Critical Social Inquiry 0148 - Intro to Cultural Anthropology

This course introduces students to cultural anthropology, a discipline that, in broad terms, studies how we make and understand human difference. While this may seem like an academic subject, the course will show anthropology's relevance to understanding some of the most pressing issues of our current historical moment, such as inequality, race, religion, and science. Students will be introduced to classic texts in cultural anthropology but we will quickly move to contemporary anthropological inquiry, focusing on both theoretical and methodological questions that anthropologists explore today. As we move through the course, students will be introduced to elementary concepts of cultural analysis, such as the anthropological method (fieldwork) and genre (ethnography), and will become familiarized with particular ethnographic studies that are set in various times and places. In addition, we will cast a critical eye on the discipline, analyzing its limitations and political consequences both historically and today.

Power, Community and Social Justice Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.