Anthropology Minor

Surveys and explains the cultural, linguistic and biological legacy of humankind, from antiquity to the present, using the research tools of anthropology. Anthropology is both a scientific and humanistic endeavor that attempts to explain the differences and similarities between and among human groups.

Concentrates on the field methods of anthropology, in particular the various data gathering techniques, methods of analysis and field techniques of participant observation.

Through the use of ethnographic and documentary film, as well as lecture/discussion, this web-based course illustrates the life ways, values and beliefs of human societies throughout the world. This survey includes examples from native North America, Latin America, Australia, Southeast Asia, Africa, East Asia, Melanesia, Polynesia, modern North America and Europe.

The construction of both masculinity and femininity in cross-cultural contexts. Also central are the issues and debates important within the last three decades of feminist anthropology that speak to the questions posed by widespread gender asymmetry and yet the abundant cultural diversity in the expression of gender ideology, roles and relations worldwide.

Historical and ethnographic examination of urban society and how people-centered movements might regain “rights to the city”. Focuses on local examples of urban social justice causes.

Cultural anthropology is the social science that tries to make sense out of people’s lifestyles around the world, encompassing many subjects such as law, religion, politics, health, language, economics and globalization. It involves analyzing human ways of life with holistic, comparative, global, and relativistic perspective.