Anthropology (Anth101)

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Syllabus Development Committee Members

1. Elias Alemu (PhD in social anthropology, HU)

2. Dagne Shibru (PhD in social anthropology, HU)
3. Hanna Getachew (PhD in social anthropology, HU)
4. Alemante Amera (PhD in social anthropology, HU)
5. Getaneh Mehari (PhD in social anthropology, AAU)
6. Tekalign Ayalew (PhD in social anthropology, AAU)

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 I. Course Information
Course Name: Anthropology
Course Code: Anth101
Credit Hours: 3 Cr. Hrs. (4 ECTS)

II. Course Description:

This course is designed to introduce anthropology to first year students' of Higher Learning
Institutions (HLIs). It covers basic concepts of anthropology such as culture, society and
humanity. It also discusses themes including unity and diversity; kinship, marriage and family;
indigenous knowledge systems and local governance, identity, multiculturalism, conflict, conflict
resolution and peacemaking system; intra and inter-ethnic relations of Ethiopian peoples. In
addition, the course explores culture areas of Ethiopia such as plough culture, enset culture and
pastoralism. The course further covers marginalized minority and vulnerable groups in terms of
age, gender, occupation and ethnicity by taking ethnographic case studies into account and
discuss ways of inclusive growth.

III. Course Objectives

Intended Learning Outcome:
Up on the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
 Develop an understanding of the nature of anthropology and its broader scope in making
sense of humanity in a global perspective;
 Understand the cultural and biological diversity of humanity and unity in diversity across
the world and in Ethiopia;
 Analyze the problems of ethnocentrism against the backdrop of cultural relativism;
 Realize the socially constructed nature of identities & social categories such as gender,
ethnicity, race and sexuality;
 Explore the various peoples and cultures of Ethiopia;
 Understand the social, cultural, political, religious& economic life of different ethno-
linguistic & cultural groups of Ethiopia;
 Understand different forms marginalization and develop skills inclusiveness;
 Appreciate the customary systems of governance and conflict resolution institutions of
the various peoples of Ethiopia;

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  Know about values, norms and cultural practices that maintain society together;
 Recognize the culture area of peoples of Ethiopia and the forms of interaction developed
over time among themselves; and
 Develop broader views and skills to deal with people from a wide variety of socio-
economic and cultural backgrounds.

IV. Course Contents:

Chapter One
1. Introducing Anthropology and its Subjects
1.1. What is anthropology – a Mirror for Humanity?
 Scope, subject matter and concerns of anthropology
 Defining Features of Anthropology- holism, relativism & comparative perspectives
 Anthropological imagination: asking questions and seeing the world
anthropologically.
 Q- What does it mean by using the anthropological lens when looking at the
world?
 Methods of Research in anthropology: ethnography & ethnographic methods
1.2. Sub-fields of Anthropology: Four Mirrors for Understanding Humanity?
 Socio-cultural, archaeological, linguistic and physical anthropology
1.3. The relation between anthropology and other sciences

Chapter Two
2. Human Culture and Ties that Connect
2.1. Conceptualizing Culture: What Culture Is and What Culture Isn’t?
2.2. Characteristics features of culture: what differentiates culture from other traditions?
2.3. Aspects of Culture –Material & Non-material (values, beliefs & norms)
2.4. Levels of culture: universality, generality and particularity (cultural diversity)
2.5. Ethnocentrism, Cultural relativism, and human rights
 Discussion- Debating cultural relativism: Human rights law and the
demonization of culture and anthropology along the way

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 2.6. Cultural Change: what is cultural change?
 Cultural Diffusion versus Cultural Assimilation
 Innovation
 Discussion - Contesting culture as sharply bounded versus unbounded
‘cultural flows’ or as ‘fields of discourse’ in the context of globalization.
2.7. Ties that Connect: Marriage, Family and Kinship
 Marriage -rules, functions and forms of Marriage
 Family -types and functions of Family
 Q. How families and marriage differ in different societies?
2.8. Cultural practices, norms and values that maintain society together

Chapter Three
3. Human Diversity, Culture Areas, and Contact in Ethiopia
3.1. Human Beings & Being Human: What it is to be human? –(a bio-cultural animal?)
3.2. Origin of the Modern Human Species: Homo sapiens sapiens (that’s you!)
 Religious, biological & evolutionary (paleo-anthropological) explanations
3.3. The Kinds of Humanity: human physical variation
 Q. Why isn’t everyone the same?
 Q. Why do people worldwide have differences in their phenotypic attributes?
3.4. Human Races: the history of racial typing
 The Grand Illusion: Race, turns out, is arbitrary
 Q. What can we say for sure about human races?
3.5. Why is Everyone Different? Human Cultural Diversity - anthropological explanations
 Q. Why don’t others do things the way we/I do?
3.6. Culture areas and cultural contacts in Ethiopia
3.6.1.1. Plough culture area
3.6.1.2. Enset culture area
3.6.1.3. Pastoral societies culture area
3.6.1.4. Historical and social interactions between culture areas

Chapter Four
4. Marginalized, Minorities, and Vulnerable Groups
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 4.1. Gender based marginalization
4.2. Occupational cast groups
4.3. Age based vulnerability (children and old age issues)
4.4. Religious and ethnic minorities
4.5. Human right approaches and inclusive growth, anthropological perspectives

