Welcome to our course, Cultural Dynamics. I am your instructor, Rodney Frey. My office is in Phinney Hall, Rm. 116, with office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 to noon, or by appointment.
You can contact me at:
Class Days/Times and Location:
xxxx
xxxx
Textbooks:
xxxx
xxxx
To go to:
Course Description: This course will address the range of types of cultural dynamics experienced in human communities throughout time (as addressed in prehistoric and historical anthropology) and continuing today (as addressed in ethnography). Among the types of cultural dynamics consider will be macro changes, such as cultural paradigm growth, shifts and declines, globalization, and cultural evolution, as well as micro changes, relating to issues of discovery and innovation. In addition, various culture contact and diffusion scenarios will be addressed, as with those where core values of the host society are maintained, as in the instances of incorporation and compartmentalization, and where core values are altered, as in various hegemonic processes such as syncretism, disintegration, adaptation and revitalization. The course will also examine the role of the individual and power brokers, as well as the human collective, as change is expressed through various social, economic, political and religious institutions, as well as in technological and communication innovations. Also considered will be ethical issues associated with directed change, such as in applied anthropology and international development projects. By better understanding and appreciating the complexity of cultural change processes within which we are apart, individuals, communities and societies can better chart their own destinies.
You are currently viewing http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/404.htm
To return to the Frey's Home Page
Page manager: rfrey@uidaho.edu