Lahore University of Management Sciences

ANTH 100 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Spring 2023

Instructor Dr. Sadaf Ahmad

Room No. 213 New Social Sciences Wing, Main Academic Block
Office Hours
Email sadafah@lums.edu.pk
TA

Course Teaching Methodology

Teaching Methodology
In-person

Lecture details
All classes will be in-person. Class time will be used for lectures, discussions,
group activities, and watching documentaries. Students will be required to do the
designated readings before coming to class.

Course Basics
Credit Hours 4

Course Distribution
Core * Core Course for Anthropology Sociology Majors
* First year MGSHSS students can use this course to fulfill their Social & Behavioral Sciences
School Core requirement
Open for Student First Years and Sophomores
Category
Close for Student Juniors and Seniors
Category

Course Description
This course introduces students to the discipline of Anthropology. Its primary emphasis is on cultural anthropology—
the arm of the discipline that explores the social and cultural diversity of human experience, practice, and knowledge.
Students taking this course will be exposed to the key schools of thought, concepts and domains covered within
cultural anthropology as well as the methods through which cultural anthropologists ‘produce’ knowledge.
Furthermore, by presenting a variety of case studies from different parts of the world, this course will also shed light
onto the diversity of cultural systems prevalent in the world, enabling students to understand the behavior and
cultures of peoples unlike themselves, as well as gain insights into their own behavior and society. These case studies
will also help facilitate a nuanced understanding of the concept of culture and cultural change. This means paying
particular attention to the way encounters between different peoples and cultures—for instance, through the media,
migration, and globalization—are constantly shaping culture, and recognizing that people also actively shape the
cultural world they inhabit through their everyday decisions.

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Course Objectives
● To understand different cultural systems and their internal logic
● To be able to identify the familiar in the unfamiliar
● To gain a better understanding of ourselves through the comparative study of other cultures
● To gain an enhanced conceptual understanding of culture and the power of socialization
● To develop a variety of skills, such as those of reading, critical thinking, communication, collaboration,
and writing

Grading break-up:
Class Participation: 10%
Attendance: 5%
Quizzes: 40% (n-1 policy)
Kinship Assignment: 20%
Final exam: 25%

There will be relative grading in this course.

Student Responsibilities & Class Policies

1. Attend classes and take lecture notes

2. Wear a mask in class (ensuring that both the nose and mouth are covered).

3. Come to class on time

4. Come to class having done the designated readings with the aid of the study questions

5. Submit work on time. Late work will not be accepted

6. Take responsibility for your learning. This means several things. For instance, it means:
- Doing the tasks mentioned in Points 1, 3, and 4 above.
- Communication. It is the student’s responsibility to get in touch with the instructor if they find they are
having any problems in the course or if they are working under any special conditions—which may be
technological, physical, academic (e.g., probation), etc.—which may require special or extra assistance.
Assistance will not be a problem. But please remember that problems are best resolved when they are
shared in a timely manner (and that means not towards the end of the semester, and certainly not once the
grades are in).

7. Scores and final grades are never changed (barring a miscalculation).

- Every instrument will be carefully read and graded based on a pre-set criterion shared with students in
advance. While students are welcome to discuss their work with the instructor to find out how they can
improve, requests to alter the final score or “contest” scores/grades shall not be addressed, no matter the
reason (please see point 6 in this context).
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- Also, remember that grades reflect performance, not effort. Please avoid the " but I worked so hard"
argument in this context. Instead, learn how you can improve.

8. Students are expected to display certain norms in the classroom. Using phones or talking to each other during
lectures or presentations are examples of normative violations. The instructor reserves the right to penalize any
student as she deems appropriate (e.g., point reduction) if such behaviour is displayed.

9. There is a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism, cheating, or any other inappropriate conduct/act of dishonesty
in this course. Students caught engaging in these behaviours will be immediately sent to the Disciplinary
Committee.

10. The instructor reserves the right to change the course outline or class policies if she deems it appropriate for a
smoother and more productive course.

11. LUMS is a harassment-free zone. There is zero tolerance for any behaviour that intends to or makes anyone
uncomfortable, negatively impacts the class environment, or any individual’s ability to work to their potential.

If you think that you may be a victim of harassment, or if you have observed any harassment occurring in the
purview of this class, please reach out and speak to me. If you are a victim, I strongly encourage you to reach
out to the Office of Accessibility and Inclusion at oai@lums.edu.pk or the sexual harassment inquiry committee
at harassment@lums.edu.pk for any queries, clarifications, or advice.

