INSTRUCTOR: Grace Miller
OFFICE: GT 211
OFFICE PHONE: 455-0278
CELL PHONE: 284-8774
UH-EMAIL: millerg@hawaii.edu (However, please use email under "communications tools" inside the course unless you are unable to access WebCt.)
OFFICE HOURS
Course Description
A survey course of cultural anthropology designed to provide the student with an understanding of the concept of culture, the principles of field methodology, cultural diversity, some of the factors underlying this diversity, and the universal aspects of culture. Aims at assisting the student to view objectively his/her own as well as other cultures. (3 credits)
Anth 200 fulfills core requirements in Social Science for LCC's AA degree; it fulfills general education core requirements in Social Science (Diversification) for UH-Manoa BA degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences; it fulfills requirements for the nursing programs at Kapiolani CC and HPU.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course,students should be able to
Texts and Required Materials
Fadiman, Anne
1997 The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Noonday Press, New York, NY.
Lenkeit, Roberta Edwards
2007 Introducing Cultural Anthropology. 3rd Edition. Mayfield Publishing Co., Mountain View, Ca.
Selected articles available on the Internet (See Unit Lessons, Calendar)
Selected sites on the Internet (See Unit Lessons,and Calendar)
Unit Lessons (See Unit Lessons and Calendar).
Internet Courses (A Word of Advice!)
Internet courses require at least the same amount of work as any regular college class. A "live" 3 credit semester long class would require you to spend 3 hours a week working in class, and 6 hours a week in homework for the class, or a total of 9 hours per week. An internet class also requires approximately 9 hours per week of your time: reading lessons, doing readings/exploring linked sites on the internet, reading the text and other assignments off the internet, and writing (for my class) labs, a paper, and exams. You should log onto the course daily (yes, DAILY) to check email, read homepage announcements, and read lessons/work on labs. YOU MUST BE SELF-MOTIVATED AND SELF-DISCIPLINED TO DO WELL IN AN INTERNET CLASS!
Course Requirements
Exams: There will be three Unit exams during the semester, each worth 100 points. The exams will be online, open book, and timed. Each exam will have multiple choice, true-false,matching and short and long essay questions. Over half the points for each exam will come from essay questions. While exams are open book, they are timed, and you will not have time to look up much information. If you are not well prepared, you will not do well on these exams, as many students have discovered! Be sure you consult the unit study guide (available on each unit page) to prepare well for these exams. Exams will be available under Lab/Exam icon on homepage.
Labs: There will be five short "labs" for the course, consisting of map, kinship, and short reading/writing exercises. The first two units will each have two labs, and the last unit will have one lab. Each lab will be worth from 10-15 points. The labs can be redone for more points if you did not receive full points the first time. The labs for each unit can be redone as many times as you want, provided the Unit exam is not yet available for that unit. Once the Unit exam is available for the unit, you may not submit or resubmit any lab for that unit. The directions for the labs can be found under the Lab icon for each unit, and under the Course Menu. Again, Labs for the unit must always be done--and redone if necessary--before the Unit exam is available for the class. Except for the first Lab, all labs will actually be submitted under the Lab/Exam icon (or see Lab/Exam on course menu) on the homepage.
Paper: There will be one required paper, on the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. The paper will be from 5-6 pages, and will be worth 60 points. Detailed Instructions are available under Spirit Guides icon on homepage, or on the Course Menu.
Extra Points: You will receive 2 extra credit points for posting the First Assignment (see lessons under Unit 1). About every one-two weeks or so I will be posting a discussion question on the Main Bulletin Board. Participation in discussion via the Bulletin Board should help you understand the material. In addition, those who post thoughtful (and researched, if necessary) responses will receive one or two extra points per posting, up to a limit of 12 extra points for the course. In addition, Unit 3 will contain an optional, extra point lab, worth 10 points. The extra point lab can not be resubmitted.
Summary of Requirements
| Requirement | Available Points |
|---|---|
| 3 Unit Exams (100 pts. each) | 300 |
| Labs (5) | 65 |
| Spirit Paper | 60 |
| TOTAL | 425 |
Grading Summary
| Total Points | Grade |
|---|---|
| 382-425 | A (90% +) |
| 340-381 | B (80-89%) |
| 297-339 | C (70-79%) |
| 255-296 | D (60-69%) |
| Below 255 | F (less than 60%) |
An I grade (incomplete) will be awarded only after a conference (online via email is fine) with the instructor prior to the last day of class, December 6. If you stop attending the class but do not officially withdraw from the class, you should expect to receive an F for the course. October 29 is the last day to officially withdraw.
