Minor in Anthropology
Why Minor in Anthropology at Eastern
Eastern University’s minor in anthropology equips students with cross-cultural skills and understanding to be used in work involving the holistic transformation of people’s lives.
Eighteen credits, to include ANTH 101; 102 or 103; 251; 320 plus two ANTH or INST 213-218 as electives.
ANTH 101 Cultural Anthropology 3
This course is a survey of the field of cultural anthropology. The class will compare and contrast cultures around the world, discussing topics such as: the nature of culture, race and ethnicity, making a living in the environment, gender and marriage, family and kinship, stratification and poverty, political and economic systems, language, culture and personality, religion, the arts and world views. A Christian framework will provide the means of determining both the value and limits of cultural relativism.
ANTH 102 Introduction to Archeology 3
This course will study the procedures and methods of archaeology and studies of the material remains of cultures such as tools, ceramics, fibers, wood, bone and antler, stone, burials, housing. In many instances students will have opportunities for hand-on examination, analysis and even replication. Theoretical approaches of cultural functionalism, cultural materialism and cultural ecology; the applications of archaeology to both physical and cultural anthropology; and ethical matters pertaining to the practice of archaeology will be covered. Prerequisite: Minimum grade of C in ANTH 101.
ANTH 103 Physical Anthropology 3
Physical anthropology, or biological anthropology, includes such concerns as human genetics, disease, race and environmental adaptations, and the search for human origins in the fossil record. Though this course approaches the question of human origins from a Christian and Biblical point of view, students will be expected to become familiar with a variety of origin models, and with the tools to evaluate them. Prerequisite: Minimum grade of C in ANTH 101.
ANTH 251 The Discovery of Foreign Worlds 3
This course is based on the premise that exposure to and knowledge of a variety of human cultures is essential to mastering a working knowledge of cultural anthropology. Through reading and discussing classic ethnographic writings, students will become familiar with the ethnographic process and with the cultures analyzed in the literature. Students will read from both assigned and elective writings and will prepare an ethnographic report for class presentation that will demonstrate the use of one or more research methods. Prerequisite: ANTH 101.
ANTH 320 Language and Culture 3
Language and culture, or ethnolinguistics, examines the relationship between the cognitive categories of language and the worldview of culture. Anthropologists have long investigated this relationship as they have done fieldwork in remote places, often learning languages never before encountered by Westerners. This course will approach the field of ethnolinguistics from the perspective of its usefulness for language learning, for identification of a culture’s core values, and for contextualization of the message of the Bible.