Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Anthropology asks fundamental questions about how people live and interact in different contexts. Engages with contemporary social life around the world, including the relations among people, ideas, and things. Provides analytical tools to help understand the role of culture and society in our lives. Breadth-Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course will examine what we mean by “culture” and cultural anthropology. We all have a sense that there are many different cultures in the world, but what does that really mean? How were we raised in particular societies to see and even feel a certain performance of gender as expected or problematic?

In this class we will explore a number of topics, such as colonialism, space, time, and gender, to understand the various ways these have been experienced and lived in different places and times. We will use one anthropology textbook and one graphic novel. As a class, we will also think about intersections between these readings and our own lives and histories, and gain a broader perspective on difference. One goal is to question some of the habits and assumptions that we take for granted in our everyday lives, such as how we often think of humans as an exceptional species, apart from and above all others. We will be learning how to think analytically and anthropologically about the lives of others and ourselves. We will use lectures, small-group breakout sessions, and films, as well as tutorials for more in-depth discussions.

Some of the key questions anthropologists ask are: What is culture, and how does it shape the way we move in the world, organize our lives, and think about ourselves and others? What makes social groups in various regions of the world different, and what do we all share? How are cultures and societies changing with the increasing globalization of contemporary life? How might we challenge the notion of the nation-state, and reflect upon Indigenous efforts towards enacting sovereignty?

 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

At the end of the course, students will be able to

- Describe and explain key anthropological terms, concepts, questions, and research methods.

- Explain some of the ways that culture shapes ideas, societies, individual and group identities, language, space, and everyday life, by describing, analyzing, and comparing examples from different cultures.

Think critically about their own society, and engage with perspectives different than their own; recognize how their culture informs experiential aspects of their own lives (like space, time, identity, gender, and more); and reflect on the assumptions they hold in regards to self and others.

- Understand that power relations are a key force in shaping cultures and societies; evaluate the effects of unequal power relations in particular examples.

Grading