Grading Criteria
| Grade | Criteria |
|---|---|
| A | Indicates superior performance. Essays, labs, and paper are organized, clearly written and contain sufficient and accurate material. They are analytical in nature, and contain valid arguments, demonstrations and examples. All written work demonstrates increasing mastery of the vocabulary and concepts of cultural anthropology. Labs and paper are free of spelling errors, punctuation errors, and grammatical errors. |
| B | Indicates above average performance. Essays, labs, and paper are organized, in the proper format, and contain sufficient and accurate material. All written work demonstrates competence in using the vocabulary and concepts of cultural anthropology. Labs and paper are free of spelling errors, punctuation errors, and grammatical errors. |
| C | Indicates performance at the level of minimum acceptable competence. Essays and writings are organized, in the proper format and represent the minimum acceptable amount of accurate content. They indicate minimal competency in using the vocabulary and concepts of cultural anthropology. Labs and paper contain few spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. |
| D | Indicates performance below the minimum accepted standard. Writings lack adequate content and organizations and/or contain an unacceptable number of errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Writings do not demonstrate adequate knowledge of the vocabulary and concepts of cultural anthropology. |
Communication
There are various ways to communicate with the instructor, and with each other, in this course. I highly encourage you to use them all. The Course Menu (at left) contains the Communication Tools, under which you will find Email, Bulletin Board, and Chat.
Email: At any time, you may email questions to me and I will ordinarily reply within 24 hours (Sundays and holidays not included). Unless you are unable to log onto WebCT, you should always email me using the WebCT email, not my hawaii.edu address. You will also be able to email each other. These emails will be seen only by the person addressed in the email. In emergencies (only, please) you may also call my cell phone. To email, click on compose, then browse, and you will see the entire class. I am on the top of the list.
Bulletin Board: I will be posting announcements on the Bulletin Board, and will also use it to post answers to frequently asked questions. Also, about every one-two weeks or so I will be posting a discussion question. Participation in discussion via the Bulletin Board should help you understand the material. In addition, those who post thoughtful (and researched, if necessary) responses will receive one -two extra points per posting, up to a limit of 12 extra points. You may also use the Bulletin Board to ask questions, make comments, ask for study partners, or share really good Websites and links that are not listed. Comments and questions posted to the main Bulletin Board are available for all in the class to read, and I encourage you to use it as a way to communicate with your classmates as well as with me. Older bulletins will be moved every week or so to the Bulletin topic "Old", and when a new discussion is posted, answers to the previous discussion will be moved to Bulletin topic "Discussion". However, nothing ever totally disappears from the Bulletin Board.
Chat: I will be available for Chat (my office hour) in Chat Room 1. The actual Chat time will be posted on the homepage after class starts. The Chat is not mandatory, but is in fact an office hour: come if you have questions or concerns. In addition, any of you can arrange (via email) a private chat with me. Feel free to use any of the chat rooms to chat with classmates (just not in Chat room 1 during my office hour.)
Phone: In emergencies or desperate situations, you may certainly call my cell phone, 284-8774. I will only infrequently be in my office this semester, but If you specifically want to see me in my office, please arrange a time via email. You can leave messages on my office phone, but the best way to talk to me is via my cell phone.
Study Group: If you are interested in a study group, post a request for other interested students on the Bulletin Board. Any such group can request to be assigned a Bulletin topic, available only for members of the group, and can organize a time for all to log onto a Chat Room. (Just let me know the time and Chat Room.) Study groups can be created at any time.
Course Assistance
Homepage Announcements: When you log onto the course, it will open at the Homepage. Brief general announcements will be made from time to time on the Homepage. Watch for them!! Check announcements each time you log in, and try to log in frequently! It is strongly recommended that you log in daily.
Study Guide: Each Unit will have a Study Guide, found under the Unit icon or on the Course Menu. The Study Guide will contain all the items that you need to know and all the questions you should be able to answer. It is a good idea to check the Study Guide frequently as you go through each Unit as it will tell you what information will be on the test!
