Cultural Anthropology 3: History and Theory in Anthropology

Course goals

The student acquires knowledge of questions central to anthropological inquiry and how, over time, anthropology has addressed theoretical and methodological questions.

• By examining the ways in which these central questions have been addressed over time, the student gains insight into changes in anthropology’s self-conception and forms of critique.
• Through understanding changes in the ways that anthropologists conceive of their discipline, the student will also engage with debates about the nature, practice, and ethics of the ethnographic method.The student acquires knowledge of questions central to anthropological inquiry and how, over time, anthropology has addressed those questions.
• Though seminar discussion and presentation tasks, the student will apply anthropological concepts to analyse social phenomena and understand the political and ethical stakes involved in anthropological training

Content

The student will engage what it means to be human across humanity's diverse forms. Unliek purely descriptive approaches, anthropology requires theory to answer fundamental "why" and "how" questions: Why do societies have religion, language and social structure? What holds society together? How does inequality manifest in particular ways? This course examines how anthrpological theory has evolved historically - from functional questions aligned with the sciences to symbolic approaches aligned with the humanties - and how theories challenge, supersede, and build upon each other. Students will learn to distinguish the descriptive from the analytical and understand how theoretical frameworks are essential for structuring field research and generating meaningful insights about the human condition.

We will use a variety of readings, from classical anthropological texts to more recent ones, to chart a history of anthropological thought that pays particular attention to ethnographic method and questions of ethics in fieldwork. Readings are compiled in a course reader available at the UU print shop, and all other materials will be available on Brightspace