Introduction to Anthropology

Prof. Gerald Murray

Course Description

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Week 1 (9/20) Topic: General overview of the course

Read:

• “Cultural Anthropology“

Other readings

• Liu Minxing, “A historical overview of anthropology in China”
• Zhou Daming, “Anthropology in China takes practical approach”

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Week 2 (9/27) Topic: From Arboreal Primate to Homo Sapiens

Readings

• UCal/ Berkeley “The history of life: Looking at Evolution”
• Smithsonian, “The human family tree”
• R. H. Tuttle “Human evolution”

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Week 3 (10/4) Traditional cultural accounts of human origins

Readings

• Origin myths
• Creation myth
• Traditional Chinese accounts of human origins: Pangu and Nuwa
• Traditional Western account of human origins: Genesis 1 – 3
• D.R. Montgomery, Landscapes of the Great Flood myths