Banner for Anthropology

Navigation bar for Anthropology
Faculty and Staff of Anthropology Contact Information LBCC Home Page

Cultural Anthropology: On-Campus Course
Anthropology 2

Brief Course Description
Welcome to the study of the human species--remarkable creatures as diverse in appearance as fish or butterflies; so varied in behavior as to at times resemble ants, at other times, eagles. Anthropology systematically studies humans to better understand our nature.

This is an introductory course in cultural anthropology. We will focus on human cultural development throughout the world both past and present. Variations in social, economic, and political customs, culture change, systems of kinship and family organization, inventions, arts, language, and other topics will be discussed. Current theories of culture, often in conflict with one another, will be reviewed along with the effects of culture contact between different societies. This course will examine human culture from an evolutionary perspective. We will begin with technologically more simple egalitarian societies, then move on to the origin of stratified societies with more specialized and advanced technology. Next, we will review the development of centralized power and growing inequity in resource allocation, then on to the formation of state societies, such as our own, with an elaborate and sophisticated technological base.

As a result of taking this course, students should be able to:
  1. understand the origins and development of the human species;
2. identify variations in social customs unique to individual cultures;
3. compare and contrast different societies in scientific terms;
4. understand the uniqueness of human culture and behavior;
5. identify and describe characteristics of human culture;
6. locate and discuss the most important cultural groups on a world map;
7. explain the importance of culture to the human species;
8. discuss various scientific theories as to human cultural variation today;
9. discuss the importance of kinship and the family to human society;
10. trace the evolution of human culture from its beginning to the present; and
11. comprehend the structure and function of various other aspects of human culture such as art, politics, economics, religion, social stratification, subsistence, and other topics.
 
| general information | college bookstore | distance learning | library | schedule of classes | the e-courses directory |
| college catalog | events calendar | financial aid |