ANTH 1104 - Introduction to Anthropology: Society and Culture

This course explores the history of anthropology, defines key concepts used in the discipline and introduces students to the unique research methods that anthropologists use to understand human life (e.g. long-term immersive research with people). In this course students will study social structures / systems and learn about people's cultural practices, values and beliefs, including their own. The course uses a broad variety of cross-cultural examples (e.g. gift-giving in Japan, adolescence in Samoa, tourism in Panama, Hip Hop in Australia) to analyse the diverse ways that humans around the world think, feel, communicate and behave. In doing so, the course seeks to foster cultural sensitivity and respect for cultural differences. The course aims to develop students' understanding of the practical and ethical issues associated with conducting anthropological research. More broadly, it equips students with essential reading and writing skills needed to describe and critically interpret qualitative research in the social sciences.