ANT 301 PEOPLES OF THE WORLD (3)
| Semester: | Fall 2007 |
|---|---|
| Section: | .01 (8010) M/W 13:50-15:05, SBS #107; .04 (4775) M/W/F 10:20-11:10, SBS #107 |
| Instructor: | R. D. Riner |
| Office: | ANT 109F |
| Phone: | 523-6583, 779-0654 |
| E-mail: | reed.riner@nau.edu Use Bb/Vista internal e-mail for all course related communications. |
| Website: | http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rdr |
| Office hours: | before and after class, and by appointment |

| Course Prerequisites: | none |
|---|---|
| Disribution Block: | Social and Political Worlds |
| Thematic Foci: | Valuing the Diversity of Human Experience Environmental Consciousness |
| Essential Skills: | Scientific Inquiry ; Critical Thinking |
A central purpose of anthropology is to account for human biological unity and cultural diversity -- past, present and future. This course will introduce students to the vocabulary of concepts, principles and basic assumptions of anthropology - that one discipline which more than any other illuminates human experience and organizes the whole load of the liberal education. Students will be introduced to the skills of controlled comparison of ethnographic case studies as a means of generating higher-level knowledge about sociocultural systems.
Course structure/ approach:
The coure is organized in five units and delivered in lecture
format based on materials in text and resource manual, and supplemented by
required film series and homework assignments. Each unit examines 4-5 ethnographies
to identify their distinctive and significant features and derive general principles
regarding sociocultural systems of that kind. During the semester, cultures are
examined over five degrees of increasing complexity.
Texts (required):
Service, Elman R.
1987 Profiles in Ethnology, Third Edition. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers.
(also available in Vision Graphics course-pack edition at Univ Tools & Text in Greentree Shopping Center)
and
Riner, Reed D., Ed.
2007 Peoples of the World - Resource Manual
( on-line at Bb/Vista Course Homepage;
( hard-copy byVision Graphics; Phoenix, A, available at
Univ Tools & Text, Greentree Shopping Center)
see also University of Kent's Ethnographic Atlas and the accompanying societies page.
FILM SERIES (required):
This course will be supplemented by an ethnographic film series. Films will be shown daily begining the 1st day of class over the NAU cable channels 'on-request' and in Cline Library Media Center, also on request ; see FILM SCHEDULE . The viewing time for the series has been budgeted into the studytime computed for this course. Material from films will be included in the exams.
Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes:
Final grade in course is computed from total cumulative points earned by attendance, homework including ethnographic notes, film reviews, controlled comparison charts, and five objective answer, computer scored exams.
Students will complete five objective examinations of 80 - 120 item points each, including a comprehensive final examination. These examinations will require students to integrate materials presented in the text, the lectures, the additional readings (e.g. the Resource Manual), and the films. The examinations will consist of a variety of objective answer formats, and will be Scantron/ computer scored.
The letter grade for each exam and for the cumulative final grade in course will be computed on the basis to total raw points (NOT percent score as computed by the 'Scantron Scorer') and assigned according to the following scale:
| highest cumulative point | range |
|---|---|
| and all scores within | 4% ..... A .... 100-96% |
| within the next | 5% ..... B ..... 95-91% |
| within the next | 10% ..... C ..... 90-81% |
| within the next | 5% ..... D ..... 80-76% |
| below | ---% ..... F ..... 75- 0% |
This distributrion has been standardized for take-home administration of the exams. It is total cumulative points, not letter grades on individual exams, that are considered in computing final grade for this course.
More than two un-excused absences can be expected to adversely affect your final grade.
* Timeline for Assessment (See Calendar.)
The course will be conducted according to all pertinent NAU regulations, including the following:
No extra work can be considered toward the final grade.
The responsibility for making-up a missed exam is wholly with the student, the format to be specified by the instructor and the time to be scheduled at the mutual convenience of instructor and student; the request to make-up any unexcused and missed exam must be accompanied by the appropriate University form(s).
Cheating, including plagiarism in any assignments, will be dealt with according to University policies (See 'Academic Integrity' below.).
Due to time restrictions it is impossible to review the exams in class; students interested in reviewing the exams are encouraged to make an appointment with the graduate assistant or the instructor to do this.
If you come to a discussion period and demonstrate that you are unprepared, have not read the assignment, not seen any assigned films and not attempted to answer any assigned questions - I reserve the right to dismiss you and count you absent.
Instructor will not, and cannot, permit a student to ADD or DROP or receive an INCOMPLETE in the class in exception to current University policies and for all deadlines: see Registrar's Calendar's .
Students who speak English as a second language are encouraged to tape-record the lectures during class and take their notes from the recording after class. (Note: lectures are covered by U.S. Copyright law and may be used only for personal study purposes.)
The instructor reserves the right to make announced changes in the calendar and conduct of the course to accommodate unforseen contingencies of the semester.This syllabus is tentative and subject to change without prior notice at the discretion of the instructor. No warranty is either stated nor implied by this document or the instructor. Course performance is the sole responsibility of the individual student, as is adherence to the dates, prerequisites, and other particulars published in the University Undergraduate Catalogue 2006-2007 and Fall 2007 class schedule. Continued enrollment in this class constitutes agreement with the above course requirements and specifications, and below, the University Policy Statements.
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Students are therefore responsible for conducting themselves in an academically
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Individual students and faculty members are responsible
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contact Melanie Birck, Office of Contracts and Grants, 523-8288.
last updated on 07.08.08
Reed D. Riner, Professor,
Department of Anthropology
email: Reed.Riner@NAU.edu