University of Waterloo

Department of Anthropology
ANTH 202
Social and Cultural Anthropology
Winter
MW 10:00 – 11:20 AM
Instructor Information
Instructor: Instructor Name
Office: Office
Office Phone: Please email
Office Hours: MW 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Office T.A. 1 Office

Office Hours Thursday 2:00-3:00 PM

Course Description
This course introduces students to the history and key concepts of social and cultural anthropology
through the examination of classic works as well as contemporary ethnographic texts and films. Topics
include anthropological approaches to understanding cultural identity and difference, social structure,
kinship, politics, and exchange.
Course Goals and Learning Outcomes
This course will use lectures, slides and films to introduce students to the fundamentals of social and
cultural anthropology. Students will demonstrate knowledge of ethnography, communication, cultural
ecology, economic anthropology, kinship, identity, legal and political anthropology, worldview,
globalization and applied anthropology in one written midterm examination, one final examination and
a prepared parliamentary-style debate.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

A. Demonstrate knowledge of the history of the discipline and understanding of key concepts:
 Knowledge of anthropologists associated with research in linguistic, political, economic
environmental and legal anthropology, kinship, inequality, worldview, globalization, and
applied anthropology
 Knowledge of key concepts associated with linguistic, political, economic, environmenta
and legal anthropology, kinship, inequality, worldview, globalization, and applied
anthropology
B. Answer questions about human nature, culture, society and anthropological theory
 Small group discussion and debate
 Independent and group research

Required Texts
 
Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 16th edition. Dianna J. Shandy,
David W. McCurdy, and James Spradley. Waveland Press, Inc.
I have ordered a copy of this book to be placed on three-hour reserve at Dana Porter Library. I have also
placed a copy of the 15th edition of this textbook on three-hour reserve at Dana Porter Library, because
many of the assigned chapters are also in the earlier edition.

Introduction to Anthropology. Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, and Marjorie M. Snipes. Openstax
https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-anthropology
Introduction to Anthropology is licenced under Creative Commons to OpenStax, a non-profit corporation
of Rice University. As such it is completely free to use. I have linked Introduction to Anthropology above,
and I will provide links to it on LEARN. You may access it online, download it as a PDF, or print it out.
Optional Text

Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Anthropology, 5th edition. Robert L. Welsch and Kirk M. Endicott.
McGraw Hill
This text has recently gone out of print, but you will likely be able to find second hand copies. The text is
only needed for the debate assignment, for which you will only need to read a small section, so I have
put it on reserve at Dana Porter Library so you can make copies of the pages that you need.
Course Requirements and Assessment
There will be one midterm examination, one final examination and a prepared parliamentary-style
debate. Students are also expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings.

Assessment Date of Evaluation (if known) Weighting

Midterm February 7 30%
Debate March 27, April 1 and 3 20%
Participation Ongoing 10%
Final TBA 40%
Total 100%

Midterm Examination
This will be an 80-minute examination conducted during class time at the regular class location. It will
consist of short answer questions. The midterm will take place on February 7, 2023. It will be worth 30%
of the grade.

Parliamentary Debate
This will be a group presentation. In groups of five or six, students will prepare either the “yes” or the
“no” side to one of the following contentious questions in anthropological theory (found in Taking Sides:
Clashing Views in Anthropology):1. Does language shape how we think?2. Is Black American
English a separate language from Standard American English, with its own distinctive grammar
and vocabulary?3. Should cultural anthropology stop trying to model itself as a science?4.
Was Margaret Mead’s research on Samoan adolescents fundamentally flawed?5. Do men
dominate women in all societies?6. Does the distinction between the natural and the supernatural
exist in all cultures?7. Is conflict between different ethnic groups inevitable?8. Do native
peoples today invent their traditions? 9. Did Napoleon Chagnon’s research methods harm the
Yanomami Indians of Venezuela?The presentation will take the form of a parliamentary style debate
with one speaker presenting on each side, followed by a second speaker on each side who delivers a
rebuttal. Each member of the group will also submit a one-page summary detailing the contributions of
each group member to the debate preparation.

Participation
Students of this class are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings. 10% will be
awarded for class participation

Final Examination
This will be a two-hour examination conducted during the regularly scheduled examination period. It will
consist of short answer and essay questions. It will be worth 40% of the grade.

Course Outline
The textbooks are on reserve at Dana Porter Library.

