Class Description

Anthropologists and sociologists have long been interested in the topic of social & cultural change.  They developed a large body of literature and theory documenting the processes of change during the twentieth century as they observed the societies of the Americas, Australia, and Africa dealing with change and cultural survival problems resulting from external contact with a wide range of groups, from colonists and settlers to national governments and multinational businesses.
     In recent years, the process of globalization and its related culture change impacts have risen to the forefront of anthropological/ sociological study.  This concern comes from the realization that external forces for culture change are rapidly and dramatically affecting many small-scale cultures' potential for survival in the modern world.  Similarly, communities and regions around the world – as well as within our own country – are increasingly faced with dramatic change resulting from the impacts of development and globalization.  Concern over rapid culture change and its impacts have entered and shaken the disciplines of anthropology/sociology.   Many anthropologists/sociologists now do applied and/or advocate work, and organizations such as Cultural Survival, Inc. are focusing efforts on assisting people’s efforts to retain their traditions as they make cultural transitions.
     In this course we examine issues of culture change as they affect cultural communities around the world in both past and present times.  We study the literature on the processes of change and learn to apply lessons on change from the past toward understanding the challenge of culture change now and in the future.
 

Environmental content of SOCY 301:  While this class covers all types of culture change, a substantial amount of the class covers culture change situations that clearly demonstrate the delicate balance between humans and their environments. This includes the ways in past and present that human cultures produce environmental change, and the ways that environmental change can produce culture change.  Students research the 21^st century impacts of natural disasters, logging and deforestation, damming, and various forms of mining on cultures around the world, as well as other current-event topics that demonstrate the changing relationships between humans and the environment in an era of rapid globalization. 

Author: Mary B. LaLone, mlalone@radford.edu 
Radford University
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