Anthropology 2a

Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology

UCI Summer Session I, 2025

Course Description:

This course introduces students to the field of sociocultural anthropology—the study of how people live and understand the world. This class will take a broad approach to exposing students to key topics within anthropology including: colonialism, race, gender, sexuality, kinship, religion, and capitalism. This class will not just be an exposure to different cultures, but will ask you to reflect critically on your own experiences to broaden your understanding of contemporary challenges.

Course Modality:

The University Registrar requires that this course have live, synchronous instruction on Zoom. Therefore, this is not to be confused with an asynchronous online course. This course is like any traditional in person lecture with the difference being that we meet together online. However, you will not be required to attend any Zoom on Fridays. Rather, on Fridays you will complete other activities that do not require us to be together synchronously. You are expected to attend lectures Mondays and Wednesdays on Zoom from 9 am-10:50 am.

Winston & S Los Angeles Street, 2021

Course Objectives:

1) To introduce students to the basic concepts and methods of sociocultural anthropology

2) To expose students to the richness and diversity of human life as it has been lived in the past and present

3) To develop and encourage critical thinking skills, especially as related to living in a diverse, globalized and changing society

4) To make students aware of the contributions of anthropology to public discourse and public policy

5) To make students aware of the ethical dimensions of anthropology and the other social sciences

Anthropology poses questions and challenges many of our existing customs and beliefs. As the study of other people’s worldviews, anthropology calls into question things that we normally take for granted or presume to be natural.  To truly understand other cultures and cultural diversity, we have to begin by looking at our own cultural assumptions and how these shape our view of the world. These include assumptions you may not even recognize as “cultural” but may currently take for granted as “natural”, as part of your “common sense.” As a result, the course begins by looking from an anthropologist’s perspective at some key themes in Euro-American cultures. We will look at a range of concepts and topics that anthropologists study, including ideas about nature, biology, race, ethnicity, work, family, kinship, gender, sexuality, capitalism, and globalization.

This course will challenge you to examine critically your own “common sense” assumptions about the world, society, and human nature through a conversation with anthropology. This course may provoke you. The course may also, at times, offend you. You may not agree with all of the readings, but anthropology demands of you an open mind to the way other peoples live their lives and make sense of the universe around them. You cannot refuse to do the readings because you think they will clash with your own beliefs. It is the purpose of higher education to expose you to beliefs and practices you may not share or condone, so that you can better develop your own position regarding them one way or another. This is the foundation of this course.

Readings:

There is no textbook for this course. All of the required readings are already downloaded from the library and available on Canvas within each module for your convenience. Reading is essential to being successful in this course (and in college overall!). You should attempt to complete the readings prior to lecture, and definitely prior to completing assignments. Lectures will help to contextualize the readings as many of them can be challenging.

Communication:

Your first point of contact for general questions and concerns should be your Teaching Assistant. When emailing the TA or Instructor please allow 48 hours for a reply (although urgent questions and concerns will likely receive a quicker response). Please email from your student UCI account and include “Anthro2a” in the subject line. Please use email rather than the Canvas communication.

Grading:

You earn credit toward your final grade as you complete the assignments for this class; your grade is in your own hands. This course is out of 100 points.

Letter grades will be based on the following standard scale:

A+ 100% to 96.5% A < 96.5% to 93.5% A- < 93.5% to 90%

B+ < 90% to 86.5% B < 86.5% to 83.5% B- < 83.5% to 80%

C+ < 80% to 76.5% C < 76.5% to 73.5% C- < 73.5% to 70%

D+ < 70% to 66.5% D < 66.5% to 63.5% D- < 63.5% to 60%

F < 60% to 0%

Course Requirements:

1) Short Assignments (10%)

While there is no formal attendance grade, there are short, 1 point activities to go along with both synchronous lectures and asynchronous activities. Ten of these short assignments will count toward your final grade. You must be in attendance to complete any synchronous lecture activities. However, fifteen of these assignments will be offered throughout the course to help account for any absences, and therefore these assignments will not be accepted late. If you complete more than the required ten, you will still receive the additional points as extra credit (there are 5 points extra credit possible for this course).

Please keep in mind that while lecture slides will be posted to Canvas, I do not record lecture meetings. This means that you will miss key conversations if you do not attend lectures.

2) Exams (30%)

There will be two 15 point exams (a midterm and a final exam) for this course that will be taken on Canvas. Similar to an in person course, these exams must be taken during our regularly scheduled class time on select days (see schedule). You will be able to begin the exam at any time between 9 am and 12 pm on exam day and will be given 2 hours to complete once you begin.

These exams are based on readings, lectures, and videos. Exams will consist of multiple choice/true or false questions. While exams are ultimately open book, they must be completed on your own.

3) Reflections (30%)

There are three 10 point reflections that will count toward your grade (five opportunities will be offered). Reflection writing prompts will be posted in Canvas. Reflections can’t be made up, but all reflections do have a 24 hour grace period. These short writings are designed to be reflective assignments to help you deepen your understanding and connect the course material. Only the best 3/5 reflection scores will be counted toward your final grade.

4)Project Outline (5%)

An outline will be provided for you to summarize the main themes covered in this course and help you organize your thoughts for the final project. Additional information will be posted on Canvas, and instructions will be elaborated on during lecture.

5) Final Project (25%)

Your final project is a personal manifesto designed to help you think critically about what you learned throughout the quarter in this course. The paper will be a combination of autoethnographic narrative and analysis. Additional information will be posted on Canvas, and instructions will be elaborated on during lecture. The final project will be due 7/28 by 11:59 pm. There will be a 24 hour submission grace period.