Week Date Topic Readings Due

1 January 8 and 10 Culture, Ethnography, and Thinking Like Conformity and Conflict:
an Anthropologist Eating Christmas in the
Kalahari; Nice Girls Don’t
Talk to Rastas; Openstax:
Chapter 2.3, 2.4, 2.5
2 January 15 and Language, Communication, and Meaning Conformity and Conflict:
17 Shakespeare in the Bush;
The Power of Talk;
Openstax: Chapter 6.2, 6.3,
6.4, 6.5
Week Date Topic Readings Due

3 January 22 and Ecology, Sustainability, and Foodways Conformity and Conflict:

24 Forest Development the
Indian Way; The Truth
About “Sustainable” Palm
Oil; Openstax: 14.2, 14.3,
14.4
4 January 29 and Economies, Exchange, and Livelihood Flow; Conformity and
31 Conflict: Reciprocity and the
Power of Giving; Openstax:
Chapter 7
5 February 5 and 7 Economies, Exchange, and Livelihood; Conformity and Conflict:
Midterm The Violence of the
American Dream; Midterm
6 February 12 and Family, Marriage, and Power Conformity and Conflict:
14 Mother’s Love; Polyandry;
Openstax: Chapter 11
7 February 26 and Identity, Groups, and Inequality Conformity and Conflict:
28 Negotiating Work and
Family in America; Mixed
Blood; Openstax: Chapter 9
8 March 4 and 6 Law, Politics, and Disorder Conformity and Conflict:
Public Anthropology in the
Asylum Courts;
Remembering the
Disappeared in Peru; The
Kawelka: Ongka’s Big Moka;
Openstax: Chapter 8
9 March 11 and 13 Religion, Magic, and Worldview Conformity and Conflict:
Body Ritual Among the
Nacirema; Baseball Magic;
Openstax: Chapter 13
10 March 18 and 20 Globalization, Culture and a World on the
Move
Conformity and Conflict: Nuer Refugees in A

11 March 25 and 27 Using, Doing, and Applying Anthropology; Conformity and Conflict:
Debate Presentations Anthropology and User
Experience; The Heart of
the Problem; Openstax:
Chapter 20; Taking Sides:
 Week Date Topic Readings Due

Clashing Views in
Anthropology (your debate
topic)
12 April 1 and 3 Debate Presentations Taking Sides: Clashing
Views in Anthropology
(your debate topic)

Late Work
I do not entertain requests for an extension within a week of an assignment’s due date, short of
documented illness or personal tragedy. Late papers/presentations will be docked one mark per day.
Students who miss a midterm examination are required to provide documentation of the reason for
their absence (e.g. illness or personal tragedy) within 48 hours of the test and will arrange to write an
alternate midterm outside of class time before the end of the Fall Term. The same policy applies to final
exams, with one exception. If the student and the instructor are unable to schedule a mutually
satisfactory date for writing an alternate final before the end of term, the student will have to fill out an
Incomplete Grade Agreement Form in consultation with the instructor. The student will then arrange to
write the exam at the beginning of the next term. Failing this, the student will have the opportunity to
write the exam during the next exam period that the course is taught. If the student has not written the
examination before the end of the next term that the course is taught, the INC will convert
automatically to an FTC (failure to complete). NB: If a student is present at the exam and is able to
complete the exam, it is understood that the student is well enough to write the exam. Any student who
completes the exam should be aware that the instructor will not allow him or her to rewrite the exam at
a later date because the student feels that his or her performance was affected by illness.

Electronic Device Policy

Please turn your cell phones off in class. A variety of studies have shown that writing lecture notes by
hand boosts comprehension and memory in comparison to typing lecture notes. Furthermore, a recent
Canadian study demonstrated that laptop use in class is distracting not only for the laptop user but also
the people sitting near him or her. Please confine your use of electronic devices to taking notes and do
not distract your peers by using them to engage in non-class related activities. I reserve the right to ban
laptop use in class, except where permission is granted by AcessAbility Services, if there are complaints
about inappropriate use of electronic devices in the classroom.

Attendance Policy
I do not take attendance. However, students should note that poor attendance will be reflected in a
poor Participation grade.

Institutional-required statements for undergraduate course outlines approved by Senate

Undergraduate Council, April 14, 2009

Academic Integrity
In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of
Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See
the UWaterloo Academic Integritity webpage and the Arts Academic Integrity webpage for more
information.

Discipline
A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic
offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action
constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating)
or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor,
academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have
occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on
categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline. For
typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat-
general-counsel/policies-procedures-guidelines/guidelines/guidelines-assessment-penalties).

Grievance
A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or
unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and
Grievances, Section 4 (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat-general-counsel/policies-procedures-
guidelines/policy-70). When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative
assistant who will provide further assistance.

Appeals
A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a
petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes
he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals
(https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat-general-counsel/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-72).

Note for Students with Disabilities

The AccessAbility Services office, located on the first floor of the Needles Hall extension (NH 1401),
collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with
disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic
accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS office at the
beginning of each academic term.