You are in the official 1976-77 General Catalog for California State University, Fresno.



COURSES

 

 

Anthropology (Anth)


I. Introductory Anthropology

Anth 1, 2, and 3 are taught each semester. Anth 101 and S Sci 15 are taught once each year.

1. Introduction to Physical Anthropology (3)
This course examines the biological basis of being human. It compares us with our primate relatives, traces the evolution of our species from 4 million-year-old austra lopithecines, and accounts for the great anatomical and biochemical diversity among modern human populations. \

2. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3)
Not open to students with credit in Anth 15 or S Sci 15. Examines the nature of culture, humanity's unique mechanism for adapting to the changing environment. It explores the varieties of human life and explains how culture has made possible the range of different and successful societies, from hunters and gatherers to industrial civilization.

3. Introduction to Archaeology (3)
Development of archaeology and its basic concepts; general sequences of cultural development in the Old and New Worlds.

4. Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (3)
Linguistic influences on anthropological theory, Linguistic models in anthropology. Language in human evolution. infrahuman communication systems.

15. Man's Place in the Natural Environment (5)
Portion of the "Man and the Natural Environment" cluster. The nature of aboriginal societies and their relationship to the environment from prehistoric times to the present. Lecture, discussion, and field work.

102. Ethnology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. Major theories of culture; survey of culture types and their distribution; culture history.

103. Anthropology of Modernization (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. Acculturation studies; impact of western civilizations upon nonwestern societies.

104. History and Theory of Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. A history of the growth of anthropological thought through an analysis of the informational and explanatory powers of five major theoretical schools: Nineteenth-century Evolutionists, British Functionalists, Boasian Historical Particularists, Neo-Evolutionists/Marxists, and Cognitivists.

110. Introduction to Archaeological Method and Theory (3)
Prerequisite; Anth 2 and 3. The nature of archaeological data and their use in reconstructing the lifeways of prehistoric peoples. Scientific method in archaeology, data retrieval and interpretation, dating methods, site formation processes, history of archaeological theory, present trends and limits of archaeological research.

111. Field Archaeology (4; max total 8)
Prerequisite: Anth 110. Practical experience in basic techniques of archaeological survey, excavation, and laboratory analysis through participation in archaeological research projects. Weekend field trips may be required. (2 lecture, 6 lab or field hours)

112. Comparative Social Organization (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. Cross-cultural sampling of organizational variability from kin-grouping through bureaucracy, from band egalitarianism to mass stratification. Culture and complexity; principles of kinship, specialization, institutionalization, and change.

113. Introduction to Psychological Archaeology (4)
Prerequisite: grade of C or better in Anth 2; plus either Anth l or Psych 10 or permission of instructor. Culture and personality,. stress, and perception. Enculturation For different roles, strata, and societies. Autonomy, worldview, perception, and cognition.

115. Seminar in Anthropological Theory (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 104. Reading, analysis and description of major cultural theorists and their contributions to modern anthropological thought.

116. Problems in the Definition of Man (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 and upper division standing, or permission of instructor. A scientific and philosophical examination of human nature. Comparison of behaviors and social aspects of human and animal societies; discussion of relevant evidence and concepts drawn from several disciplines.

120. Peoples and Cultures of North America and Meso-America (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. A survey of the history and range of lifeways developed by the American Indians north of the Isthmus of Panama in response to the variety of ecological and sociopolitical pressures before and after contact with the West.

121. Peoples and Cultures of South America (3)
Prerequisites: Anth 2. A survey of South American Indian tribes and civilizations since prehistoric times, based on archaeological and ethnographic data. Explores the interplay between environment and local cultural adaptations, and examines the effect of historical contact with European peoples.

123. Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. An introductory survey of the cultural and historical adaptations of societies in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam; and of Insular societies in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Examines the major effects of culture contact between East and West.

124. Peoples and Cultures of East Asia (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. Examines cultural pluralism. Considers cultural adaptations and change among minorities such as Moslems, Tibetans, and Mongolians in China, and ethnic groups of Japan and Korea. Outlines kinship, religion, organization, and technological factors in the Asiatic culture complex.

125. People and Culture of the Middle East (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 9 or permission of instructor. Historical backgrounds and contemporary cultures of the Middle East.

126. People and Cultures of Africa (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. Historical backgrounds and contemporary cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa; modern social Forces and cultural change.

127. Afro-American Cultures and Societies (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. The cultural continuum from tribal societies through peasantry to urbanization. Examination of culture-historic factors such as slavery. stratification and change, especially in Latin American and Circum-Caribbean Negro societies.

128. Peoples end Cultures of the Southwest (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. Historical backgrounds and contemporary cultures of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

130. Archaeology of Meso-America (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 3. Evolution of native New World cultures from hunting and gathering to the rise of theocratic states such as the Maya and Aztec in the area between northern Mexico and the Isthmus of Panama.

131. Archaeology of North America (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 3. Development of Native American cultures north of Mesoamerica from the peopling of America to early historic times; languages, subsistence strategies, land-use and settlement patterns, and technologic developments in culture-ecological retrospective.

132. Archaeology of South America (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 3, or permission of instructor. Aboriginal cultural developments south . of the Isthmus of Panama from Early Man to the Spanish Conquest. Special emphasis is given to the high cultures of the Andean region.

140. Political Anthropology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. Comparison and analysis of political structure, behavioral organization and operational systems among selected peoples at the aboriginal and local level. Emphasis on leadership, authority, power, and forms of primitive government, relevance of primitive political behavior and organization to anthropology theory.

141. Cultural Ecology (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2 or permission of instructor. Interdisciplinary approach to human adaptations. Examination of cultures, both past and present, in interaction with their differing environments. Emphasis on cultural process and explanation of observed patterns.

142. Anthropology of War (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. Theories on the causes and evolution of aggression. Explanations and implications of conventional warfare at different levels of cultural complexity. The ecology and ethics of combat from warrior through soldier to terrorist.

145. Comparative Religion (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 2. Religious systems of nonliterate, peasant, and sectarian groups. Anthropological theories of religion and magic.

150T. Seminar in Anthropology (1-3; max total 9)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Subspecialties current in anthropology: e.g., ethnoscience, cultural ecology, human population genetics.

161. Fossil Man (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. A critical examination of the fossil evidence for hominid forms and behaviors in the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Focuses on the specific evolutionary factors which led to the emergence of modern humanity.

162. Primates (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. An introduction to the study of primate biological and behavioral evolution. Explores sociobiological theory in order to explain the unity and diversity of social behavior in prosimians, monkeys, and apes.

163. Human Variation (3)
Prerequisite: Anth 1. A cross-cultural examination of variations in human morphology, physiology, and biochemistry. Establishes the correlation between variations in human biology and variations in climate, culture, nutrition, and disease.

190. Independent Study (1-3; max see reference)
See Academic Placement -- Independent Study

192. Directed Readings (1-3)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Supervised readings in a selected field of anthropology. No more than 6 units may be counted towards major.

 


Return to Courses Menu
Return to General Catalog Home Page