Culture Globalization

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Does the existence of what we call ‘globalization’ mean that cultures around the world are moving toward uniformity? What are the factors that sustain identity and cultural engagement, even as local areas absorb and exchange ideas with the international community about the family, the community, markets, gender equality, human rights, and the arts? Anthropologists have been concerned with the intersection of culture, power and history. What circumstances promote race/ethnic tolerance and intellectual engagement with diversity? Therefore, in this course we critically explore four themes using American, African, Asian, and European examples: 1) The dynamics of “Inequality” within globalization (especially issues of place, race, ethnicity, class, and religion); 2) Migration/immigration dynamics and crises; 3) How identity and ‘civilizational’ struggles play out today; and 4) How gender dynamics and women’s empowerment issues mediate state, local, and global power.