This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

 

Calendar

SES # TOPICS KEY DATES
1 Introduction: Anthropology and Its Divisions
2 Being Cultural
3 Evolution and Adaptation
4 Film: Number Our Days Paper #1 due
5 Doing Fieldwork
6 Ethnography
7 Writing and Pain
8 Uniqueness and Cultural Difference Paper #2 due
9 Race and Biological Difference
10 Giving and Receiving
11 Potlatch and Kula
12 Morality and Cultural Relativism
13 Film on Exchange, with Discussion
14 Anthropological Studies of Science Paper #3 due (Gift exchange)
15 Thinking Symbolically
16 Kinship and Marriage
17 TBA Paper #4 due (Moral judgments)
18 Film: The Nuer
19 The Nuer of the Sudan
20 Film: Strange Practices
21 Making Sense of the Nuer Paper #5 due (Arguments)
22 Making More Sense of the Nuer
23 Problems with Culture Final paper due (Nuer)
24 More Problems with Culture
25 Wrap-up