Seminar focuses on core issues and approaches in anthropological theory and method. …
Seminar focuses on core issues and approaches in anthropological theory and method. Studies theoretical frameworks for the analysis and integration of material from other subjects in cultural anthropology. Subject provides instruction and practice in writing and revision whereby students produce one paper that is appropriate for publication or as a proposal for funding. This course introduces students to some of the major social theories and debates that inspire and inform anthropological analysis. Over the course of the semester, we will investigate a range of theoretical propositions concerning such topics as agency, structure, subjectivity, history, social change, power, culture, and the politics of representation. Ultimately, all theories can be read as statements about human beings and the worlds they create and inhabit. We will approach each theoretical perspective or proposition on three levels: (1) in terms of its analytical or explanatory power for understanding human behavior and the social world; (2) in the context of the social and historical circumstances in which they were produced; and (3) as contributions to ongoing dialogues and debate.
This is a collection of mini lectures created by anthropologists and those …
This is a collection of mini lectures created by anthropologists and those in conversation with anthropology as supplimental material to assist college and university instructors who were made to shift their courses online because of COVID19.For more information, see here.To contribute, please create an OER author account and send your name and OER registered email to AnthropologyTeaching@gmail.com.
This class examines how anthropology and speculative fiction (SF) each explore ideas …
This class examines how anthropology and speculative fiction (SF) each explore ideas about culture and society, technology, morality, and life in "other" worlds. We investigate this convergence of interest through analysis of SF in print, film, and other media. Concepts include traditional and contemporary anthropological topics, including first contact; gift exchange; gender, marriage, and kinship; law, morality, and cultural relativism; religion; race and embodiment; politics, violence, and war; medicine, healing, and consciousness; technology and environment. Thematic questions addressed in the class include: what is an alien? What is "the human"? Could SF be possible without anthropology?
" This course explores a range of contemporary scholarship oriented to the …
" This course explores a range of contemporary scholarship oriented to the study of 'cybercultures,' with a focus on research inspired by ethnographic and more broadly anthropological perspectives. Taking anthropology as a resource for cultural critique, the course will be organized through a set of readings chosen to illustrate central topics concerning the cultural and material practices that comprise digital technologies. We'll examine social histories of automata and automation; the trope of the 'cyber' and its origins in the emergence of cybernetics during the last century; cybergeographies and politics; robots, agents and humanlike machines; bioinformatics and artificial life; online sociality and the cyborg imaginary; ubiquitous and mobile computing; ethnographies of research and development; and geeks, gamers and hacktivists. We'll close by considering the implications for all of these topics of emerging reconceptualizations of sociomaterial relations, informed by feminist science and technology studies."
This class examines the ways humans experience the realm of sound and …
This class examines the ways humans experience the realm of sound and how perceptions and technologies of sound emerge from cultural, economic, and historical worlds. In addition to learning about how environmental, linguistic, and musical sounds are construed cross-culturally, students learn about the rise of telephony, architectural acoustics, and sound recording, as well as about the globalized travel of these technologies. Questions of ownership, property, authorship, and copyright in the age of digital file sharing are also addressed. A major concern will be with how the sound/noise boundary has been imagined, created, and modeled across diverse sociocultural and scientific contexts. Auditory examples--sound art, environmental recordings, music--will be provided and invited throughout the term.
Issues of war and peace from an anthropological perspective. Topics include: the …
Issues of war and peace from an anthropological perspective. Topics include: the warlike nature of humans, if humans are by nature warlike, the evolution of war in cross-cultural perspective, the socialization of warriors and the construction of enemies, and the recent emergence of anti-war movements. Readings focus on sociobiological and other theories of war; anthropologists' claims to have studied societies that do not have war; ethnic hatred and civil war in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland; military culture in the U.S. and elsewhere; peace movements; and studies of military conversion.
Overview: Archiving for the Future is a free training course designed to …
Overview: Archiving for the Future is a free training course designed to teach language documenters, activists, and researchers how to organize, arrange, and archive language documentation, revitalization, and maintenance materials and metadata in a digital repository or language archive. Then entire course can be completed in approximately 3-5 hours.
This course was developed by the staff of the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America at the University of Texas at Austin in consultation with representatives of various DELAMAN (https://www.delaman.org/) archives and other digital data repositories in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, and Cameroon.
