ANTH 101
How to Be Human Fall 2019 (also offered Spring 2020)
Division II Difference, Power, and Equity
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

Is there such a thing as “human nature”? Why have human societies developed such a bewildering range of customs to deal with problems common to people everywhere? This course addresses these questions by introducing students to the comparative study of human social life and culture. Topics surveyed in the course include economics, language and thought, kinship and marriage, law and politics, and the wide variations in human belief systems, including religions. The course also considers the ways that anthropology, a discipline that was until recently practiced almost exclusively by Westerners, approaches other societies in search of insights on our own customs and values. Ethnographic descriptions of both “simple” tribal societies and complex modern ones are a prominent part of the readings. This course explores differences and similarities between cultures and societies and ways in which they have interacted and responded to one another in the past.
The Class: Format: lecture; discussion of case studies and ethnographic films
Limit: 30
Expected: 30
Class#: 1061
Grading: no pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: two short essays, a final examination and class participation
Prerequisites: first-year students and sophomores
Enrollment Preferences: first-year students; sophomores may enroll if there is room
Distributions: Division II Difference, Power, and Equity
DPE Notes: The course is an introduction to cultural anthropology and deals extensively with race, ethnicity, religion, gender, etc., as cultural constructs creating social difference, hierarchies of power, and the creation of inequities in communities and societies. Readings in ethnography, social theory, and sociology are designed to give students a deeper appreciation of all these issues.

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