Anthropology in Developing Countries

Curriculum Guideline

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Course
ANTH 1170
Discontinued
No
Course Code
ANTH 1170
Descriptive
Anthropology in Developing Countries
Department
Anthropology
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
202020
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
35
Contact Hours
Lecture: 4 hrs. per week / semester
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities

The course will be presented mainly in lecture format, with the addition of class discussions, and the use of audiovisual aids.

Course Description
An anthropological over-view of the “Third World” or developing nations and how the structure of the world today came into being. Topics include: colonialism, peasants, urbanization, globalization, disease. The methodological approach is ethnographic, comparative and historical. The general theoretical framework is social construction of reality.
Course Content
  1. Introduction
    • First World/Third World: the Division of the World Today
    • Doing Anthropology
  2. Change Over Time
  3. The Creation of Peasantries I
  4. The Creation of Peasantries II
  5. Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism
  6. Peasant Production and Subsistence Patterns
  7. Personal Problems, Social Causes
  8. Wage Labour And Peasant Economies
  9. Bureaucracy, Modernization and Development
  10. Peasant Communities and The Wider World I
  11. Peasants and The Wider World II
  12. The Good Life: Globalization
  13. Mass Media, Advertising and Belief Systems
  14. Summary and Conclusions
Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the use of such terms as “Developing World” as well as a number of pertinent anthropological terms and concepts.

  2. Discuss the basic history of colonialism and its relation to the current state of the world, and the divisions between the Developed/Developing World.

  3. Describe the impact of modernization and development and their connections to globalization.

  4. Discuss the position of the peasant as a “structured inferior” both past and present, with reference to specific ethnographic studies.
Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be based on course objectives, consistent with current College policy, and may include the following:

A series of examinations - up to 30% each   30%
An individual/group assignment or presentation     10%
A research essay   30%
Total 100%
Textbook Materials

Texts will be updated periodically. Typical examples would include the following:

  • Kottak, C.P.  (1999).  Assault on Paradise.  McGraw Hill.
  • Chambers, Keith & Chambers, Anne. (2001).  Unity of Heart. Waveland Press
  • Chinas, B.N.  (1993).  La Zandunga.  Waveland Press