ANT 208 Section 001: Anthropology of Sex: Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams

This course is an introduction to human sexuality from a biocultural perspective with emphases on sexual diversity and pluralism and psychosexual evolution.  It traces the evolution of human sociosexual behavior, including human sexual physiology; reproductive strategies; contemporary courtship, mating, and marital patterns; gender differences in the brain and behavior; and sexual and social emotions.  It compares the sexuality of humans to non-humans, especially to that of other primates.  It also discusses human sexuality from the perspective of different cultures throughout the world.  Among other topics, the course will address the psychobiocultural dimensions and implications of attraction, fidelity, sex techniques, gender, incest, homosexuality and transsexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases.

By the end of the semester, you should be able to:

·         Describe some of the psychological, biological, and cultural components of human sexuality and the interactions between them

·         Examine your own beliefs and assumptions about sexuality

·         Think critically about the social, cultural, and biological influences on sexual knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors

·         Incorporate scientific knowledge about the range of human sexuality into your opinions about the political and ethical aspects of sexuality

·         Analyze the assumptions and evidence that others use when making claims about sexuality

·         Identify the biological, behavioral, and sociocultural factors that influence sexual health

·         Understand human sociosexual behavior from an evolutionary perspective

·         Appreciate the relativity of sexual behavior from an anthropological perspective.

Attendance will be monitored through administration of an in-class quiz or exam each class meeting.  Lectures will be made available via Tegrity on eLearning.

Be sure to register your clicker for this course by going to the eLearning Home Page for ANT 208.  Click on the icon for Turning Technology Clicker Registeration and follow the instructions.  For more information, read the student tutorial on clickers available through the FRC website: http://frc.ua.edu/?page_id=570

eLearning

This course will use eLearning extensively.  Access eLearning via myBama.  There is a box called eLearning on the Academics tab that should list your courses that are currently let up with eLearning.  Log in and set your eLearning email up to direct your email to your Bama account (and be sure to set up your Bama account to forward to your regular personal account if you don’t plan on using it as your primary account).  To do this, go to the My Setting option in the upper right-hand corner.  On the My Profile tab, make sure your email address is correct (select Edit Profile if not and correct it).  Then select the My Tool Options tab.  Scroll down to Mail and check the box “Forward all mail message to the e-mail address in my profile.”  Click Save at the bottom of the page, and you are good to go (be sure to do this, as it doesn’t do it automatically).  This is important, as you likely won’t remember to check eLearning regularly for messages from me, but I will not accept that as an excuse for missing information (however, given that eLearning is not 100% reliable, I will often send important message via your Bama email—which, again, is why you need to make sure that account is your primary email or set up to forward to your primary email).

Activities (10 points):  There will be several activities that we will require or encourage you to experience this semester.  Some of these will take place in class and others will require your participation on your own time.  These activities will not be evaluated, but your participation in them will be monitored.  They are designed to enhance your learning experience, and we will often draw upon your experiences of these activities to facilitate in-class discussions.  Information about these activities will be mentioned in class and made available in more detail via eLearning.

Exams (70 points):  There are 4 exams, including the midterm and final.  Exams will consist of multiple choice questions.  The midterm and final exams are cumulative.  The exams will cover material presented in lecture, in the assigned readings, activities, and in the films.  You must take the exam on the scheduled date.

Quizzes (20 points):  Quizzes will be administered at every class meeting except on exam dates to evaluate your progress in reading the Fisher and Crocker books and monitor attendance.  Quizzes will cover the assigned Fisher or Crocker reading for that date, NOT the Bolin & Whelehan text.  Material from these readings is also subject to appear on exams.  There will be 25 quizzes worth 1 point each.  Thus, you will have the opportunity to earn up to 5 extra credit points through attending every lecture and answering quiz questions correctly.

Exam 1:                 15 points

Midterm exam:       20 points

Exam 3:                 15 points

Final exam:            20 points

Quizzes:                 20 points

Activities:               10 points

TOTAL                  100 points

 

These represent the course points available for each exam or assignment.  Assignment and exam points may vary, but scores will be calculated to determine the course points earned.  For instance, each quiz will be worth 1 course point.  If there are two questions on a quiz, but you only get one correct, your score for that quiz will be 0.5.

DATE	TOPIC	READING		ACTIVITY
		Bolin & Whelehan	Fisher/Crocker
1/12/2012	Introduction & syllabus			pre-test
1/17/2012	Anthropological Perspective	pp. 1-12	Fisher pp. 19-38	cultural consensus activity
1/19/2012		12-20	39-58
1/24/2012	Biopsychocultural Sexuality	21-26	59-78
1/26/2012		26-32	79-98
1/31/2012		32-39	99-118
2/2/2012		39-45	119-138	smelly t-shirt activity
2/7/2012	EXAM 1
2/9/2012	Evolutionary History of Sex		139-158
2/14/2012		46-50	159-178	Science of Sex Appeal
2/16/2012		50-54	179-198
2/21/2012	Comparative Psychology and Morphology	54-60	199-218
2/23/2012		60-65	219-238
2/28/2012		66-78	239-258	ethology activity
3/2/2012		79-86	259-278
3/6/2012		86-97	279-298
3/8/2012	MIDTERM EXAM
3/13/2012	NO CLASS
3/15/2012	NO CLASS
3/20/2012	Human Sexual Response	256-265	299-311	Vaginaplasty movie
3/22/2012		265-282	Crocker pp. 1-20	orgasm activity
3/27/2012	Fertility	282-293	21-40
3/29/2012	Sexual Differentiation	130-145	41-60
4/3/2012	Pregnancy & Childbirth	145-157	61-80	guest lecture
4/5/2012		159-173	81-100
4/10/2012	EXAM 3
4/12/2012	Developmental Sexuality	174-208	101-120
4/17/2012		209-254	121-140
4/19/2012	Sexual Orientations	412-431	141-160	Paradise Bent
4/24/2012	Aging	384-311	161-180	queer activity
4/26/2012	Dark Sides of Sex	433-505	181-187
FINAL EXAM: Thurs., May 3, 8-10:30 AM

