Fall 2004

ANT 302 • Cultural Anthropology

Course Description

Cultural anthropology addresses the ways that people organize and experience their lives through language and practices. This course explores cultural diversity through a variety of topics: social organization, race, ethnicity, economic systems, marriage and sexuality, gender, religion, ideology, and globalization. These topics are the focus of the readings, lectures, and films. Anthropology’s intellectual history is marked by conflicts about ethics and ethnographic methods. These conflicts reflect in one respect, the historical context of the practitioners themselves, and in another, ongoing efforts to do a better job at representing people, respecting their differences, and cultivating an understanding of humankind. Hence, this course will emphasize the following: (1) ethnographic methods, (2) contemporary cultures including those within the U.S., and (3) anthropology’s past and present intellectual and ethical challenges.

Students must also register for one of the following discussion sections: (28146) F 11-12:00 WAG 308; (28147) F 12-1:00 RAS 211B; (28148) TH 2-3:00 RAS 310; (28149) TH 3-4:00 JES A209A

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