Loyola University Chicago

Instructor: Prof.ssa Kathleen M. Adams

Meetings Days: Monday and Wednesday

Meeting Times: 2:30 - 3:35 pm

Course Description & Aims:

This course is an introduction to the anthropological study of the diversity of contemporary human cultures and to issues concerning globalization.  As a Rome Center course, additional special emphasis will be placed on local cultures and the ramifications of globalization in Italy and the Mediterranean world. Through readings, projects, discussions and lectures, we will explore the processes through which the world has become “globalized,” the European rise of the nation-state and transnationalism, the impact of globalized commodities, globalized media and international migration. Throughout the course we will address the theme of communication across cultural boundaries and how various dimensions of globalization have transformed families, gender relations, as well as sensibilities pertaining to heritage, religious practices, ethnicity, and race. The plight of local Mediterranean communities in the face of global changes will also be addressed. By better understanding the values and beliefs of members of other cultures, and the ways in which they have been incorporated into the world system, we will be able to gain a more insightful understanding of our own cultures and our own place in the world. 

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the semester, each student should achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• understand how cultures and social systems interact and transform over time
• comprehend the relationship between cultural practices & the physical environment (how societies transform when physical environments are altered, or access to ancestral lands is curtailed via nation-building processes, and land privatization)
• understand and explain how anthropologists conduct research on local cultures and the nature of multi-sited ethnographic research on globalization
• be able to discuss & offer ethnographic examples of how international systems producing and distributing consumer products (such as olive oil, tomatoes, fast food etc) transform the environment, health, & social relations
• be able to offer examples illustrating how global communications systems (television, World Wide Web, etc.) transform communities in the Mediterranean.
• better appreciate the challenges (tied in with globalization) that face local cultures
• be able to intelligently discuss the question “does globalization create more cultural uniformity?”, offering appropriate examples.
• grasp what it means to live in a “global world”
• have a better appreciation of the value of an anthropological perspective in addressing contemporary global human problems 

Core Learning Objectives: 

Knowledge Area (Societal and Cultural Knowledge):

A primary purpose of the course is not simply to learn facts about other cultures, but to also provide students with skills for critically thinking about the nature of humans as cultural and social beings. Course goals include leading students to an understanding of the historic and contemporary relationships between cultures and societies, and to understand how cultures change over time. The course not only gives students a sense of cultural diversity, but also of the contemporary global issues which affect all of humanity. World Cultures is not simply the study of remote and exotic cultures, it also provides a useful perspective for students to actively think about and understand their own society.  Anth 271 makes students aware of the cultural basis for beliefs and perceptions, and alerts them to the dangers of narrow or ethnocentric thinking

Stated in terms of course objectives, students who take this course will emerge with an enhanced understanding of:

1. Anthropological approaches to understanding cultural diversity: Students develop an appreciation for the diversity of cultural practices and orientations.  Likewise, students are also encouraged to reflect on human cultural universals. Different theories to explain cultural diversity are examined, including subjectivist and objectivist views of identity/ethnicity, the influence of subsistence strategies on cultural lifeways, and the role of colonial and national policies in shaping and altering contemporary indigenous cultures. 

2. the relationship between cultural practices and the physical environment: Students will gain an appreciation of how societies transform when their physical environment is altered. Through examining case studies, students will gain an appreciation of the cultural ramifications of natural resource depletion.  Likewise, students will learn how cultures are transformed when access to ancestral lands is curtailed via colonialism, nation-building, and land privatization

3. theories of cultural change: Students are exposed to anthropological ideas that explain the ramifications of culture contact, diffusion, intensification from a number of perspectives.  Theories of culture change are also heavily intertwined with the factors outlined in Learning Objective 2.

4. the effects of globalization on contemporary cultures and societies: Questions such as how do cultures and social systems interact and transform over time are addressed. Case studies illustrate the ways in which global communications systems (television, movies, the world-wide web) transform communities. What are the ramifications of international product placement and advertising for third and fourth world cultures?  How are indigenous peoples and their cultures transformed via international trade (both for legal commodities such as coffee, and for illegal products such as cocaine)?  What are the ramifications of ethnic tourism and ecotourism for these peoples?   Ultimately, students are prompted to critically reflect on what it means to live in a "global world." 

5. their own cultural beliefs and practices, as well as others and the ability to think critically about their own cultural assumptions: Students develop an appreciation of concepts such as cultural relativism, ethnocentrism and naïve realism and learn to apply these concepts to new situations encountered outside the classroom; students are versed in the insights lent from stereoscopic social vision.

Each of the learning outcomes address at least one of the Competencies required for courses in the Societal and Cultural Knowledge Area. 

Learning Objective 1 provides a global comparative framework for understanding how different societies are influenced by cultural, economic, political and social factors and how these influence human behavior individually and as a part of a cultural entity (Competencies a. and b.).  Furthermore, the course investigates how the interplay of these factors impact aspects of class formation, gender roles, and the perspective taken on  race  in individual societies (Competency c.). Also the focus on the impact of colonialism and selected examples of nationalism address the need to examine changes in historical perspectives that impact the formation of a more just and humane world (Competency e.), while the comparative approach demonstrates that cultural context strongly impacts individual behaviors, concepts of justice, and the interpretation of natural and social events and occurrences (Competency d.). 