The Glossary: This course has a Glossary (as does the text). The Glossary will contain all the terms that you need to know/learn for the course. Within each lesson, terms that you need to know will appear in red, and all of the terms in red should be in the Glossary (let me know if not, and I will get the term in!). In some cases, these terms will be in blue, meaning there is a direct link to the glossary entry. The Glossary can be found on the Course Menu.
The Calendar: The Calendar can be found on the Course Menu, as well as a homepage icon. All lessons and labs are linked under the Calendar, as well as many of the required Websites. All due dates will be posted under the Calendar, including what and when to read in the text or in the Spirit Book. All week days will have a lesson assigned. While you do not have to read a lesson every day, you should not get too far behind with lessons or any of the reading. You are always welcome to read ahead! A suggestion: go to Calendar, and click on "compile", set dates for Unit 1 (or entire course when available), and see the schedule as a printable list.
Bulletin Board: I will use the Bulletin Board for announcements and to post answers to frequently asked questions, as well as to post discussion questions. Again, you are encouraged to use the Bulletin Board to ask questions, and to answer questions from classmates, as well as to participate in discussion questions. If you specifically want a quick answer from me to a question, use the email, as I consult my email daily but the Bulletin less frequently.
Links: Within lessons your will find required and recommended links. The more time you spend exploring the links, the better you will understand cultural anthropology. You are welcome to print lessons, but read them first on line to access the links. Some of the links are required, and test questions will be based on information on these links! If you find a site that is not listed in the links, but that you think is really helpful, let me know via the Bulletin Board or email. Also if a link does not work, please let me know via email, so I can fix it or remove it.
LCC Distance Education Orientation Page: You can find lots of information that will be of assistance to you in taking a Distance Education course, including tutorials. Go to http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/de/ and explore all resources. There is a link to the WebCT tutorial, or you can go directly to http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/resources/WebCT/
LCC Help Desk: While the Help Desk can't come to your home to fix your computer, they may be able to help you through their WebPage, phone, or email. Your best bet is to phone them at 455-0271 during their open hours, while you are on your computer. To find their hours, go to their web page at http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/itg/helpdesk/.
Trouble Shooting Link: For help with various technical problems you may encounter, see the homepage of the distance education website (http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/de/) which has a document ("Common WebCT Problems and How to Fix Them") available as a pdf. file.
General Policies
Students are advised that academic dishonesty (cheating and plagiarism) are prohibited by LCC's "The Student Conduct Code" (which can be downloaded from LCC's website at http://www.lcc.hawaii.edu/); check under "Current Students". Violations of the "Code" will result in no points for the assignment involved. Violations of the "Code" may also result in serious disciplinary action by the College. All lab, essay exam, and Spirit paper responses should be in your own words. For the Spirit paper, you may include brief quotes from the book as long as you indicate it is a direct quote, and provide the page number. For your information, I subscribe to turnitin.com, an online plagiarism prevention service, and I regularly check assignments with this service. If you have questions as to the meaning of plagiarism, see the LCC Library's interactive site at http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/resources/plagiarism/ , or Georgetown University's site at http://www.georgetown.edu/honor/plagiarism.html .
If you have a hidden or visible disability, which may require class or testing accommodations, please talk to me as soon as possible during a scheduled office hour, or let me know via email. If you have not already done so, please register with the KÄKO`O `IKE (KÏ) program located in L-208 of Leeward Community College's library building. For more information, call the KÏ office at 455-0421 or visit their website at http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/kiprogram/ . This is the office responsible for coordinating accommodations and services for students with disabilities.
I uphold the University of Hawaii's nondiscrimination policy in my classes. Any discriminatory acts or language on the basis of race, religion, age, sex, national origin, ancestry, disabilities or sexual orientation will not be tolerated. In addition, my classroom, office, and by extension WebCt courses, are UH-designated Safe Zones. The Safe Zone program is committed to creating and maintaining a positive social and academic environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans gendered students. Again, any discriminatory acts or language (on Chat or Bulletin Board) on the basis of sexual orientation will not be tolerated. The basic policy appears in the LCC Catalog and Schedule of Courses (both available online at the LCC website http://www.lcc.hawaii.edu.