Introduction to anthropology

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Recitations: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Through the comparative study of different cultures, anthropology explores fundamental questions about what it means to be human. It seeks to understand how culture both shapes societies, from the smallest island in the South Pacific to the largest Asian metropolis, and affects the way institutions work, from scientific laboratories to Christian mega-churches. This course will provide a framework for analyzing diverse facets of human experience such as gender, ethnicity, language, politics, economics, and art.

Ahearn, Laura M. Invitations to Love: Literacy, Love Letters, and Social Change in Nepal. University of Michigan Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780472067848. [Preview with Google Books]

Downey, Greg. Learning Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780195176971.

Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Social Science

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