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Introduction to Anthropology and Sociology by Max Forte

PLEASE NOTE: In the online syllabus you will also find links to relevant resources that should help you as you study, embedded in the appropriate sections. To download a copy of the syllabus hand out in class, right-click and "save target as" with the following link: 110Syllabus2004.doc.

Regarding the links to online readings below, please see the notes at the top of the Online Readings page, which contains the full list of such readings.

For information on the required textbook for purchase, click on "Announcements" in the menu on the left.


Fall Semester, 2004
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Part One:
INTRODUCING ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
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When did these two disciplines emerge, and why? What makes them different, yet increasingly similar? In which ways do they overlap?

Week 1 [return to top]
Mon. 13 Sept: Introduction to the Course
Weds. 15 Sept: Introducing Anthropology
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 1, Anthropology and Human Diversity, pps. 1-18
Online Supplemental Reading:
Introduction to Anthropology (411 Kb)
Body Ritual among the Nacirema (52.7 Kb)
News:
"Cultural relativism and universal human rights", by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, in AnthroNotes, Vol. 20, No. 2, Winter 1998.
 

> 19 Sept: FINAL DATE TO REGISTER FOR OR ADD A COURSE FOR FALL TERM
 

Week 2 [return to top]
Introducing Sociology
Mon. 20 Sept. &Weds. 22 Sept.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 2, A Sociological Compass, pps. 19-46
Online Supplemental Reading:
Introduction to Sociology (0.99 Mb)
 


Part Two:
Thinking about the Ways We Think [return to top]

We often take our very thought processes for granted. Too often we rely on what we believe to be “common sense”, old truisms, our buy arguments at face value. Some might think that social scientific arguments are merely opinion, and because everyone has a right to an opinion, all opinions are equally valid. Now we will find out why this is all wrong.

 

Week 3 [return to top]
Analysing and Evaluating Arguments
Mon. 27 Sept. & Weds. 29 Sept.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 3, The Anatomy of Arguments: Identifying Premises and Conclusions, pps. 47-74
Online Supplemental Reading:
Six Steps to Understanding and Evaluating Arguments (460 Kb)

 

Week 4 [return to top]
Generalizations and Exceptions
Mon. 4 Oct. & Weds. 6 Oct.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 4, Should We Generalize about People? pps. 75-82
Online Supplemental Reading:
Deciding What to Believe (253 Kb)
 


Part Three:
Introducing Theories in Anthropology and Sociology
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Given the broad range of subjects covered by anthropology and sociology, there are a great many theories that have been developed to explain a wide array of human behaviour. Here we will learn of some of the classic and widely disseminated theories at the core of these two disciplines.

 

Week 5 [return to top]
Mon. 11 Oct. (Thanksgiving, Closed)
Weds. 13 Oct: Introducing Theories in Anthropology
Assigned Readings:
Ch. 5, Appendix, pps. 83-90

Ch. 6, The Development of Anthropological Thought, pps. 91-108
Online Supplemental Reading:
Theories in Social Research (459 Kb)
Related Website:
Anthropological Theories: A Guide Prepared by Students, for Students.
http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/Faculty/murphy/436/anthros.htm

 

Week 6 [return to top]
Introducing Theories in Sociology
Mon. 18 Oct. & Weds. 20 Oct.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 7, Three Sociological Perspectives, pps. 109-118

MON. 25 OCTOBER 2004:
IN-CLASS EXAM FOR PARTS ONE, TWO and THREE (20% of final grade)
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Part Four:
Methods in Social and Cultural Research
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Armchair theorizing is no longer accepted in the social sciences. Claims to truth have to be based on some foundation of supporting evidence—information that can be acquired by others using the same methods of investigation (at least, this is one approach to knowledge in the social sciences). Here we will obtain an overview of some of the primary research methods used by anthropologists and sociologists. We will compare and contrast them and discuss which methods may be more appropriate given different research subjects.