Chapter Five
5. Theories of inter-ethnic relations and multiculturalism in Ethiopia
5.1. The Scales of Human Identity: Who am I?- Understanding ‘self’ & ‘other’
 Q- What are the ways we tell for others who we are?
5.2. Ethnicity and Race: What’s in a name?
5.3. Ethnic Groups & Ethnic Identity
 Q. What is the basis of one’s ethnic identity?
 Q. Is ethnicity a fundamental aspect of human nature & self-consciousness,
essentially unchanging and unchangeable identity? Or
 Q. Is it, to whatever extent, socially constructed, strategically or tactically
manipulable, and capable of change at both the individual and collective
levels?
5.4. Race –the social construction of racial identity
 Q. Do the claims of some people/groups about superior & inferior racial
groups have any scientific validity?
5.5. Primordialism; Instrumentalism; Social constructivism
5.6. Debates on inter-ethnic relations and identities

Chapter Six
6. Customary and local governance systems and peace making
6.1. Indigenous knowledge systems and local governance
6.2. Intra and inter-ethnic conflict resolution institutions
Ethnographic cases: commonalities and shared practices (e.g., Oromo and Somali,
Afar and Tigray; Gedeo and Oromo; Guraghe and Siltie; Amara and Tigray)
6.3. Customary/Local governance systems

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 Ethnographic cases: Oromo Geda; Somali-Gurti; Gamo, Gofa, Wolayita-Woga;
Guraghe-Sera
6.4. Legal pluralism: interrelations between customary, religious and state legal systems

Chapter Seven
7. Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices
7.1. Defining indigenous peoples and their knowledge?
7.2. Indigenous knowledge and development
7.3. The condition of indigenous knowledge in Ethiopia

 Students Work Load:

ECTS 4 CP
Student Work Lecture Tutorial, Continuous Assessments (test, Private Total
Load class term paper, home taken Study
discussions & exam/case studies & final
presentations exam)
48 hrs 22 hrs 2 hrs 28 hrs 100 hrs

 Course Requirements:
(Classroom, resources, and other inputs required to deliver the course will be listed)

 Grading Policy:
(Legislation of the concerned university will be adopted by departments/schools handling the
common course across the country)

 Assessment and Evaluation Criteria:

Based on the progressive understandings of the course, students will be evaluated
continuously through both non-graded assignments/activities, like (reading assignments)
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 and graded assignments/activities and assessments including class discussion &
participation, Test, Term Paper & presentation, Home Taken Exam/case studies and Final
Exam.

V. Suggested readings:
1. Asmarom Legesse (2006). Oromo Democracy: an Indigenous African Political System.
The Red Sea Press, Inc.
2. Cameron, M. Smith and Evan T. Davies (2008). Anthropology for Dummies. Wiley
Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
3. Clifored Geertz . (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. A division of Harper Collins
Publishers.
4. Donald Donham . (1986). Marxist Modern. The Ethnographic History of Marxist
Ethiopia.
5. Donald N. Levine. (1974). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of A Multiethnic Society.
Chicago & London., University of Chicago.
6. Dunif-Hattis and Howard C. (1992). Anthropology: Understanding Human Adaptation.
New York: Harper Collins, Inc.
7. Ellen, R. Parkes P, and Bicker, A.(Eds.) .(2000). Indigenous Environmental Knowledge
and its Transformations: Critical Anthropological Perspectives. Overseas Publishers
Association.
8. Eriksen, T. H. (2001). Small Places, larger Issues: An introduction to social and cultural
anthropology. London: Pluto Press.
9. Eriksen, T. H. (2004). What is anthropology? London: Pluto Press.
10. Eriksen, T. H. (2002). Ethnicity and Nationalism. London; Pluto Press.
11. Eriksen, T.H. and Nielsen, F.S. (2001). A History of Anthropology. London: Pluto Press.
12. Hallpike, Christopher R. (1972). The Konso of Ethiopia: A Study of the Value of a
Cushitic People. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
13. Hamer, John. (1970). The Sidama Generational Class Cycles: A Political Geronotocracy.
Africa 40,I (Jan,1970): 50-70.
14. Haviland, WA, (1999).Cultural Anthropology (9th ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt and Brace
College Pub.

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15. Kottak, C. P. (2004) – Anthropology: the Exploration of Human Diversity (10th ed.).
McGraw Hill, New York.
16. Lavenda, R. and Emily S. (2015). Anthropology. What Does It Mean to Be Human?.
(3rded.). Oxford. Oxford University Press.
17. Pankhurst. R.(2001). Historic Images of Ethiopia. Shamans Books. Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
18. Richard Jenkins. (2006). Rethinking Ethnicity. London Sage Publication.
19. Rosman, A., Rubel, P.G. and Weisgrau, M. (2009). The Tapestry of Culture: an
Introduction to Social Anthropology. Lanham: Rowman and Little field.
20. Scupin and DeCorse (1988). Anthropology: A Global Perspective (2nd ed.). New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
21. Shack, William S. (1966). The Gurage: A People of the Enset Culture. London: Oxford
University Press.
22. Triulzi et al. (2002). Remapping Ethiopia Easer African Studies:. Addis Ababa: AAU