Global Cultural Worlds: Fundamentals of Social and Cultural Anthropology

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This class is designed to introduce anthropology as a lens to analyze the human condition and the diversity of human expression. We will also identify key topical themes and interests in cultural anthropology including an overview of its history and methods. Anthropology illuminates the myriad of cultural patterns and social systems throughout the world. Expressed through ethnography, anthropology reveals a vast variety of global cultural phenomena that reveal complex social patterns and the stunning vibrancy of ways we can live and view life. The course explores human action through multiple holistic lenses including culture concepts, kinship patterns, economic strategies, political practices, religious rituals, artistic performances, gender roles, ethnic identities, communicative languages, medical systems, patterns of violence, and the legacies of globalization.