures. (GE) Three hours lecture (3).
Introduction to the ways anthropologists view human behavior and the methods they
use. Cultures past and present and around the world are explored to study diverse
adaptations humans have made.
Note(s): General Education and Cultural or Behavioral Analysis designated course. This course
may be used to meet requirements for the minor in International Studies.
Detailed Description of Content of Course
The content may include:
I. Introduction to Anthropology
A. What is Anthropology?
B. What is Culture? Cultural Relativism & Ethnocentrism
C. What is Language?
D. What are Humans?
1. Do non-human animals have culture?
2. Do non-human animals have culture which is transmitted by language?
E. What Do Anthropologists Do? The Anthropological Method
1. Single-case analysis--Ethnography Participant Observation Ethics
2. Cross-Cultural Studies
II. Cultural Variation
A. Various Adaptive Strategies & Their Correlates
1. Food-getting strategies: hunting & gathering, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, industrialism
2. Settlement patterns
3. Social/political organizations
4. Economic systems
5. Social stratification
B. Social Organization (Marriage, the Family, Kinship)
C. Religion
III. Culture Change
IV. Anthropological Explanation
A. Theories in Cultural Anthropology
B. Explaining Cultural Variation by a Culture's:
1. Place on an evolutionary scale
2. Adaptation to environment
3. Expression of an internal pattern
4. Examples of variation in cultural patterns:
a. individual vs. communal social structure
b. lineal vs. non-lineal perception
Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
A lecture, discussion, and writing format is used to introduce the students to the core social science concepts of culture and to give them practice in using them.
Goals and Objectives of the Course
University Core B & College Core B, Social and Behavioral Science Course:
Goal 9: 福利导在线观看 students will understand how individual, social, or cultural
factors influence human behavior and shape reciprocal relationships between people
and society.
福利导在线观看 students will be able to:
1) Recognize social and behavioral science concepts;
2) Recognize the relationship between individual and socio-cultural factors that
affect behaviors.
College Core A, Global Perspectives, Goal 11:
福利导在线观看 students will understand how social and cultural (for example,
political, historical, economic, environmental, religious, or geographic) forces shape
experiences in the global setting.
福利导在线观看 students will:
1) Identify how different perspectives shape human life around the world;
2) Recognize social and cultural forces that affect relationships between cultures
in the world.
Assessment Measures
Graded and checked assignments may include in-class or take- home examinations and quizzes, homework assignments, in-class writing and in-class discussions. Journals may be required and checked periodically. Formal oral presentations may be required.
Other Course Information
None.
Review and Approval
DATE ACTION REVIEWED February 2009 Reviewed Dr. Paula Brush, Chair, Department of Sociology
June 20, 2015
March 01, 2021