Overview
Anthropology 434: The History of Anthropological Thought is a senior-level course that examines the range of responses to the fact of human diversity through the ages, with emphasis on modern and postmodern anthropology.
Outline
The course consists of the following eleven units:
- Unit 1: Anthropological Thought to the Nineteenth Century
- Unit 2: Nineteenth-Century Evolutionary Thought
- Unit 3: Race
- Unit 4: The Formation of General Theories
- Unit 5: Boas and His Students
- Unit 6: Functionalism/Structural Functionalism
- Unit 7: Structuralism
- Unit 8: Change and Conflict
- Unit 9: Materialist Explanations of Culture Change
- Unit 10: The Individual and Society
- Unit 11: Postmodernism, Feminist Theory
Evaluation
To receive credit for ANTH 434, you must achieve a composite course grade of at least D (50 percent), and a grade of at least 50 percent on the examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Telephone quiz | 6% |
| Essay 1 | 22% |
| Research Paper | 25% |
| Essay 2 | 22% |
| Final Exam | 25% |
| 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
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Barnard, Alan. History and Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Moberg, Mark. Engaging Anthropological Theory: A Social and Political History. New York: Routledge, 2019.
Other Materials
All other course materials can be found online.