A COPY OF THE SYLLABI FOR MY COURSES CAN BE FOUND BY LOOKING AT THE ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT'S WEB PAGE
 

Test 1  Covers What Anthropology and Culture Are.

    To prepare look closely at definitions of words, the four fields of anthropology, examples of these, the idea of what culture is, what it does, social organization and examples of social organization.  Be familiar with the ideas of human biological and cultural development as well as the methods of archaeology. Look carefully at examples from the text and class.  I have given some sample questions below (without the answers!) which may or may not be on your exam.

If you violate a ________ it will be seen as hurting the society.

Which is an example of a rite of passage?

What is the technical name given to the ceremonies that mark passage from one status to another during the life cycle?

Secret Societies are secret because no one knows the members.

What is the smallest unit of sound in a language that has a meaning?

Which of the fields of anthropology deals with artifacts and material culture?

What is the last name of your instructor?

Glottochronologies compare two languages to determine how long ago they separated.
 
  Test 2 covers archaeology, prehistory and cultural change

    We traced the development of people and culture.  Australopithecines, Homo habilis, Homo sapiens in various forms.  Where were they and when were they there?  When did they get to the New World and How.  Remember:

Paleolithic                             Paleo Indian

Mesolithic                              Archaic

Neolithic                                 Woodland

When and where were these?  What is diagnostic about each?  Remember
E x T --> C  Energy X Technology ---> Culture Change.  Leslie White did this.  The idea is that it is the interaction of Energy and Technology that leads to culture change.  Big occurrences are the Neolithic/Woodland and the Industrial Revolution.  These represent energy increases as well as technological innovation.  Look at how we've managed to change with application of electricity and tech. development.  Trains, cars, airplanes, computers etc. etc.

Transportation and information systems have led to significant incidences of culture contact.  When this happens there is an exchange of culture traits.  The received traits are always changed around, this is known as reinterpretation.  A changing culture does not  usually do it with ease or grace and there often develops what is called a Cultural Revitalization Movement.  This is an effort to re-establish traditional cultural patterns or quite often develop imagined cultural patterns.  Think of examples of these.
 
Test 3 Covers Economic and Political Systems.

Economic systems provide for the production, distribution and consumption of goods, resources, and services.   Economic Distribution Systems move them to the consumers.  The basic pro. systems are Hunting and Gathering, Horticulture (dom. plants), Agriculture, Industrial, post-Industrial (service economy) and Pastoralism.  H&G is an extractive economy.  Men hunt, women and children gather.  Low pop. densities, plants provide most food.  Highly mobile, use Central Based Wandering.  Add domesticated plants and you get Horticulture.  Grow a variety of plants (polyculture) in gardens with hand tools.  Women do the planting and men hunt and go to war.  Produces a surplus of calories that are starch in nature, not protein.  Intensify the horticulture or add plows and you get Agriculture.  Field oriented instead of gardens, usually emphasize a single species (monoculture), and is very labor intensive.  Highly productive of calories, Hunting virtually disappears.  Men are the primary field workers women and children become primarily support workers.  Horticulture and agriculture are surplus producers but  also have problems with famine and diseases which generally is not found with H&G.  Industrial is highly energy intensive while the others are labor intensive.  We covered industrialization. in detail before but it involves a massive input of energy, and workers.  Workers come from the countryside etc.  Pastoralism involves living off of the produce of domesticated herd animals.  Eat lots of milk and milk products.  Men are the primary herders, women do some gardening and lots of support.  Found in areas that will not support other economic systems.  Very mobile so they will not over-graze the pastures.

Distribution.  Reciprocity, trade, redistribution, market.  Reciprocity is an exchange that involves the establishment of social obligations called reciprocal bonds.  i.e..  exchange of Christmas presents.  Trade is an exchange that does not involve social obligations.  Market is a form of centralized trade and reciprocity.  People come together from a  large area   to exchange.  Is as much festive/social as it is economic exchange.  Redistribution is similar to taxes.  Portion of economic surplus is channeled to a central location where it is given back (redistributed) in the form of goods, and services.  How does this develop?

It is important to remember that there is never an equal consumption of resources!!  There is always some form of stratification.  Think of some of these.  (i.e. more men than women have guns).

Political organization, deals with power, authority and organization.  Be familiar with how Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms and States operate.

The final exam covers family, kinship, gender and religion

Kinship.  This may be the most confusing thing that we cover all quarter.  Look carefully at the charts showing the different kin systems.  Be certain to remember the nuances of each -- especially Hawaiian, Eskimo, Iroquois and Sudanese.  The Crow and Omaha are the same as Iroquois except for the Cross Cousin terms.  I will not ask any questions that require you to know the Crow and Omaha cross cousin terms to answer them correctly.  All the others are fair game for questions.  Your test will have a kinship chart at the end with each member numbered.  You will have to be able to refer to this chart for a number of questions (i.e..  In the Hawaiian system what does ego call #6?).  If you spend time with the charts in the text (watch out for the obvious typos) and think about things and just don't memorize the charts you should do well with this.  Remember the different kinds of families, marriage, kin tracing (unilineal vs. bilineal) and why they function and you should be in good shape.  An excellent review of kinship can be found on the University of Manitoba Anthropology Home Page.

There are only a few questions on religion.  Concentrate on definitions and examples.  Be able to link the religious/magical practices discussed in class and presented in the text to modern society.  Remember priest, shaman, deity, the different kinds of magic, ritual etc.  This section is mostly definition remembering but not just that.  You need to be able to apply the definitions to current Euro-American and Afro-American culture.