Course: Comparative Science of
Culture (Anthropology 209)
Professor: Dr. M. D. Murphy (email: mdmurphy@tenhoor.as.ua.edu)
Office: 24C tenHoor
Office Hours: W 1-3,Thur 1-3, & by appt.
Class Time and Place: TuTh 11-12:15 at room 119 ten Hoor
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of ethnography and ethnology with an emphasis on the techniques, methods, theories and findings of the science of cultural anthropology. "SS" credit.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE 
1. The various meanings attributed to anthropology's central concept: "culture" will be explored. What are the implications of the fact that anthropologists do not agree on a definition for their most important analytical tool? How can we account for historical shifts in the anthropological study of culture?
2. The problems and possibilities of ethnographic description and explanation will be considered. What standards should be adopted in assessing and understanding human diversity? The techniques and methods of ethnography and ethnology will be reviewed.
3. The epistemological status of cultural anthropology will be investigated. Can this discipline rightly be considered a science? Is anthropology at its best or its worst when it acts like a member of the humanities? Realist, modernist and post-modernist positions in cultural anthropology will be discussed.
4. The various strategies of comparison developed by cultural anthropologists will be described and evaluated.
5. The Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia will be studied in some detail both to provide an example of ethnographic analysis and to demonstrate changing styles in the study of culture.
REQUIRED READING LIST
EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
(NOTE:the scheduling of the first two exams is subject to change)
COURSE WEB SITES
GRADING, ATTENDANCE, AND PUNCTUALITY POLICIES
Only the highest of the first two exam scores will be considered in computing your final grade for the course. This means that if you fail the first exam, it is still possible to do well in the course through hard work and better scores on the second and final exams. If no spot quizzes are given, the midterm score counts for approximately 40% of the course grade and the final exam, which will be comprehensive, counts for about 60%.
Attendance will not be taken, but a pattern of excessive absences will produce spot quizzes which cannot be made up. You are responsible for all the material presented in lecture including additions to the reading list or spontaneous assignments or quizzes. Since roughly 40-60% of each exam will be based on the lectures, regular attendance is a wise practice.
As a simple courtesy to your professor and fellow students, you are expected to arrive for lectures before they start. If your class schedule does not permit you to arrive on time, please rearrange your schedule at the outset of the semester.
ESSAYS AND MAKE-UP EXAMINATION POLICY
It is not my policy to give make-up exams. If you manage to miss both midterm exams--for whatever reasons--you will be required to write a 20 page (5,000 word), typewritten essay on a topic devised by you AND approved in advance of submission by the instructor. Those who wish to do so are encouraged to write an essay in lieu of one of the midterms, but arrangements must be made early in the semester.
ASSIGNMENT SEQUENCE
First Examination (Sept. 26): (1) lectures to date; (2) Malinowski's Argonauts of the Western Pacific.
Second Examination (Nov. 7): (1) lectures since first exam; (2) Weiner's The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea.
Final Examination (Dec. 12, Tuesday, 8-10:30 a.m.): (1) all previously assigned lectures and readings; (2) lectures since the second exam; (3) the following articles on reserve in the library:
Last edited: 07/04/03
Return to M.D.
Murphy's Page
Return to Anthropology Department Web Page