ANTHROPOLOGY 110

H. A. Doughty Fall 2016

Instructions:
• Write an essay of approximately 2500-3000 words on one of the following topics;
• All essays are due on or before and may be submitted in “hard copy” or electronically (Word only) to
.

1. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that anthropology is not a science, but simply an attempt by some people to understand cultures other than their own and, as such, has no right to claim the results of its studies have any greater claim to “truth” that the statements of travelers, tourists or any other people who have spent time in foreign countries.

2. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that anthropology was and remains nothing more than a “white man’s” intellectual game with the purpose of justifying the exploitation of the environment, the economies and the cultures of non-European people.

3. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that human societies evolve in a manner that is similar to biological evolution and that it is possible to build a “scientific” explanation of how our species has moved from small scavenging, hunting and gathering communities, through primitive agriculture slave-holding civilizations, feudalism, capitalism and to whatever may be in store for us in the future.

4. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that all human languages are structurally the same, that language capacity is “innate” or “genetic,” and that language is the only unique characteristic that separates us fundamentally from other species.

5. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that the invention of agriculture (the domestication of plants and animals) was, in the words of UCLA Professor of Physiology, Jared Diamond, the “greatest catastrophe to befall human beings.”

6. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that the “division of labour” in human society has been the source of the greatest injustices we have experienced to date.

7. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that all social organizations require leadership, that leadership exists in every society and that, without leaders, humans would be incapable of stable social relations and, indeed, survival.

8. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that marriage and family relations are currently not only in a state of “crisis” but that the so-called “nuclear” family itself was a transitory social structure that helped us adjust from tribal societies to industrial societies, but is now obsolete and soon to expire.

9. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that traditional male and female roles are no longer economically relevant, socially useful and politically acceptable with the result that our species will inevitably become “androgynous.”
10. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that “good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but to make good people do bad things requires religion.”
11. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that religion responds to a universal human need and is a social necessity which can be eliminated only at the cost of personal psychological distress and social collapse.

12. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that art is to be distinguished from other aspects of culture by knowable aesthetic standards, which may differ from society to society and may be challenged within societies, but which are consistent and coherent and can be used as a test to distinguish between “good” and “bad” art.

13. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that “technology” is the main factor that contributes to cultural and social change.

14. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that “technology” is inherently “value-laden” and neither morally nor ethically neutral or “value-free.”

15. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that modern societies must learn from traditional societies if the apparent threat to the global ecology is to be avoided.

16. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that underdeveloped countries must adopt “Western” models of development (“democratic” politics, “market” economies, “advanced” technology, etc.) if they are to prosper.

17. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that every society has a number of “functions” which it must successfully perform if it is to survive and that the most useful way to understand social structures and practices that appear unusual or even grotesque to outsiders is to ask the question: “What function does this structure or practice perform?”

18. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that the influence of globalization through international corporations, information technology and physical occupation of non-western societies is inevitably eroding the possibility of human cultural diversity.
19. Construct an argument for or against the proposition that cultural diversity is as important to human well-being as biological diversity is to the biosphere.

20. Describe any particular culture other than your own and explain what peculiar contributions it might be able to make to benefit yours.

21. Describe any particular culture other than your own and explain why it conducts domestic and family life as it does.

22. Describe any particular culture other than your own and explain why it practices the religion(s) it does.

23. Describe any particular culture other than your own and explain why its organizes recreation and sport in the way that it does.

24. Identify any illicit practice (drug addiction, gambling, sexual promiscuity) and explain why it remains in a culture despite legal and social norms against it.

25. Identify any technological innovation that has been resisted or abolished in any society, and explain why it was deemed unacceptable.

26. Explain why “race” (a cultural construction with no empirical basis in biology) has become a dominant concept for describing members of our species, particularly with regard to issues of equality and equity.

27. Explain, from a non-Western perspective why education in Western societies is organized to emphasize individual competition.

28. Explain, from a non-Western perspective why Western economies function to maximize production and simultaneously increase inequality.

29. Explain, from a non-Western perspective why the individual freedom that is so important to Western culture is morally unacceptable.

30. Construct your own topic.