Course Overview
This course serves as an overview of two of the subfields of anthropology: cultural and linguistic. We will draw on examples from ethnographic fieldwork from around the globe, as we discuss topics ranging from childhood to race and racism to health and illness to gender and sexuality to immigration and more. Through course readings, class discussions, and ethnographic assignments, students will learn to ask and answer questions like anthropologists. Assignments in this course will allow students to apply their acquired knowledge of anthropology to critically consider the what, why, and how of ethnographic research projects and the ways in which anthropology is uniquely situated to impact positive change locally and globally.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to…
· Define anthropology, its subfields, and the myriad ways in which it presents and analyzes “culture” (and “cultural relativism”)
· Understand and analyze major anthropological approaches and debates
· Evaluate and employ ethnographic research methods that are cognizant of ethical research responsibilities
· Create research proposals and projects that capture the anthropological spirit of inquiry, humility, and action
· Recognize the inequalities that frame everyday life and critically consider their own positioning within these layers of inequalities
- Teacher: Alysa Handelsman