AP/ANTH 1120 6.00 Making Sense of a Changing World: Anthropology Today
This course will explore how Anthropology approaches social, economic, political, and belief systems, and survey contemporary issues of selected peoples and cultures by considering several real-world cases.
The aim of this course is to convey an understanding of how anthropology can help us understand the human condition, and thereby assist us in coming to terms with pressing sociocultural issues that are of great public interest in the twenty-first century. As such, we will attempt to gain some insight into several questions, such as:
- What are the causes of economic, political, and gender inequality?
- Are humans inherently violent or peaceful?
- How do we make a living?
- What is the nature of belief?
- How is power distributed within society in different times and places?
- What is cultural difference and how do we make sense of it?
- What are the forms of collective identity and how do they condition behaviour?
- Finally, in attempting to answer these and other questions, we will ask: How do anthropologists come to know the things that they do, and what are the contributions and limits of their knowledge?
Course Director (Fall/Winter 24-25): A. Sorge – asorge@yorku.ca
Course Director (Winter 2025): D. Winland – winland@yorku.ca