The cultural perspective on human behavior including case studies, often illustrated by ethnographic films and slides, of non-Western and American cultures. May include some field interviewing. Includes the cross cultural treatment of economic, legal, political, social and religious institutions and a survey of major approaches to the explanation of cultural variety and human social organization. The origin and development of prehistoric peoples and cultures. The concepts, methods, and theories of prehistoric archaeology, human paleontology, and human biology as a framework for examining the fossils and artifacts left by humans.
Course includes films and the use of casts and slides to illustrate concepts.
An examination of the history, philosophy and ethics of ethnographic films. An understanding of the approaches film makers have used to represent different cultures and the effect of visual images, commentary, objectivity, aesthetics and truth on filmic representations of people's lives. This course will show a number of ethnographic films. An introduction to ethnographic field interviewing learned in the context of individually run student field projects. Focuses on the anthropologist-informant field relationship and the discovery of cultural knowledge through participant observation and ethnosemantic interviewing techniques.