ANT 220
Cultural Anthropology
Semester Units
Prequisite
3
None
Course Description
This course is an introduction to the study which aims to demonstrate how the basic concepts and techniques developed by cultural anthropologists help us to understand societies of various degrees of complexity, including our own. The course will consider topics such as language and symbols, kinship, gender, ethnicity, economics, politics, religion, and social change in a broad comparative framework. Major goals are an increased awareness of the social and cultural dimensions of human experience: the diversity and flexibility of human cultures; and processes of intercultural communication and conflict.
Course Learning Outcomes
Explain Cultural Anthropology as a social science and define terms such as culture, society, worldview, subculture, culture shock, enculturation, acculturation and assimilation.
Describe the role of language, communication, economics, adaptation, and symbolism in culture.
Define stratification in culture and understand how it effects social inequality.
State the role of marriage, family and kinship systems in culture.
Describe the role of power and authority in culture and understand related terms such as status, roles and symbols.
Identify key insights from Cultural Anthropology, including contextualization, necessary for application to one’s personal ministry.