Course Description
Exploration of different ways in which anthropological expertise may be applied in addressing real-world problems, with a focus on cultural anthropology. Students will be encouraged to identify a problem or opportunity of interest and develop a project to articulate their role therein.
Athena Title
Applied Anthropology
Prerequisite
ANTH 1102 or ANTH 1102E or ANTH 2120H
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
By the end of this semester, those who take this course should: 1. Be familiar with different arenas in which anthropological expertise is applied (e.g., conservation, development, health, natural resource management, business); 2. Be aware of the different forms applied anthropology can take (e.g., engaged research, activist approaches, pure practice); 3. Gain an understanding of the major critiques of applied anthropology and begin to understand how these may be navigated to ensure an ethical engagement with contemporary problems; 4. Be familiar with different methodologies or approaches that are useful when taking on roles commonly assumed by applied anthropologists (e.g., as participant, facilitator, observer, researcher); and 5. Be able to position themselves and anthropological expertise more generally within an identified problem arena (e.g., in healthcare, rural development, natural resource management, etc.).
Topical Outline
Week 1 Course and thematic overview Week 2 Applied anthropology: An introduction Unit I - Applications Week 3 Focus on healthcare Week 4 Focus on agricultural and rural development Week 5 Focus on business Week 6 Focus on conservation and natural resource management Week 7 Focus on advocacy Unit II - Critiques Week 8 Shady practice: Anthropology’s role in colonialism and war Week 9 Objectivity, intellectual independence, and rhetorical freedom Week 10 Complicity with structures of domination/inequality Unit III - Methods Week 11 Ethnographic methods Week 12 Participatory action research Week 13 Facilitation, deliberation, and mediation Week 14 Multi-stakeholder processes: Coping with multiple values, interests, and aims Week 15 Final presentations