 

Week 7 [return to top]
Mon. 25 Oct. (EXAM, see above)
Weds. 27 Oct: Research in Social-Cultural Anthropology
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 8, Methods of Investigation, pps. 119-134
Online Supplemental Reading:
Doing Anthropological Research (1.3 Mb)
Doing Field Research (397 Kb)

 

Week 8 [return to top]
Research Methods in Sociology
Mon. 1 Nov. & Weds. 3 Nov.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 9, Doing Sociological Research, pps. 135-159
Online Supplemental Reading:
Doing Sociological Research (311 Kb)
 


Part Five:
Culture and Society, Enculturation and Socialization, Social Control and Deviance [return to top]

Social scientists have handled populations through large categories such as “society” and “culture”. We as individuals have been schooled in the ways of our societies and instructed as to the appropriate cultural norms governing social relationships. To a significant extent, we are also speaking of patterns and processes of social control here, as well as the ways that societies reproduce themselves. Institutions and norms governing socialization are thus focal concerns of this part. We are concerning ourselves with some of the larger, overarching institutions and values that mould individuals into particular social and cultural relationships and frameworks of meaning.

 

Week 9 [return to top]
Culture and Society: key concepts
Mon. 8 Nov. & Weds. 10 Nov.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 10, Culture and Society, pps. 163-192

Online Supplemental Reading:
Culture in Anthropology (718 Kb)
Culture in Sociology (924 Kb)
Online Tutorial:
HUMAN CULTURE

 

Week 10 [return to top]
Socialization and the Learning of Culture
Mon. 15 Nov. & Weds. 17 Nov.
Assigned Readings:
Ch. 11, Socialization, pps. 193-220

Ch. 12, Learning Culture, pps. 221-240
Online Supplemental Reading:
Socialization and the Life Course (982 Kb)
Online Tutorial:
PROCESS OF SOCIALIZATION

 

Week 11 [return to top]
Social Control

Mon. 22 Nov. & Weds. 29 Nov.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 13, Social Control, pps. 241-262
Online Supplemental Reading:
Social Structure and Interaction in Everyday Life (952 Kb)
Online Tutorial:
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

 

Week 12 [return to top]
Deviance
Mon. 29 Nov. & Weds. 1 Dec.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 14, Deviance and Crime, pps. 263-290

Online Supplemental Readings:
Defining Deviance (39 Kb)
Theories of Deviance (67 Kb)
Deviant Behaviour and Social Control (2.90 Mb)
Sociology of Deviance (63 Kb)
Labeling Theory (48 Kb)
Conflict Theory of Crime (56 Kb)
 


> EXAMINATIONS: 6-17 December

EXAM FOR PARTS FOUR AND FIVE, during examinations period
(30% of final grade)
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> Dec. 23: Fall grades accessible online


Please Note:
You do have some work to do over the Winter holiday break (you should start getting accustomed to this fact), and it merely consists of doing the assigned readings for the start of class in January. If you are particularly enterprising, you will take the opportunity to read ahead on your own.


Winter Semester, 2005 [return to top]

Part Six:
Culture, Community and Family [return to top]

We have studied how concepts such as culture and society can aid us to develop theories of socialization and enculturation that underpin social order, social control and social reproduction. We are still concerned with how individuals are schooled in various social and cultural norms, through particular institutional vehicles, such as the family, systems of kinship, ethnic organizations, gender relations, religion, and even language. These topics will be our focus for this section.

Week 13 [return to top]
Mon. 3 Jan.  (Closed, classes begin on 4 Jan)
Weds. 5 Jan: Language & Culture: an ambiguous relationship
Assigned Readings:
Ch. 15, Culture, pps. 291-314

Ch. 16, Language, pps. 315-342
Online Supplemental Reading:
Language (712 Kb)
Online Tutorial:
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

 

Week 14 [return to top]
Religion in Anthropology and Sociology
Mon. 10 Jan. & Weds. 12 Jan.
Assigned Readings:
Ch. 17, Religion, pps. 343-370

Ch. 18, The Sociological Perspective on Religion, pps. 371-394
Online Supplemental Reading:
Sociology of Religion (238 Kb)
Online Tutorial:
ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION

 

Week 15 [return to top]
Race or Ethnicity?
Mon. 17 Jan. & Weds. 19 Jan.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 19, Race and Ethnicity, pps. 395-428
Online Supplemental Readings:
Race and Ethnic Relations (884 Kb)
Canada as a Model of Ethnic Harmony? (789 Kb)
News:
"Anthropology can promote better race relations", by Robert Sussman, in AnthroNotes, Vol. 19, No. 3, Fall 1997.
"Translating Difference: A Debate About Multiculturalism", by Martin Rose and Caspar Melville, openDemocracy, 01 July 1997.
Online Tutorial:
ETHNICITY AND RACE

 

Week 16 [return to top]
Gender Relations
Mon. 24 Jan. & Weds. 26 Jan.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 20, Gender in Comparative Perspective, pps. 429-454
Online Supplemental Reading:
Gender and Sexuality (858 Kb)

 

> 28 Jan: FINAL DATE TO WITHDRAW FROM A FULL-YEAR (6 CREDIT) COURSE WITHOUT ACADEMIC PENALTY.

