Anthropology, AB

Anthropology emerged as a discipline during the 19th century that asked questions aimed at investigating the intricacies of societies and cultures across human history. In order to do this, anthropology developed in North America brings together concerns from the social sciences and humanities as well as the biological and physical sciences. This “four-field” approach began as the study of ‘distant’ and ‘exotic’ cultures and peoples; however, over the course of the 20th century anthropologists turned their investigations to people, practices, and institutions across the globe. By immersing themselves in the daily lives of people, by participating in and closely observing and listening to the lives and practices of others, anthropology has developed into a critical approach to appreciating difference no matter how far or near it might occur. Anthropology has studied and debated issues of race, ethnicity, language, religion, economics, kinship, power, class, gender, and sexuality. In more recent times, it has also come to embrace the study and critique of modern institutions like medicine, science, politics, trade, and law.

Writing in the Major

Writing in the anthropology major is a central tool for communicating and producing knowledge about “local” realities and everyday experiences. In our program, students learn to be attuned to cultural and social nuances around the world by also being attentive to their own roles as researchers and writers, insiders and outsiders, and observers of socio-cultural questions drawing on their own experiences and positions in society.

Ethnographic writing involves immersing oneself in the research context to gain a first-hand sense of how local knowledge is put to work in grappling with practical and philosophical problems. Our students learn the skills of qualitative research by reading classic and contemporary ethnographies and learning how to use methods that are gathered under the heading of “participant observation”: writing field notes, interviewing participants, developing maps of kinship and social relations, maps of the built environment, linguistic and discourse analysis, media analysis, reflective writing about advocacy projects in which students are engaged, and hands-on work with art and music.

Our majors and minors are required to design and carry out their own research projects in the fieldwork methods core class. This course gives the students a chance to get a firsthand experience of crafting a research proposal, to design and apply methods, and to gather and interpret their findings. In addition to learning the tools of ethnographic writing, students also typically write reading reflections, précis of significant readings, as well as full research papers that draw on their ethnographic field research.