Anthropology 394: City Living: The Anthropology of Urban Life is a senior-level anthropology course designed to provide the student with an extensive overview of urban settlements, from their first appearance some five thousand years ago (or arguably older) to the cities of today. Students will gain a comprehensive knowledge of the development of cities, the diversity of urban groups, and various urban social and cultural issues—as well as an understanding of the theoretical and methodological approaches taken by anthropologists and other social scientists in the study of cities and city life.
Outline
ANTH 394 is divided into an introduction and four units, each of which examines a specific topic in urban studies.
Introduction: The Development of Urban Anthropology
Unit 1: Understanding the City: Its Evolution
Unit 2: Disciplinary Perspectives
Unit 3: The Structure of the City
Unit 4: Global Urban Developments
Evaluation
To receive credit for ANTH 394, you must complete five discussion questions, two quizzes, a mini fieldwork assignment, a research paper outline, a research paper, and write a final examination. Your final grade is determined by a weighted average of the grades you receive on these assignments. To receive credit for this course, you must achieve a minimum of D (50 percent) on the final examination, and an overall grade of D (50 percent) for the entire course. All work must be submitted or completed by the end of your course contract date.
Activity
Weight
Discussion Questions 1 to 5
5%
Quiz 1
10%
Quiz 2
10%
Assignment 1: Mini Fieldwork Project
20%
Assignment 2A: Research Paper Outline
5%
Assignment 2B: Research Paper
20%
Final Exam
30%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Macionis, John J., and Vincent N. Parrillo. Cities and Urban Life. 7th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2017. (eText)
All other materials are available online. This includes required readings, viewings, and listenings primarily from the disciplines of urban anthropology, anthropological archaeology, linguistic anthropology, history, and cultural geography.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the ANTH 394 challenge registration students must complete a 4 short essays, a research paper, a midterm exam and a final exam and receive at least a D (50 percent) on the each of the exams and an overall course grade of D (50 percent). The weightings of each activity are listed below.
Activity
Weight
Assignment #1 (four short essays)
20%
Assignment #2 (research paper)
30%
Midterm
25%
Final Exam
25%
Total
100%
Midterm and final exams are each 3 hours long and written at an invigilation centre.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.