 

Week 17 [return to top]
Kinship Systems
Mon. 31 Jan. & Weds. 2 Feb.

Assigned Reading:
Ch. 21, Kinship, pps. 455-476
Online Supplemental Reading:
Kinship (1.25 Mb)
Online Tutorials:

KINSHIP AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
NATURE OF KINSHIP

 

Week 18 [return to top]
Families
Mon. 7 Feb. & Weds. 9 Feb.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 22, The Family, pps. 477-506
Online Supplemental Reading:
Families (650 Kb)
Online Tutorial:

SEX AND MARRIAGE

 

Week 19 [return to top]
Mon. 14 Feb.  (Reading Week - Closed)
Weds. 16 Feb.  (Reading Week - Closed)

> You will most likely use this time to study for the next exam. However, you should also use the time afforded by Reading Week to read ahead in the syllabus.

MON. 21 FEBRUARY 2005:
IN-CLASS EXAM FOR PART SIX (20% of final grade)
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Part Seven:
Power, Political Economy and Inequality [return to top]

Societies are structured to meet certain material or economic ends and there are definite social and political relations accompanying such patterns of production. We will therefore look at patterns of work in different societies, the cultural values associated with work, as well as political systems and social stratification. We will then examine production, power and inequality on a global scale. Our interest in the latter we lead us to focus on colonialism and its legacy in the so-called “Third World”, the emergence of what some call a modern world system that is capitalist and global in extent, and the transnational linkages formed between and among peoples.

 

Week 20 [return to top]
Mon. 21 Feb. (EXAM, see above)
Weds. 23 Feb: Introducing Social Inequality/Stratification
Assigned Readings:

Ch. 23, Concepts and Theories of Stratification, pps. 507-528
Ch. 24, Who Rules America? The Corporate Community and the Upper Class, pps. 529-534

 

Week 21 [return to top]
Understanding Social Stratification
Mon. 28 Feb. & Weds. 2 Mar.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 25, Social Inequality and Stratification, pps. 535-550

Online Supplemental Reading:
Social Stratification (1.42 Mb)

 

Week 22 [return to top]
Production, Distribution and Exchange
Mon. 7 Mar. & Weds. 9 Mar.

Assigned Reading:

Ch. 26, Economics, pps. 551-576
Online Supplemental Reading:
Exchange and Economic Systems (494 Kb)
Economy and Work (810 Kb)
Online Tutorial:

PATTERNS OF SUBSISTENCE

 

Week 23 [return to top]
Political Organization
Mon. 14 Mar. & Weds. 16 Mar.
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 27, The Organization of Political Life, pps. 577-594
Online Supplemental Reading:
Political and Economic Systems (1.68 Mb)

Online Tutorial:
ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

 

Week 24 [return to top]
Colonialism, Globalization and World Poverty
Mon. 21 Mar. & Weds. 23 Mar.
Assigned Readings:
Ch. 28, Cultural Change, pps. 595-622

Ch. 29, Global Stratification, pps. 623-648
Online Supplemental Readings:
The McDonaldization of Society (78 Kb)
The Disneyization of Society (71 Kb)
Online Tutorial:

CULTURE  CHANGE

 

Week 25 [return to top]
Mon. 28 Mar.  (Easter Monday - Closed)
Weds. 30 Mar: Non-Western Critiques of Progress and Development
Assigned Reading:
Ch. 30, Nature, Culture, and Development, pps. 649-end.

Online Supplemental Readings:
Sociology of Sustainable Development (577 Kb) 
Technology and the Global Environment (695 Kb)
 


> EXAMINATIONS: 4-15 April

EXAM FOR PART SEVEN, during examinations period (30% of final grade)

> 29 April: Final grades accessible online. [return to top]