Details of Grading Instruments

Class Participation (CP)
Sharing ideas and perspectives, and asking and answering questions, are all critical sources of learning. This kind of
engagement, i.e., your CP, can enrich discussions and contribute to your and your peers’ learning in this course. I
therefore encourage active CP in class.

Your CP score will be based on your participation in classroom discussions and your ability to answer any question. As a
rule, comments that illustrate your familiarity with your course content, demonstrate your ability to link what you are
learning to your own lives and the world around you, and are reflexive, etc., will earn you more points. Comments that
merely repeat what others have already said or demonstrate an absence of familiarity with course content, etc., will
result in little to no points.

You will get some opportunities to bolster your CP score through written CP. A private Facebook (FB) group will be
made for this course, and there will be a few opportunities to engage in written CP on certain days. You could, for
example, be asked to respond to a question related to a documentary you have seen or to share personal narratives
regarding a particular theme under discussion. These opportunities will be announced during the course, and students
will have up to 46 hours after that day’s class to post their comments in designated spaces in the FB group. As with in-
class CP, repeating points made by others will not result in CP points.

Attendance
What is an “absent” or “unexcused absence”?
Not coming to class at all, being more than five minutes late, coming back late from your class break, or leaving class
before it is over.

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What is an excused absence?
Excused absences are ONLY given to students if they are ill and can provide a note from the LUMS doctor, if they have
represented LUMS in an activity and can provide the relevant official paperwork, or if the OSA approves their petition.

More than two “absents” (i.e., unexcused absences) will result in reduced attendance points (1 point reduction per
absence). The two absents you are allowed with no penalty are for weddings, family emergencies, job interviews,
transportation issues, coming to class late, etc. Students will not be given excused absences for such instances, so they
are encouraged not to ‘waste’ their leeway.

Kinship Assignment
This individual assignment will require students to make their family tree and then analyze it by relying upon relevant
course content. I will upload detailed instructions on LMS once the semester commences. The due date is marked in
the class schedule below.

Quizzes and Final Exam

You will have 3 announced quizzes in the course (see class schedule below). Each quiz will cover selected course
content. There is an N-1 policy, which means your two best scores will be chosen in the end.

Your final exam will cover the entire course content.

These instruments, which will be a combination of “objective” type questions (e.g., MCQs, fill in the blanks), and
questions requiring short and longer answers, will assess your familiarity and comprehension of the course material
and your ability to engage with and discuss course-related concepts and ideas.

NOTE: No missed graded work can be re-taken unless permission is sought from and given by the OSA.

Active Reading
It is extremely important that you read your course material in an “active” manner. Study questions for most of the
readings will be available on LMS. Keep these questions in front of you as you read in order to ensure that you engage
with the reading in a meaningful way and extract important information.

Also keep the questions below in mind as you read. Learning how to read is an important skill and the questions below
can help you acquire this skill.

✔ What key arguments or points is the author making in the reading? If an author is giving us examples, what
point does he wish to make through them?
✔ What new concepts and terms am I learning?
✔ What ideas and terms are unclear to me?
✔ What questions have the readings raised for me?
✔ Is the content I am learning changing the way I see the world in any way? If so, how?
✔ How am I reacting to what I am reading? How are my own assumptions shaping my reactions?
✔ How can I connect what I am learning to the world around me?

Remember that while active reading may prolong the actual reading, doing so will make you engage with it in a
meaningful manner, increase your learning and make you better prepared for each of your grading assessment tools.
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CLASS SCHEDULE

Date Module To Do Before Class Class

Session 1 Introduction to the Course

MODULE 1: FOUNDATION

Session 2 1.1 What is READ:

anthropology?
1.Gary Ferraro’s “What is Anthropology,” 2-14
2. Joy Hendry’s “Introduction” 1-7 (excerpt)

Session 3 1.2 What is Cultural READ:

Anthropology?
Gary Ferraro’s “The Growth of Anthropological
Theory,” 56-82

Session 4 1.3 What is Cultural READ:

Anthropology?
Jack David Eller’s “The Anthropological Perspective”
12-19 (excerpt)

Session 5 1.4 Where does READ:

Cultural
Anthropological 1.Murray Wax’s “Tenting with Malinowski” 1-12 Documentary:
Knowledge come from? 2. V. Deloria’s “Custer Died for your Sins.,”
199-206. Tales from the Jungle:
Malinowski

Session 6 1.5 Where does READ:

Cultural
Anthropological Alma Gottlieb’s and Philip Graham’s “Choosing a
Knowledge come from? Host” 24-57

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Session 7 1.6 Where does READ:
Cultural Documentary:
Anthropological Sadaf Ahmad’s “’How do I like being a
Knowledge come from? policewoman? I’m very happy!’ Tales from the Jungle:
Pakistani Policewomen and the Challenge of Margaret Mead
Presentational Data,” 1-23.

