Anthropology

 

AN101W

Honors: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Prof. Michael Ennis-McMillan

An opportunity for highly motivated students with strong verbal skills to learn the basic concepts and problems of sociocultural anthropology as well as the opportunity to develop and improve writing skills. The culture concept is explored as a central theoretical and empirical concern. Students learn about cultural diversity as well as recurrent patterns of cultural adaptation. The honors section of AN101 provides a smaller class size, a discussion-based format, and explicit attention to social science writing. Students write and revise essays and respond to one another’s work in workshops and peer review sessions. Students take a general writing placement exam the first day of class to assist the instructor in assessing whether they have been placed at the proper expository writing level. 

 

AN346R

Rethinking Materiality: The Anthropology of Stuff

Prof. Sonia Silva

An exploration of the importance of material objects in human life and the ways in which cultural anthropologists and other scholars have contributed to the study of materiality, a highly interdisciplinary field of research. In this seminar, drawing on case studies from different times and places, students learn to recognize the importance of material objects in the social world and their own lives. How do objects help people define their identity, structure their lives, remember the past, and facilitate action? What personal and collective stories do objects tell? Do we control the objects around us, or do those objects control us? Among the types of objects studied in this course are sentimental objects, collectibles, memorials, protest art, and technology.