2022-2023 Pierce College Catalog 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Pierce College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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ANTH& 106 American Mosaic (5 credits)



Distribution Area Fulfilled Social Sciences; General Transfer Elective
Formerly ANTHR 104 - CCN

Course Description
We investigate the nature and dynamics of diversity in the United States today using anthropological approaches and methods. We examine multiple aspects of social identity including ethnicity, “race,” socioeconomic class, gender, and sexuality.

Course Content
A. Dimensions and dynamics of culture and its relation to diversity
B. Analysis of diversity in the United States
C. Attitudes toward diversity such as assimilation, pluralism, and multiculturalism
D. Examination of power relations in the United States from a holistic perspective
E. Social construction of “race” and ethnicity
F. Social construction of sexual and gender identity
G. Analysis of socioeconomic class in the United States
H. Examination of intersectional dimensions of diversity
I. Exploration of personal perspective and bias in relation to social identity

Student Outcomes
1. Articulate the anthropological concept of culture.

2. Identify, analyze, and articulate the construction of individual identity, personal perspective, and personal biases.

3. Identify, analyze, and discuss the dynamics of institutional and attitudinal discrimination in the U.S.

4. Identify, define, and discuss ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, and extreme relativism.

5. Analyze and discuss the multicultural context of the U.S.

6. Explain the situational aspect of ethnicity.

7. Distinguish between racial classification and the explanatory approach to human variation.

8. Distinguish between the concepts of sex, gender, and sexual orientation.

9. Identify and analyze the complexities of socioeconomic class in the United States.

10. Identify the diversity of family and household forms in the United States.

11. Explain how anthropologists learn about culture.

Degree Outcomes
Social Science: Graduates analyze and interpret social phenomenon using social science theories and methods.

Intercultural Engagement: Graduates demonstrate self-efficacy in intercultural engagement to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion through reflections and expressions of cultural humility, empathy, and social and civic engagement and action. Further, graduates examine how identities/positionalities such as races, social classes, genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, and cultures impact perceptions, actions, and the distribution of power and privilege in communities, systems, and institutions.

Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking: Graduates will evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and generate ideas; construct informed, meaningful, and justifiable conclusions; and process feelings, beliefs, biases, strengths, and weaknesses as they relate to their thinking, decisions, and creations.

Lecture Contact Hours 50
Lab Contact Hours 0
Clinical Contact Hours 0
Total Contact Hours 50



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