Session 8 QUIZ 1

Session 9 1.7 What do Cultural READ:

Anthropologists’
Study? 1. James Spradley’s “Culture and Ethnography”
13-17
2. Jack David Eller’s “Understanding and Studying
Culture” 24-35 (excerpt)
3. Can the Holy Spirit be Livestreamed?
https://www.sapiens.org/culture/worshipping-
online-covid-19/
4. Definitions of culture (1 page)

Session 1.8 Denaturalizing No reading

10 Space

MODULE 2: TAKING A CLOSER LOOK

Session 2.1 Social Organization READ:

11
1.“The Kung San,” 264-265
2. Serena Nanda and Richard Warms’ “Making a
Living” 99-121

Session 2.2 Economic Systems READ:

12
Thomas Hylland Eriksen’s “Exchange” 176-192 Film: Nanook of the North

Session 2.3 Economic Systems READ::

13
“Economic Systems” & Lee Cronk’s “Reciprocity and
the Power of Giving” 157-67

Session 2.4 Kinship and No reading

14 Marriage

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Session 2.5 Kinship and READ:
15 Marriage
Jack McGiver Weatherford’s “Kinship and Power on
Capitol Hill” 308-317

Session 2.6 Political Systems READ:

16 & Art
Jack David Eller’s “Politics: Social Order and Social
Control” 207-222

Session No reading
17 QUIZ 2

Session 2.7 Worldviews READ:

18
1.David Eller’s “Religion: Interacting with the Non-
human World” (excerpt) 236-241

2. Evans-Pritchard’s “The Notion of Witchcraft

explains Unfortunate Events” 18-32

Session 2.8 Worldviews READ:

19 1. Joy Hendry’s “Cosmology II: Witchcraft, Guest lecture:
Shamanism and Syncretism, (excerpt) 132- 137 Dr. Ali Khan

2. “Religion, Magic & Worldview” and George

Gmelch’s “Ritual and Magic in American Baseball”
319-321 & 351-361

Kinship Assignment Due

MODULE 3: CONSTRUCTING PEOPLE, CONSTRUCTING HIERARCHIES

Session 3.1 Gender READ:

20
1.Frances Mascia-Lees and Nancy Black’s “The
History of the Study of Gender in Anthropology,” 1-
12

2. Soutik Biswas’ “How Britian tried to ‘erase’

India’s third gender. BBC News, 31 May 2019, 1-6

3. Erin Alexnder’s “Native Americans’ views on

gender vs. those of the US Today, 1-4.

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Session 3.2 Gender READ:
21
Kamran Ahmad’s “Mixed messages about
sexuality.” In Between Saints and Sinners:
Understanding Men. Pgs. 114-119

Session 3.3 Race READ:

22 Shadi Saif’s ‘Sheedis - the lost African tribe in
Pakistan”. Planet of the Apes (1968)
https://www.fairplanet.org/story/sheedis-the-lost-
african-tribe-in-pakistan/

Suggested viewing/reading FYI

1. Human Zoos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WFTSM8Jpp
E&ab_channel=DWDocumentary

2. Why Are Black People’s Remains in Museums?

https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/museums-
human-remains/

Session 3.5 Ethnicity and READ:

23 Intersecting
Inequalities Paul Farmer’s “On suffering and structural
Violence: A View from Below” 261-280

Session QUIZ 3
24

MODULE 4: CULTURAL CONNECTIONS AND CHANGE

Session 4.1 Cultural Change Read:

25
Jack David Eller’s “Cultural Dynamics: Continuity
and Change” 267-288

Session 4.2 Cultural Read: China Blue

26 Connections

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Nancy Scheper Hughes’ “Parts unknown:
Undercover ethnography of the organs- trafficking
underworld,” (Excerpts) 29-37, end of 46-58

Session 4.3 What do Cultural Read:

27 Anthropologists Do?
1.Gary Ferraro’s “Applied Anthropology,” “The
Future of Anthropology” 38-47, 350-353

2. Read any ONE of the following from Gillian Tett’s

Anthro-Vision: A new way to see business and life.
a. Contagion. Pgs 55-74
b. Weird Westerners. Pgs. 117-137
c. Bigly (or what did we miss about Trump and
teenagers) Pgs. 141-153

Session 4.4 Anthropology Akhil Gupta and Jessie Stoolman’s “Decolonizing US

28 Today anthropology,” 1-12