Controversial Issues in Cultural Anthropology - YBA353

• Title: Controversial Issues in Cultural Anthropology
• Form of teaching: lecture
• Guaranteed by: Programme Liberal Arts and Humanities (24-SHVAJ)
• Faculty: Faculty of Humanities
• Actual: from 2019
• Duration in semesters: 1
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 3
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, MC [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (20)
• Maximum number of enrolled students: 20
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: cancelled
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Repeated enrollment: 1 (2) / 1 / 1 / 1
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Martin Heřmanský, Ph.D.
• Incompatibility : YBAJ153, YBAKA26ZI
• Interchangeability : YBAJ153
• Is incompatible with: YBAJ153
• Is interchangeable with: YBAJ153

Annotation

English

The course will introduce students to selected issues in sociocultural anthropology through the means of reading and interpretation of anthropological papers. It aims to develop critical anthropological thinking and interpretive skills. Each class will deal with one controversial issue in anthropology which remains unresolved. Each issue will be presented through two papers holding antagonist positions. Students will be expected to read both papers designated for each week in advance, before each class, and comprehend them to that extent to be able to discuss them in class.

Last update: Beranová Eva, Mgr. (03.12.2018)

Course completion requirements

Attendance: Students are required to reach at least 70% attendance. In case of poor attendance, students will be required to write additional paper summary(ies).

 

Participation: Students are expected to come to class prepared (meaning they read both papers in advance) and actively engage in discussion.

 

Issue Summary: At the end of the course, students will write a summary of one chosen issue based on comparison of both papers (2-4 pages).

Last update: Beranová Eva, Mgr. (03.12.2018)

Syllabus

Issues are divided into three thematic parts:

 

A) Nature vs nurture / Genes vs culture

A1) Is It Natural for Adopted Children to Want to Find Out About Their Birth Parents?

A2) Are Yanomami Violence and Warfare Natural Human Efforts to Maximize Reproductive Fitness?

A3) Is Ethnic Conflict Inevitable?

 

B) Ethics and methods

B1) Was Margaret Mead’s Fieldwork on Samoan Adolescents Fundamentally Flawed?

B2) Did Napoleon Chagnon’s Research Methods Harm the Yanomami Indians of Venezuela?

B3) Should Anthropologists Work to Eliminate the Practice of Female Circumcision?

B4) Should Anthropologist Refrain to Collaborate with Military?

 

C) Epistemological and Ontological Questions

C1) Do Native Peoples Today Invent Their Traditions?

C2) Should Cultural Anthropology Stop Trying to Model Itself as a Science?

C3) Does Human Nature Lie in Cultural Universals?

 

 

For more details see: http://moodle.fhs.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=909.

Last update: Beranová Eva, Mgr. (03.12.2018)

Course registration requirements

While not an official requirement, it is recommended to attend this course after attending Introduction to Anthropology (which means in 3^rd or higher semester), because the course partially builds on elementary anthropological knowledge provided by introductory course.

Last update: Beranová Eva, Mgr. (03.12.2018)