The course material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. BCS-1653380 (September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2020). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Anthropology is the study of all humans in all times in all …
Anthropology is the study of all humans in all times in all places. But it is so much more than that. “Anthropology requires strength, valor, and courage,” Nancy Scheper-Hughes noted. “Pierre Bourdieu called anthropology a combat sport, an extreme sport as well as a tough and rigorous discipline. … It teaches students not to be afraid of getting one’s hands dirty, to get down in the dirt, and to commit yourself, body and mind. Susan Sontag called anthropology a “heroic” profession.” What is the payoff for this heroic journey? You will find ideas that can carry you across rivers of doubt and over mountains of fear to find the the light and life of places forgotten. Real anthropology cannot be contained in a book. You have to go out and feel the world’s jagged edges, wipe its dust from your brow, and at times, leave your blood in its soil. In this unique book, Dr. Michael Wesch shares many of his own adventures of being an anthropologist and what the science of human beings can tell us about the art of being human. This special first draft edition is a loose framework for more and more complete future chapters and writings. It serves as a companion to anth101.com, a free and open resource for instructors of cultural anthropology.
In this course the conquest and colonization of the Americas is considered, …
In this course the conquest and colonization of the Americas is considered, with special attention to the struggles of native peoples in Guatemala, Canada, Brazil, Panama, and colonial New England. In two segments of the course-one devoted to the Jesuit missionization of the Huron in the 1630s, the other to struggles between the government of Panama and the Kuna between 1900 and 1925-students examine primary documents such as letters, reports, and court records, to draw their own conclusions. Attention focuses on how we know about and represent past eras and other peoples, as well as on the history of struggles between native Americans and Europeans.
This 10-minute video lesson discusses chronometry and the relatively recent changes in …
This 10-minute video lesson discusses chronometry and the relatively recent changes in our ability as a species to shine light on our deep past. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 81 of 85]
This 13-minute video lesson discusses collective learning and how symbolic language drives …
This 13-minute video lesson discusses collective learning and how symbolic language drives collective learning and how this is one of the truly differentiating aspects of human beings relative to the rest of the animal kingdom. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 82 of 85]
This 8-minute video lesson looks at Firestick Farming and how the indigenous …
This 8-minute video lesson looks at Firestick Farming and how the indigenous Australians used fire to change their environment. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 76 of 85]
This 12-minute video lesson provides an overview of evolution from from the …
This 12-minute video lesson provides an overview of evolution from from the extinction of the dinosaurs to humanity. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 64 of 85]
This 13-minute video lesson ponders how we get calories from the land …
This 13-minute video lesson ponders how we get calories from the land and the limits of human population density. [Cosmology and Astronomy playlist: Lesson 83 of 85]
Overview: This survey instrument is designed to understand how creators use (or …
Overview: This survey instrument is designed to understand how creators use (or decide not to use) Creative Commons licenses. The target survey participants are people who create materials for documentation, maintenance, instruction, learning, and/or revitalization of Indigenous, minority, endangered, and/or low-resourced languages. Part 1 of this survey is designed to learn about the digital creation formats and sharing practices in this specific community of practice. Parts 2 through 4 of this survey contain general questions intended to elicit information about research participants’ knowledge and awareness of Creative Commons (CC) licenses; understanding of how to apply CC licenses to their digital creations; interest in and experience with applying CC licenses to their digital creations; motivations for and barriers to applying CC licenses to their digital creations; and understanding of how to adapt or reuse digital creations licensed with CC licenses.
This survey can be easily adapted for use in other communities of practice by editing some of the questions and multiple-choice responses.
If you wish to read this survey and background information about it, please start with the file ReadMe-CCLuseSurvey.pdf.
The file Creative_Commons_License_Use_Survey.qsf is a Qualtrics Survey File that can be used to recreate this survey in your own instance of the Qualtrics software.
The file Creative_Commons_License_Use_Survey.pdf is a PDF of the survey. This version includes Creative Commons graphics that are used in the survey questions. The file ReadMe-CCLuseSurvey.pdf does not include the graphics.
Students examine the anthropological perspective of human culture, including such institutions as …
Students examine the anthropological perspective of human culture, including such institutions as kinship, politics, and religion, and evaluate the interrelationship between culture, environment and biology. Students explore the effects of globalization on culture while developing critical thinking skills through the application of essential anthropological approaches, theories, and methods.Login: guest_oclPassword: ocl
Culture, Embodiment, and the Senses will provide an historical and cross-cultural analysis …
Culture, Embodiment, and the Senses will provide an historical and cross-cultural analysis of the politics of sensory experience. The subject will address western philosophical debates about mind, brain, emotion, and the body and the historical value placed upon sight, reason, and rationality, versus smell, taste, and touch as acceptable modes of knowing and knowledge production. We will assess cultural traditions that challenge scientific interpretations of experience arising from western philosophical and physiological models. The class will examine how sensory experience lies beyond the realm of individual physiological or psychological responses and occurs within a culturally elaborated field of social relations. Finally, we will debate how discourse about the senses is a product of particular modes of knowledge production that are themselves contested fields of power relations.
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