Skagit Valley College

Catalog Course Search Details

 Course Title:   Cultural Anthropology: D

 Title Abbreviation:   CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: D

 Department:    ANTH&

 Course #:    206

 Credits:    5

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    5

 CIP:    450201

 EPC:    n/a

 REV:    2018


 Course Description  

A study of the origin and development of various forms of culture found among tribal and early agricultural peoples. This will include the development of language, the meeting of basic needs such as food and shelter, the family, magic and religion, and leisure activities (including artistic, musical, literary, and other forms of expression).

 Prerequisite  

Prerequisite: Completed ENGL& 101 with a grade of 2.0 or higher.

Additional Course Details

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 55

Lab: 0

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0


Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Academic Social Sciences  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Other Institution Equivalencies Table
Institution Course # Remarks
N/A

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Appreciate the development of cultural anthropology as a field of study.
  2. Understand the basic ideas used in studying the origins and nature of language.
  3. List and describe basic forms of society studied by anthropologists.
  4. Understand the nature of produciton, distribution, and consumption of goods and services at various levels of culture.
  5. Understand various forms of marriage, families, and family life in the world.
  6. Comprehend various types of groupings of humans at different levels of development--by age, castes and classes, and forms of political organizations.
  7. Appriciate efforts to use magic and religion to deal with the supernatural.
  8. Appreciate basic forms of aesthetic expression and recreation.

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

0. Application and Integration

Definition: Applying information from one or more disciplines and/or field experiences in new contexts (Outcome 0.1); developing integrated approaches or responses to personal, academic, professional, and social issues (Outcomes 0.2-0.5).

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
0.2 Identify the strengths and limitations of different fields of study.
0.3 Identify and evaluate the relationships among different perspectives within a field of study and among different fields of study.

1. Information Literacy

Definition: Recognizing when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
1.3 Evaluate information and its sources critically.
1.4 Evaluate issues (for example economic, legal, historic, social) surrounding the use of information.

2. Critical Thinking

Definition: The ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge within a discipline and about the ways in which that knowledge is constructed and validated and to be sensitive to the ways these processes often vary among disciplines.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
2.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and facts related to a specific discipline.
2.2 Analyze issues and develop questions within a discipline.
2.3 Identify, interpret, and evaluate pertinent data and previous experience to reach conclusions.
2.6 Recognize how the value and biases in different disciplines can affect the ways in which data is analyzed.
2.8 Describe how one’s own preconceptions, biases and values affect one’s response to new and ambiguous situations.

3. Communication

Definition: Understanding and producing effective written, spoken, visual, and non-verbal communication.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
3.1 Recognize, read, and comprehend academic and/or professional writing.
3.4 Produce academic and/or professional writing and integrate it into written and spoken projects.

4. Community & Cultural Diversity

Definition: Recognizing the value of human communities and cultures from multiple perspectives through a critical understanding of their similarities and differences.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
4.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and issues associated with the diverse perspectives of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and culture.
4.2 Understand, value and respect human differences and commonalities as they relate to issues of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and culture.
4.3 Understand the historically and socially constructed nature of—and the meanings attributed to—human differences.
4.4 Demonstrate effective communication across differences in human communities and cultures.

5. Global & Local Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding the complexity and interdependence of, and stewardship responsibilities to, local and global communities and environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
5.1 Understand the impact of their own and other’s actions on local/global communities and environments and how those communities/environments affect them in turn.

6. Individual Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding, managing, and taking responsibility for one’s learning and behavior in varied and changing environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
6.3 Apply successful organizational strategies of planning, goal setting, prioritizing, resolving conflict, and managing time to specific goals and/or projects.

7. Aesthetics & Creativity

Definition: Interpreting human experience through engagement with creative processes and aesthetic principles.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
7.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the creative process.

8. Mathematical Reasoning

Definition: Understanding and applying concepts of mathematics and logical reasoning in a variety of contexts, both academic and non-academic.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
8.3 Interpret information and reasoning expressed mathematically (for example in spreadsheets, diagrams, charts, formulas, etc.).

9. Scientific Literacy

Definition: Understanding scientific principles, and analyzing and applying scientific information in a variety of contexts.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
9.1 Demonstrate an understanding of fundamental scientific concepts.
9.2 Demonstrate their understanding of the principles of scientific methods, analysis, and reasoning.
9.3 Analyze, apply, and communicate scientific concepts and principles in context (for example, in technological, personal, and/or professional situations).
9.4 Use scientific concepts and principles to understand the natural world, human behavior and culture, and relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world.

10. Technology

Definition: Understanding the role of technology in society and using technology appropriately and effectively.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
10.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the development and impact of technology in human experience (history, global, and local).

Course Contents

  1. The development of cultural anthropology as a study of human behavior.
  2. The
  3. Basic approaches used in stydying the thousands of languages on the earth.
  4. The characteristics of the basic forms of society studied by anthropologists:
    • Hunting, gathering, and fishing--subsistence economies which rely on taking advantage of natural resources for food, shelter, and other basic needs.
    • Horticultural--early agriculture in a
    • Rural-agricultural--settled agriculture which uses crop rotation, fertilizers, and carefully chosen seed for more efficient crop production.
    • Urban-industrial--the setting of modern, western humans.
  5. Biology and Genetics: Key ideas of Gregor Mendel on basic principles of genetic transmission and inheritance of physical features.
  6. The distribution of goods: Reciprocity, redistribution, and the market.
  7. Marriage and the family among various peopless of the world: Family organization, tracing descent and kinship, martial residence, etc.
  8. Non-family groupings in society: Age grades, voluntary associations, castes, other forms of social classes, and forms of political organization.
  9. Forms of magic and religion developed as humans have sought to deal with the supernatural and unknown.
  10. Forms of aesthetic expression: Oral literature, painting and sculpture, music, drama, and other forms of artistic endeavor.
  11. Social-cultural change as found in various stages of cultural development throughout the world.