ANT 303
Peoples of Latin America
James D. Sexton, Regents' Professor
3 credit hours,
Liberal Studies, Social and Political Worlds, Global Diversity, Latin American Studies
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This three-unit course, taught in person, is a survey of selected peoples of Latin America. Case studies will emphasize native cultures of the area from the perspective of social and political organization, technology and economic organization, and world view. The course is a liberal studies course in the Social and Political Worlds block. The course emphasizes two skills: (1) effective communication in writing and (2) critical reading and thinking (comprehension and reasoning). It also satisfies requirements for a Latin American Studies minor. It does not assume that the student has had prior exposure to anthropology. The style of presentation is mainly lectures supplemented with films, videos, and slides from Latin America countries with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.
Selected required readings will be from Napoleon A. Chagnon's Yanomamö: Legacy Sixth Edition, Ignacio Bizarro Ujpán and James Sextons' Heart of Heaven, Heart of Earth and Other Mayan Folktales, and Karen Stocker's Tourism and Cultural Change in Costa Rica. All of the books will be placed on four-hour reserve in the Cline Library. Also, all of the books will be available in the university bookstore and in online bookstores such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.
