Cross Cultural Studies Minor

Understanding diverse cultures of the world, from preliterate societies to modern technological societies is the focus of this course, including mankind's universal as well as adaptive dimensions; the examination of socioeconomic, political, religious, and physical environmental factors that relate to the values and lifestyles of various peoples.

A methodological course that will instruct students in the skill of participant observation and ethnographic reporting through the reading of a variety of ethnographies, collect primary field data, write descriptions, and provide an analysis of a selected community. The class involves a field component.

This course will analyze ethnicity in contemporary urban society including the relationship between subcultural communities and the larger society and examine the factors and processes in the formation of minority groups as well as strategies for changing dominant-minority patterns.

This course will introduce the sources, functions, and dynamics of the unequal distribution of wealth, power, knowledge, and prestige in an historical, comparative perspective.

Practical application of anthropological concepts designed to assist in analyzing, understanding, and living within other cultural traditions is the focus of this course and will include topics such as the role of culture, living with culture shock, strategies for analyzing cultures, processes of assimilation, language issues, cultural food ways, manners, and social expectations.

An anthropological overview of native North American societies from pre-Columbian times to the present is the focus of this course, utilizing a culture area approach and including an emphasis on the native people of California. Offered in alternate years.

This course will explore the relationship between individual experiences and the socio-cultural context, focusing on the role socio-cultural institutions play on personality, health, and world view.

This course will introduce students to the study of music as a universal cultural phenomenon and the discipline of ethnomusicology, with exposure to the musical and social aspects of a variety of folk, traditional, and art music of Latin America, Africa, India, North America, and contemporary mass media. Prerequisite: Mus 101 or equivalent knowledge and experience in music strongly encouraged. Offered in alternate years.

Introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology and of music as a universal cultural phenomenon, with exposure to the musical and social aspects of a variety of folk, traditional and art music of regions from Eastern Europe to Asia, including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Oceania, China, Japan, and Korea. Prerequisite: Mus 101 or equivalent knowledge and experience in music strongly encouraged. Offered in alternate years.