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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This class introduces students to the methods and perspectives of cultural anthropology. Readings emphasize case studies in very different settings (a nuclear weapons laboratory, a cattle-herding society of the Sudan, and a Jewish elder center in Los Angeles). Although some of the results and conclusions of anthropology will be discussed, e
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- anthropology
- anthropology
- methods
- culture
- case studies
- nuclear weapons laboratory
- cattle-herding
- society
- sudan
- jewish elder center
- los angeles
- cultural difference
- fieldwork
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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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 rep
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- anthropology
- anthropological theory
- anthropological method
- frameworks
- analysis
- integration
- cultural anthropology
- classic texts
- contemporary critiques
- analyses of texts
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This advanced course in anthropology engages closely with discussions and debates about ethnographic research, ethics, and representation.
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- anthropology
- fieldwork
- anthropology
- ethnography
- culture
- theory
- data analysis
- research design
- interviewing
- method
- student work
- military anthropology
- controversies
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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Spiritual, magical, and "occult" aspects of human behavior in anthropological and historical perspective: magic, ritual curing, trance, spirit possession, sorcery, and accusations of witchcraft. Material drawn from traditional nonwestern societies, medieval and early modern Europe, and colonial and contemporary North America.
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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Human beings are symbol-making as well as tool-making animals. We understand our world and shape our lives in large part by assigning meanings to objects, beings, and persons; by connecting things together in symbolic patterns; and by creating elaborate forms of symbolic action and narrative. In this introductory subject we consider how sym
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- anthropology
- myth
- ritual
- symbolism
- animals
- symbolic system
- meaning
- life cycle
- metaphor
- figurative language
- human body
- cosmology
- magic
- narrative
- mythology
- patterns
- culture
- sign
- tropes
- classification
- interpretation
- folktale
- power
- passage
- persuasion
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This course looks at medicine from a cross-cultural perspective, focusing on the human, as opposed to biological, side of things. Students learn how to analyze various kinds of medical practice as cultural systems. Particular emphasis is placed on Western (bio-) medicine; students examine how biomedicine constructs disease, health, body, an
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- ethics
- biomedicine
- cultural systems
- medical practice
- health
- disease
- mental illness
- leprosy
- placebo
- pharmaceuticals
- racism
- sexism
- medical institutions
- chronic illness
- reproductive technologies
- isolation
- international health
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This course is an introduction to the cross-cultural study of bio-medical ethics. It examines moral foundations of the science and practice of western bio-medicine through case studies of abortion, contraception, cloning, organ transplantation, and other issues. It also evaluates challenges that new medical technologies pose to the practice
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- anthropology
- cross-cultural study
- bio-medical ethics
- moral foundations
- science
- western bio-medicine
- case studies
- abortion
- contraception
- cloning
- organ transplantation
- medical technologies
- practice
- availability
- medical services
- globe
- kinship
- personhood
- critique
- anthropological
- feminist
- legal
- religious
- theorists.
- theori
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This class has been reorganized to focus primarily on the War in Iraq. As in previous years, the class still examines war in cross-cultural perspective, asking whether war is intrinsic to human nature, what causes war, how particular cultural experiences of war differ, and how war has affected American culture.
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- anthropology
- war
- peace
- f humans are by nature warlike
- the evolution of war in cross-cultural perspective
- the socialization of warriors and the construction of enemies
- the recent emergence of anti-war movements
- sociobiological and other theories of war
- ethnic hatred and civil war in rwanda
- bosnia
- and northern ireland
- military cult
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This course explores how identities, whether of individuals or groups, are produced, maintained, and transformed. Students will be introduced to various theoretical perspectives that deal with identity formation, including constructions of "the normal." We will explore the utility of these perspectives for understanding identity components
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- class
- social interaction
- discourse
- performance
- bodies
- conformity
- deviance
- gender
- biology
- culture
- race
- constructivism
- essentialism
- structuralism
- incarceration
- religion
- food
- group membership
- sexuality
- ethnicity
- institution
- identity formation
- stigma
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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Law is a common and yet distinct aspect of everyday life in modern societies. This course examines the central features of law as a social institution and as a feature of popular culture. We will explore the nature of law as a set of social systems, central actors in the systems, legal reasoning, and the relationship of the legal form and r
Author(s):
Tag(s):
- anthropology
- legal reasoning
- legal systems
- social class
- social change
- practice of law
- legal education
- law and science
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This course examines the contemporary problem of political violence and the way that human rights have been conceived as a means to protect and promote freedom, peace and justice for citizens against the abuses of the state.
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- anthropology
- anthropology
- political
- violence
- human rights
- freedom
- peace
- justice
- citizens
- state
- historical debates
- cultural
- natural
- western european
- moral values
- differences
- culture
- religion
- gender
- relationships
- individuals
- collective groups
- ethnography
- case studies
- conflict
- globe
- war crimes tribunals
- truth commissions
- individu
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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An introduction to the cross-cultural study of ethnic and national identity. We examine the concept of social identity, and consider the ways in which gendered, linguistic, religious, and ethno-racial identity components interact. We explore the history of nationalism, including the emergence of the idea of the nation-state, as well as ethn
Author(s):
Tag(s):
- anthropology
- anthropology
- ethnicity
- national identity
- nationalism
- history
- nation-state
- conflict
- social movement
- indigenous rights
- politics
- globalization
- migration
- transnational institution
- gender
- religion
- race
- ideology
- language
- sexuality
- feminist analysis
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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We begin by considering briefly the evolution of the family, its cross-cultural variability, and its history in the West. We next examine how the family is currently defined in the U.S., discussing different views about what families should look like. Class and ethnic variability and the effects of changing gender roles are discussed in thi
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- ameican family
- anthropology
- contemporary culture
- cross-cultural
- united states
- class
- ethnicity
- gender
- sexuality
- marriage
- parenting
- divorce
- violence
- economics
- poverty
- policy
- values
- welfare
- day care
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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This course seeks to examine how people experience gender - what it means to be a man or a woman - and sexuality in a variety of historical and cultural contexts. We will explore how gender and sexuality relate to other categories of social identity and difference, such as race and ethnicity, economic and social standing, urban or rural lif
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Tag(s):
- anthropology
- gender
- sexuality
- marriage
- nationalism
- race
- class
- sex
- globalization
- professionalization
- agency
- appetite
- identity
- transvestite
- transgender
- intersexuality
- motherhood
- fetus
- sexism
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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Through investigating cross-cultural case studies, this course introduces students to the anthropological study of the social institutions and symbolic meanings of family, household, gender, and sexuality. We will explore the myriad forms that families and households take and evaluate their social, emotional, and economic dynamics.
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Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
Published by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Language: English
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Americans have historically preferred to think of the United States in classless terms, as a land of economic opportunity equally open to all. Yet, social class remains a central fault line in the U.S. Subject explores the experiences and understandings of class among Americans positioned at different points along the U.S. social spectrum.
Author(s):
Tag(s):
- anthropology
- class
- inequality
- anthropology
- narrative
- ethnography
- marx
- weber
- bourdieu
- post-structuralism
- habitus
- race
- gender
- upward mobility
- downward mobility
- deindustrialization
- assembly line
- rich
- post war
- underclass
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