Learning  Objective 2 also meets aspects of the same competencies, in that environment plays a major role in cultural diversity (Competency a.) and issues like resource depletion and exploitation are key to understanding culture change and the need for a more just and fair distribution of resources (Competency b., Competency e.).  Similarly, cultural adaptation to the environment and to change caused by environmental shifts also impact class structure, as well as gender and  race -based roles in the society (Competency c.).

Learning Objective 3 covers aspects of how processes and components of societies, states and cultures form and are transformed over time.  This is pertinent to Competency b. and Competency d.

Learning Objective 4 is particularly relevant to Competency d. and Competency e., although one could make a case for any of the other competencies.  Through understanding the impact of  globalization  students are presented with opportunities to see the impacts of  alien  culture on various indigenous cultures.  Inherent in this is the issue of cultural imperialism (particularly relevant to the justice aspects of Competency d.) and assessments of how such changes impact a culture s perspectives about the world (Competency e.), as well as complex economic issues relating to such commodities as coffee and cocaine which is specifically germane to Competency d.

Learning Objective 5 deals with issues that help the student understand how their own cultural ideas and norms have formed and are maintained.  Through this, students can better perceive how the beliefs and behaviors of members of other cultural contexts do the same.  These factors are particularly relevant to Competency f., although they provide an excellent vehicle to understand how such things as human behavior, values, and concepts of justice are molded by the cultural milieu (Competency d.).    

Skills (Communication Skills and Sensitivities-Written, Oral):

Although this course is taught by several instructors and each instructor draws on their own preferred blend of assignments, all emphasize written and oral communication skills in various ways.  All offer quizzes, midterms, and final exams that have a significant proportion of essay questions.  Assessment of these essay questions stresses not only the accuracy of the answer, but also the student s ability to produce a well-crafted answer that requires assessment of a broad range of information from numerous sources. Students are required to complete various essay assignments pertaining to issues of cultural diversity.  This addresses communication skill competency a. in that it requires effective and clear writing by the student, as well as competency d. (understanding which information needs to be included in particular contexts).  Through these sorts of essay projects, students develop their interpretive skills and become more adept at synthetic thinking. Cultural study is a field that requires strong writing abilities, and students come to appreciate this through the instructors  attentiveness to enhancing their writing skills, as well as through reading well-crafted ethnographies (book-length accounts about other cultures).  Likewise, all instructors require students to do group presentations, thereby honing their oral skills.  Students are required to present a cultural group they have researched to the class, highlighting the historic transformations of that culture via colonialism, as well as the contemporary challenges faced by the culture.  In addition to enhancing their oral skills, each student is responsible for effective research to obtain accurate and up-to-date information for their presentation.  This activity links to communication competency d. in that the students must develop an effective and accurate verbal presentation of their group.  Competency e. is also covered by the fact that students have to perform research and evaluate those sources as a part of creating an effective oral presentation.  Additionally, cultural studies in anthropology emphasize the responsibility of dominant societies to protect the interests of other cultures and to interpret the customs and other behaviors of these cultures in a respectful, ethical manner.  This addresses both competency h. and competency i. of the communications skill. 

Skills (Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions):

Critical thinking skills are also central to this course.  Throughout the course students are expected to understand various fundamental theories concerning cultural diversity and the transformations of societies over time.  Studying cultural diversity in general requires the student to assess data from a wide variety of sources and to determine which data are most relevant for understanding specific situations (critical thinking competency a.).  The student is also required to critically evaluate many  misconceptions  that are often associated with studying diversity.  Moreover, via class discussions, examples offered in lectures, and exam questions, students are required to apply these concepts to  real-life  cases.  Through discussions of various case studies, students are expected to hone their skills in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of various theoretical approaches to explaining and understanding cultural diversity and cultural change (critical thinking competencies b. and c.).  Throughout the course, students are challenged to develop their ideas of how to approach problems caused by aspects of cultural diversity and to seek new solutions to difficult problems (critical thinking competency e.).

Values Area (Understanding Diversity in the United States or the World):

Because Anth 271 is focused on the anthropological study of human cultural diversity, it directly relates to the Core values across the curriculum of Understanding Diversity in the United States or the World.  Through ethnographies, historical sources, films, art, and popular culture students investigate various peoples and cultures of the world, including their own. Specific goals of the course are to help students develop an attitude of tolerance and respect towards other peoples and cultures.

Aspects of Anth 271 pertain specifically to the following Competencies delineated for the diversity Value:

Competency a.   Students will recognize that human diversity is complex and variegated.  Learning Objectives 1 and 2 are specifically focused on assessing cultural diversity and the complex and varied factors that underlie that diversity   from aspects of environment and subsistence strategy to religion, social organization and economics.  There is no better way to appreciate world diversity than a course which specifically highlights that diversity.

Competency b.   Students will distinguish the factors that inform and impact individual identity formation.  As for Competency a., Learning Objectives 1 and 2 also emphasize how individual identity is developed within varying cultural contexts, as well as the role individual variation plays in societal formation.  Learning Objective 5 is pertinent to this competency in that a critical assessment of one s own culture and one s own role in that culture provides insight into how one s own identity has taken form.

Competency c.   Students will comprehend how group identities are formed in a heterogeneous society.  Within Learning Objective 1 students are introduced to the assessment of cultural minorities , that is cultural groups that exist within more dominant cultural contexts.  This provides a natural laboratory to understand how group identities are forged and maintained (or not) as a part of a complex society.