Course info
WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY IN AFRICA
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE SCIENCES
COURSE DESCRIPTION : CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1
COURSE CODE : KSS112
YEAR : AUGUST - DECEMBER 2023
LECTURER : CHIKUKWA S.N
EMAIL : sharonnyasha18@gmail.com
MOBILE : 0782470403 -DURING WORKING HOURS
Course Aims and Objectives
Contemporary international migrations and communications are bringing us into direct contact with different people from regions with different values and ways of life. We are, accordingly, faced with the challenge of tolerating and appreciating other cultural perspectives in order to avoid the dismal alternatives of increased ethnic nationalism, hostility, and violence. In this course you will be introduced to the basic concepts and findings of cultural anthropology, the systematic and comparative study of human institutions and behaviour, and will achieve an understanding of the cultural diversity with which we are increasingly confronted and the common humanity that runs through it. We will be covering the major specializations within cultural anthropology with an emphasis on the comparative study of contemporary cultures. During the semester, you will learn to understand and appreciate the wide array of cultural differences that have developed throughout the world and gain new insights into the patterns and dynamics of your own traditions.
Objectives
⮚ Describe the main principles of the anthropological analysis
⮚ Apply anthropological concepts and theories to specific ethnographic case studies
⮚ Evaluate competing theoretical approaches and interpretations
⮚ Develop a knowledge and appreciation for cultural orientations other than your own
Academic Integrity Statement:
By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an active participant in Women’s University in Africa’s scholarly community in which everyone's academic work and behaviour are held to the highest standards of honesty. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping others to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty, and they are wrong. Academic misconduct could result in disciplinary action that may include, but is not limited to, suspension or dismissal. To read the full Student Academic Conduct Policy, consult the general academic regulations and the Faculty Regulations
Course Layout
Introduction
Anthropology as a discipline
Contributions of founders of the discipline
Anthropology and ethnography
Anthropology and colonialism
The relationship between anthropology and colonialism
Role of missionaries, traders and hunters
Anthropology and racism
An introduction to anthropological theories
Functionalism
Structural functionalism
Marxism
Culture and Society
An introduction to theories of culture and society
The concepts culture and society
Culture and the environment
Kinship and Marriage
Kinship terminology and social groupings
Unilineal systems and social groupings
Non-unilineal systems and social groupings-
Marriage and the family and their stability
Friendship and voluntary associations
Ethnicity
Race and ethnicity
Ethnic prejudice and discrimination
Ethnocentrism
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS:
ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS:
Grades are determined as follows: Course work 30% and Final Exam 70%. Students are required to submit two (2) essays. Please note that last minute emails are not acceptable at all as these are merely seen as constituting an insult. Depending on the circumstances discussed with your Lecturer, make-up exams will be graded down at the discretion of the Lecturer. Since students are in their final semester of their degree programme, they are then expected to wield high levels of intellectual acumen. This course requires a lot of practical and recent examples from across the world hence a mere regurgitation of issues is by no means rewarded.
Your assignment must be typed using line spacing of 1.5 and Times New Roman font size 12. The maximum length of your assignment should be 4 -5 pages, excluding references. Properly reference your work, both in-text and in the reference list at the end of your essay. Late submission will be penalized at the rate of 10% deducted per day for four days after which a zero will be credited to the student.
Assignment 1
‘Malinowski’s functionalism is not applicable in modern day societies.’ Discuss.
Assignment 2
Cases of child abuse are on the rise due to factors such as culture and religious beliefs especially in the rural areas. Give the challenges that children are facing and suggest practical solutions to curb the challenges.
Prescribed texts
Kottak, Conrad Phillip. 1996. A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. New York: McGraw Hill
Cheater, A P ,1986 Social Anthropology. An Alternative Introduction. Gweru,
Mambo Press
Lewis I M ,1976 ,Social Anthropology in Perspective. Harmondsworth Penguin
Reading list
Bordly J H 1994 Cultural Anthropology Tribes States and the Glo- systems
Bourdillion MFC 1996. Where are the ancestors, Harare, UZ.
Bourdilion MFC Christianity and Wealth in the Rural Communities in Zimbabwe.
Zambezia 1983 II, 1 pp 37-53
Brokensha D and Glazier J. Land Reform among the Mbeere of Central Africa – Africa 1973
Malinowski, Bronislaw.1984, Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Waveland Press
Shostak, Marjorie. 1981. Nisa: The Life and Words of a! Kung Woman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Gordon, Robert. The Bushman Myth…. Boulder, CO: Westview
Benedict, Ruth. 1989. “The Individual and the Pattern of Culture.” Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Thick Description.” Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books,
Williams, Raymond. 1983. “Culture” and “Society.” In Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shostak, Marjorie. 1981. Nisa: The Life and Words of a! Kung Woman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Radcliffe – Brown et al (Ed) 1987 African Systems of Kinship and Marriage
Stack, Carol. 1997. All Our Kin. New York: Basic Books (Chps Introduction - 4)
Lewis, Oscar. “Culture of Poverty”
Stack, Carol. 1997. All Our Kin. New York: Basic Books (Chps 4 &5)
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 2001. Saints, Scholars and Schizophrenics. Chps: Intro – 3,4&5
Petryna, Adriana. 2002. Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl. Princeton: Princeton University Press
Kleinman, Arthur, Veena Das and Margaret Lock. 1997. “Introduction.” Social Suffering. Berkeley: University of California Press.
