Dr. Ken Barger
Anthropology, IUPUI
September 30 2004

A104 Cultural Anthropology

CLASS NOTES

A U.S. Army camp at Zuni Indian pueblo, New Mexico, early 1900s. When we encounter people of other cultures, ethnocentrism can lead us to misunderstand their ways. For example, AngloAmericans have at times criticized the Zuni belief in witches as "superstitious." But they have failed to see the important social functions of this belief. People who are disruptive to community life and well-being are usually the ones accused of being witches, and the threat of being branded as a witch encourages people to behave properly. Also, their perceptions of witch behavior in contrast poses how a socially responsible person behaves for the good of the whole community. The religious belief in witches thus has important social control functions. We usually react to others' ways based on different meanings of life experiences, without considering the functions these behaviors may have in other areas of culture. If we can recognize and control for our ethnocentrism, we can go on to more valid understandings of other people's ways.

The following ms Word files are the outline notes that I use in teaching my A104 classes, and may be viewed and/or downloaded if desired. Note that the Core Concepts are kept up to date more regularly, and should be used when there are discrepencies in definitions, etc.

Please note that you are responsible for all in-class materials, including instructions for all course assignments (which are not included here).

I urge you to take your own notes in class, since writing involves information being processed through the mind, and therefore reinforces understanding. (And developing your note-taking skills will benefit you in other courses and in many other life settings, where the instructor's/boss's/etc. notes will not be available.) After class, use my notes to check your notes, to see how accurate and complete your notes are.

The following is a list of class notes for each section of the course. Note that I periodically update my notes, and that you are responsible for all class materials, so be sure to check regularly for changes (which I will announce in class when they are significant). If you want to check your notes with mine or wish to check my notes for any classes you may have missed, you can view and/or download my class notes by clicking on the following sections of the course materials:

Key Concepts in Understanding the Human Experience
Ethnocentrism
Anthropology and Science (msWord document)
Subsistence (msWord document)
Social Organization (msWord document)
World View (msWord document)
Cultural Change (msWord document)

You may print or download these notes from the web browser you are using.