Heather Teague

The purpose of this course is to introduce the concept of culture as a crucial dimension of human life. Because we tend to think of thought and action as stemming from individual impulses, we find the notion of a shared, highly variable, but influential force in our lives hard to fathom.  Even if we speak of "society" as a familiar concept, we tend to make of it a uniform, oppressive force, some institution outside ourselves that we individually confront and oppose. Yet only if we can learn to recognize how deeply we share certain assumptions and inclinations with others--but only some others, and to varying degrees--can we appreciate the degree to which culture inheres within us and makes us who we are.

The purpose of this course is to introduce the concept of culture as a crucial dimension of human life. Because we tend to think of thought and action as stemming from individual impulses, we find the notion of a shared, highly variable, but influential force in our lives hard to fathom.  Even if we speak of "society" as a familiar concept, we tend to make of it a uniform, oppressive force, some institution outside ourselves that we individually confront and oppose. Yet only if we can learn to recognize how deeply we share certain assumptions and inclinations with others--but only some others, and to varying degrees--can we appreciate the degree to which culture inheres within us and makes us who we are.

This course explores human cultural diversity and the relation of culture to human experience.  Cultural anthropology takes the position that, if we wish to understand the human condition, we must study the full range of human societies, past and present, and not just our own.  This introductory course will sample a broad range of cultures, ranging from hunter/gatherers, small scale tribal and village societies, to the emerging post-industrial cyberculture of tomorrow.  What do these cultures have in common, what makes each unique, and what is it like to live within them?  Our comparative approach will examine political and economic systems, religion, language, family and kinship, law, the arts, and other institutions to better understand ourselves and all of humankind.