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE SCIENCES
COURSE DESCRIPTION : CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1
COURSE CODE : KSS112
YEAR : AUGUST - DECEMBER 2023
LECTURER : CHIKUKWA S.N
EMAIL : sharonnyasha18@gmail.com
MOBILE : 0782470403 -DURING WORKING HOURS
Course Aims and Objectives
Contemporary international migrations and communications are bringing us into direct contact with different people from regions with different values and ways of life. We are, accordingly, faced with the challenge of tolerating and appreciating other cultural perspectives in order to avoid the dismal alternatives of increased ethnic nationalism, hostility, and violence. In this course you will be introduced to the basic concepts and findings of cultural anthropology, the systematic and comparative study of human institutions and behaviour, and will achieve an understanding of the cultural diversity with which we are increasingly confronted and the common humanity that runs through it. We will be covering the major specializations within cultural anthropology with an emphasis on the comparative study of contemporary cultures. During the semester, you will learn to understand and appreciate the wide array of cultural differences that have developed throughout the world and gain new insights into the patterns and dynamics of your own traditions.
Objectives
⮚ Describe the main principles of the anthropological analysis
⮚ Apply anthropological concepts and theories to specific ethnographic case studies
⮚ Evaluate competing theoretical approaches and interpretations
⮚ Develop a knowledge and appreciation for cultural orientations other than your own
Academic Integrity Statement:
By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an active participant in Women’s University in Africa’s scholarly community in which everyone's academic work and behaviour are held to the highest standards of honesty. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping others to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty, and they are wrong. Academic misconduct could result in disciplinary action that may include, but is not limited to, suspension or dismissal. To read the full Student Academic Conduct Policy, consult the general academic regulations and the Faculty Regulations
Course Layout
Introduction
Anthropology as a discipline
Contributions of founders of the discipline
Anthropology and ethnography
Anthropology and colonialism
The relationship between anthropology and colonialism
Role of missionaries, traders and hunters
Anthropology and racism
An introduction to anthropological theories
Functionalism
Structural functionalism
Marxism
Culture and Society
An introduction to theories of culture and society
The concepts culture and society
Culture and the environment
Kinship and Marriage
Kinship terminology and social groupings
Unilineal systems and social groupings
Non-unilineal systems and social groupings-
Marriage and the family and their stability
Friendship and voluntary associations
Ethnicity
Race and ethnicity
Ethnic prejudice and discrimination
Ethnocentrism
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS:
ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS:
Grades are determined as follows: Course work 30% and Final Exam 70%. Students are required to submit two (2) essays. Please note that last minute emails are not acceptable at all as these are merely seen as constituting an insult. Depending on the circumstances discussed with your Lecturer, make-up exams will be graded down at the discretion of the Lecturer. Since students are in their final semester of their degree programme, they are then expected to wield high levels of intellectual acumen. This course requires a lot of practical and recent examples from across the world hence a mere regurgitation of issues is by no means rewarded.
Your assignment must be typed using line spacing of 1.5 and Times New Roman font size 12. The maximum length of your assignment should be 4 -5 pages, excluding references. Properly reference your work, both in-text and in the reference list at the end of your essay. Late submission will be penalized at the rate of 10% deducted per day for four days after which a zero will be credited to the student.
Assignment 1
‘Malinowski’s functionalism is not applicable in modern day societies.’ Discuss.
Assignment 2
Cases of child abuse are on the rise due to factors such as culture and religious beliefs especially in the rural areas. Give the challenges that children are facing and suggest practical solutions to curb the challenges.
Prescribed texts
Kottak, Conrad Phillip. 1996. A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. New York: McGraw Hill
Cheater, A P ,1986 Social Anthropology. An Alternative Introduction. Gweru,
Mambo Press
Lewis I M ,1976 ,Social Anthropology in Perspective. Harmondsworth Penguin
Reading list
Bordly J H 1994 Cultural Anthropology Tribes States and the Glo- systems
Bourdillion MFC 1996. Where are the ancestors, Harare, UZ.
Bourdilion MFC Christianity and Wealth in the Rural Communities in Zimbabwe.
Zambezia 1983 II, 1 pp 37-53
Brokensha D and Glazier J. Land Reform among the Mbeere of Central Africa – Africa 1973
Malinowski, Bronislaw.1984, Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Waveland Press
Shostak, Marjorie. 1981. Nisa: The Life and Words of a! Kung Woman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Gordon, Robert. The Bushman Myth…. Boulder, CO: Westview
Benedict, Ruth. 1989. “The Individual and the Pattern of Culture.” Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Thick Description.” Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books,
Williams, Raymond. 1983. “Culture” and “Society.” In Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shostak, Marjorie. 1981. Nisa: The Life and Words of a! Kung Woman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Radcliffe – Brown et al (Ed) 1987 African Systems of Kinship and Marriage
Stack, Carol. 1997. All Our Kin. New York: Basic Books (Chps Introduction - 4)
Lewis, Oscar. “Culture of Poverty”
Stack, Carol. 1997. All Our Kin. New York: Basic Books (Chps 4 &5)
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 2001. Saints, Scholars and Schizophrenics. Chps: Intro – 3,4&5
Petryna, Adriana. 2002. Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl. Princeton: Princeton University Press
Kleinman, Arthur, Veena Das and Margaret Lock. 1997. “Introduction.” Social Suffering. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Lecturer: TAKUNDA CHABATA
- Lecturer: SHARON NYASHA CHIKUKWA
- Lecturer: REJOICE MURISI