AN101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

SPRING 2021 - BOSTON UNIVERSITY . UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL . HEAD TEACHING FELLOW under the direction of professor caterina scaramelli, taught two sections

Anthropology is the cross-cultural study of the diversity of the human experience. This course introduces you to think about and study key aspects of the social world, including culture, gender, class, family, ethnicity, race, nation, politics, ritual, work, and nature, like an anthropologist. Through ethnographic portrayals of people living in many different regions around the world, and hands-on exercises of cultural analysis in your own community, you will examine the unstated assumptions of your own everyday life—from sex to economics, love to inequality. You will learn to integrate key anthropological sensibilities and practical research toolkits into your academic, professional, and personal life.

Course lectures, exercises, readings, discussions, and assignments aim to: Open your mind to the diversity of human experience; Challenge your assumptions of what is natural or universal; Foster your appreciation for plurality and difference (one of anthropology’s most vital lessons); Develop relational and holistic approaches to research and analysis; Encourage qualitative methodologies and especially participant observation as a key research technique and a general orientation to critical thinking.­­