Anthropology

This class will introduce you to the history of the theories and ideas that underpin the discipline of anthropology from the beginnings of Western Science to the later 20^th Century. Every great discovery, cultural study, or grand narrative has come with a theoretical approach that has influenced the researchers’ conclusions, often biased heavily by the researchers’ own cultures. The ability to understand how our discipline’s theoretical approaches evolved is crucial in evaluating current anthropological practice, especially whether it is scientific, logically sound, and ethical, as well as what value anthropology contributes to the whole of human knowledge. This course will give you a grounding in the evolution of anthropological thought and relate it to current issues in anthropology.

This course syllabus is for the first half of the full-year course.