Course Description:

Anthropology is unique among academic discipline in that it encompasses an exceptionally wide range of both topics and methods in its overall goal of better understanding the human condition through time and space in all of its diversity and complexity. Ranging from the study of human origins and the material culture of past and present societies all the way to investigating the importance of language in human thought and interaction and the exploration of similarities and differences between contemporary groups of human beings, anthropology covers a lot of conceptual (and actual) ground. Anthropology is also a relatively new academic discipline with links to other areas of enquiry in the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. So what if anything do all anthropologists have in common? What core questions, theories, and understandings, if any, do all anthropologists share, and how have anthropological ideas and concepts changed over time?

This course encourages students to critically engage with the history and development of theory in anthropology. Over the semester we will read, consider, discuss, and write about a wide range of anthropological theories and theorists, including scholars who have long been considered part of the “canon” as well as anthropologists whose contributions may have been previously overlooked. By the end of this course, you will be familiar with the major theoretical approaches, concepts, and paradigms that have defined the discipline from the origins of the discipline some two hundred years ago to the present day and ready to pursue advanced study in anthropology.

Course Goals:

• To familiarize students with a wide range of classical and contemporary theoretical paradigms in the discipline of anthropology, including how the knowledge and theories generated by anthropologists are products of specific social and historical contexts.

• To help students identify, explore, and critique some of the key figures, questions, and concepts in the development of anthropological theory and to reflect on how our understandings of anthropological theory have changed and developed over time.

• To empower students to articulate anthropological concepts with accuracy and precision and to apply anthropological theories to the analysis of contemporary issues and problems.

• To develop students’ proficiency in scholarly writing conventions and practices within the discipline, including how to express anthropological questions and theories in clear and concise language and how to develop and support original scholarly arguments including mastering the use of motive, thesis, evidence, analysis, structure, style, and revision.