Anthropology 104 - Culture, Society and People
Fall
2017
02
4.00
Christa Burdick
M W F 9:05AM 9:55AM
UMass Amherst
33866
The nature of culture and its role in creating forms of social, economic, and political life in diverse historical and geographical contexts. Readings drawn from contemporary ethnographies of various peoples, analyzing the persistence of cultural diversity in the midst of global social and socioeconomic forces. (Gen.Ed. SB, G)
Open to first year Cultural Explorations RAP students in Van Meter. ANTHRO 104-02
See http://www.umass.edu/rap/cultural-explorations-rap
The goal of cultural anthropology is to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange. In this course, you will begin to see the world like a cultural anthropologist--interested in how people live, what they believe in, how they talk, what they eat and why, and more. All of these elements that make up our daily lives also tell us about the society we live in! This course will help you to critically engage the world around you: both here in the US and throughout the world. As we often find, the more we know about how people in other societies live, the better we understand our own.
This class introduces key concepts, topics, and methods in cultural anthropology, one of the four subfields of anthropology. We will look at questions that have been foundational in anthropology, such as: ?does race exist?,? ?are men and women driven by biology??, ?do all human societies have similar patterns of inequality??. We will also look at newer questions like ?has the internet changed our social relations??
To address these questions, and to help us arrive at a better understanding of human diversity, throughout the semester we will:
-Read articles and ethnographies detailing anthropological fieldwork;
-Watch films that will illuminate how other societies live;
-Discuss our own cultural values, traditions, rituals, and beliefs;
-Conduct some research of your own on campus, using the tools and methods of ethnography
See http://www.umass.edu/rap/cultural-explorations-rap
The goal of cultural anthropology is to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange. In this course, you will begin to see the world like a cultural anthropologist--interested in how people live, what they believe in, how they talk, what they eat and why, and more. All of these elements that make up our daily lives also tell us about the society we live in! This course will help you to critically engage the world around you: both here in the US and throughout the world. As we often find, the more we know about how people in other societies live, the better we understand our own.
This class introduces key concepts, topics, and methods in cultural anthropology, one of the four subfields of anthropology. We will look at questions that have been foundational in anthropology, such as: ?does race exist?,? ?are men and women driven by biology??, ?do all human societies have similar patterns of inequality??. We will also look at newer questions like ?has the internet changed our social relations??
To address these questions, and to help us arrive at a better understanding of human diversity, throughout the semester we will:
-Read articles and ethnographies detailing anthropological fieldwork;
-Watch films that will illuminate how other societies live;
-Discuss our own cultural values, traditions, rituals, and beliefs;
-Conduct some research of your own on campus, using the tools and methods of ethnography