Attendance: If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact a classmate to get notes from a particular lecture. Lectures will be recorded and available in a Tegrity folder on eLearning, but I cannot guarantee that every lecture will be available and will not meet with you to clarify a whole lecture because of an absence. It behooves you to use Tegrity to clarify material that you may not have understood during class or to help you clarify material you missed in conjunction with classmates? shared notes.

Activities: There will be several course activities that will not be evaluated but will be used for discussion purposes and to gauge your engagement in the course. While you will not be given a grade for such items, you will be penalized if you do not complete them.

Exams: If you miss an exam for any reason whatsoever, whether excused or unexcused, valid or not, you can make it up by writing a double-spaced 15-page term paper on a topic of Dr. Lynn's choosing. This will be turned in to a GTA by the last day of class.

Quizzes: Quizzes can be taken at any time during the class period and turned in to the GTAs. If you miss class, quizzes cannot be made up.

All students in attendance at the University of Alabama are expected to be honorable and to observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars. The University expects from its students a higher standard of conduct than the minimum required to avoid discipline. Academic misconduct includes all acts of dishonesty in any academically related matter and any knowing or intentional help or attempt to help, or conspiracy to help, another student.

The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.

There may be numerous opportunities during the course of the semester to enhance your education through attending or participating in sexology-oriented activities.  Examples include attending or participating in a burlesque performance (the Pink Box Burlesque is a Tuscaloosa troupe that performs regularly) or attending a relevant lecture (e.g., bisexual activist Robin Ochs gave talks at UA last Spring).  To receive extra credit, you will need to attend the event and write up your experiences in the form of a document in the course's Facebook group.  This will enable other students to read about your experiences and interact.  BEFORE ATTENDING SUCH AN EVENT, contact Dr. Lynn to obtain approval and ensure that it is a relevant activity meritorious of extra credit.  You will be expected to tell us the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of the event.  Ideally, your description will stimulate discussion, and you will be expected to interact in that discussion.  Finally, you may be called on to give an in-class summary of your experience if it sounds particularly compelling.

You can earn up to 5 extra course points per event and can attend and write up no more than two such events.  Actual points awarded will be determined after evaluating your write-up.  This means you can earn up to one whole letter grade in extra credit.

You can also earn extra credit by attending ALLELE lectures.  Details will be announced.

Other extra credit opportunities may be announced through the course of the semester.

The course has a closed Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/ant208/.  Please request to join to participate in ongoing discussions, post extra credit summaries, and read relevant news items.

"Like" the UA Department of Anthropology on Facebook so we can keep in touch with you and you can stay informed about the department:  http://www.facebook.com/UAAnthroDept

If you are registered with the Office of Disability Services, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss any course accommodations that may be necessary. If you have a disability, but have not contacted the Office of Disability Services, please call 348-4285 or visit 133-B Martha Parham Hall East to register for services. Students who may need course adaptations because of a disability are welcome to make an appointment to see me during office hours. Students with disabilities must be registered with the Office of Disability Services, 133-B Martha Parham Hall East, before receiving academic adjustments.

In the case of a tornado warning (tornado has been sighted or detected by radar, sirens activated), all university activities are automatically suspended, including all classes and laboratories. If you are in a building, please move immediately to the lowest level and toward the center of the building away from windows (interior classrooms, offices, or corridors) and remain there until the tornado warning has expired. Classes in session when the tornado warning is issued can resume immediately after the warning has expired at the discretion of the instructor. Classes that have not yet begun will resume 30 minutes after the tornado warning has expired provided at least half of the class period remains.

UA is a residential campus with many students living on or near campus. In general classes will remain in session until the National Weather Service issues safety warnings for the city of Tuscaloosa. Clearly, some students and faculty commute from adjacent counties. These counties may experience weather related problems not encountered in Tuscaloosa. Individuals should follow the advice of the National Weather Service for that area taking the necessary precautions to ensure personal safety. Whenever the National Weather Service and the Emergency Management Agency issue a warning, people in the path of the storm (tornado or severe thunderstorm) should take immediate life saving actions.

When West Alabama is under a severe weather advisory, conditions can change rapidly. It is imperative to get to where you can receive information from the National Weather Service and to follow the instructions provided. Personal safety should dictate the actions that faculty, staff and students take. The Office of Public Relations will disseminate the latest information regarding conditions on campus in the following ways:

• Weather advisory posted on the UA homepage
• Weather advisory sent out through Connect-ED--faculty, staff and students (sign up at myBama)
• Weather advisory broadcast over WVUA at 90.7 FM
• Weather advisory broadcast over Alabama Public Radio (WUAL) at 91.5 FM
• Weather advisories are broadcast via WUOA/WVUA-TV, which can be viewed across Central Alabama. Also, visit wvuatv.com for up-to-the-minute weather information. A mobile Web site is also available for your convenience.