ANT-200 Comparative Cultures
Comparative Cultures is a survey of world cultures to examine how people achieve the necessary elements of hunting and gathering, matrilineage, big men, redistribution, and state-type societies. The courses starts with some very simple societies and compares them to very complex cultures like our own. This course will examine and describe the ways selected pre-literate and complex societies have used culture to adapt to their environments. Case studies drawn from American, Asian, African, and European societies will be the basis for engaging in cross-cultural studies. This course carries SUNY General Education Social Sciences and Diversity: Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice credit.
Course Learning Outcomes
- Analyze major concepts and theories in cultural anthropology by describing the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of individual and group identity involving race, class, and gender.
- Compare and contrast anthropological research findings by analyzing the role that complex networks of social structures and systems play in the creation and perpetuation of the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity.
- Explore of the methods social scientists use to explore social phenomena by using basic research techniques to locate, evaluate and synthesize information from a variety of sources appropriate for understanding cultural anthropology.
- Apply anthropological perspectives and theories by using core concepts of the field including but not limited to the principles of rights, access, equity, and autonomous participation in past, current, or future social justice actions.