ANTH 260 - Current Themes in Anthropological Theory and Method

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

The focus is upon particular cultural sub-systems and their study in cross-cultural perspective. The sub-system selected varies from year to year. Examples include: kinship systems, political organizations, religious beliefs and practices, verbal and nonverbal communication.

May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.

Topic for 2017/18b: Anthropological Approaches to Community Engaged Research. In this course, utilizing tools from community engaged and participatory action research methods, and using Vassar College as a case study, students learn to assess a social organization. The course is aimed at generating knowledge that leads to cultural and organizational change, as students learn more about where and how institutional efforts at creating the conditions for inclusion and belonging succeed, and how they might be improved. Students read about research ethics and methodologies, conduct archival research, and formulate research topics to pursue throughout the term. They are then guided through the processes of information gathering, social analysis, and textual and oral representations of their observations and findings. As students use applied social scientific research to understand and transform challenges faced by members of the Vassar community, they gain a critical perspective on how to conduct research on social organizations. Such knowledge can inform how scholars link research to action in institutional settings. Wendy Maragh Taylor, Candice Lowe Swift.

Two 75-minute periods.