ANTH 3002 - Anthropology of Emotion, Mind and Person

Issues of what it is to be a thinking, feeling, knowing person are central to anthropology. Anthropology has, throughout its history, provided a unique and powerful focus on the mind, body and person in their total social and cultural context. This course explores different disciplinary perspectives on emotion, mind and person, while highlighting the distinctive methodological and theoretical tasks of anthropological explanation. Specific topics covered will include cross-cultural understandings of emotion, grief and mental illness; debates on the role of language in perception; and altered states of consciousness such as dreaming, trance and possession. The course culminates in an exploration of anthropological perspectives on what it is to be a person, using ethnographic and cross-cultural comparisons to reflect upon individuality, agency and power.