Anthropology of Change: Practicing Applied and Public Anthropology

3 units

In this course, students will learn how to use anthropology and ethnographic methods as tools for provoking change. The legitimacy of this fifth-field of anthropology has been in contention amongst anthropologists throughout generations. But in the contemporary era of neoliberalism and big-data, social scientists are increasingly examining their ethical duty to their informants-specifically, concerns about maintaining neutrality versus leveraging ethnographic data to improve lives or to make a profit. We will begin with the history of this ethical debate and move into contemporary issues in anthropology for social change and in business anthropology. Topics will include multidisciplinary teamwork, practitioner capacity building, community action programming, policy development and ethical design. This course is designed for upper-level anthropology students but will be particularly useful for those considering combining anthropology as a double-major or minor in a range of applied fields (business, engineering, social work, law, health and medicine). It will prepare students for the practical use of anthropology in consulting firms, research institutes, corporations, NGOs, and federal, state, and local government agencies.