SAMPLE courses & TEACHING MATERIALS

Cultural Comparison Through Film

Introduction to the anthropological perspective & key disciplinary topics, through film.
This class is premised not on a set of facts, a specific theory, or a geographical region, but instead on learning to make sense of cultural differences, interrogate common human dilemmas, and identify popular cultural myths. The focus is on relating film content to topics of particular interest to anthropologists – identity, worldview, family, hierarchy, violence, economics, and cultural change – and specifically how different societies approach and wrestle with the contradictions and ambiguities inherent in these issues (rather than how the issues are absolutely solved). In addition to considering mainstream US culture, this class will provide an introduction to populations from Samoa, Japan, Brazil, Nigeria, New Zealand, and Iran, among other locales and subpopulations. Students also enhance their digital citizenship and research skills. 

Museum Exhibit Design

Standards, considerations, and collaborative processes related to developing and designing interpretive museum exhibitions.
The course emphasizes exhibition development and design as an iterative endeavor through which environment, text, objects, graphics, and multimedia are combined to promote affective and transformative visitor experiences. Students contribute to developing and designing a real exhibition. They work both individually and in teams to conduct front-end evaluations, draft content, envision design elements, and prepare exhibit technical documents. Active and collegial participation is required throughout the term – you cannot be a passive observer in this class.

Expressive Arts in Africa

A consideration of expressive forms broadly and in their ethnographic contexts, including attention to the functions and meanings of arts in their socio-cultural milieus, and an exploration of the conditions under which arts are produced, consumed, distributed, and represented. 
The course considers how ideas, desires, and positionalities are implicitly understood, explicitly expressed, and subtly remade through the plastic and performing arts in Africa south of the Sahara. Critical to this approach is the idea that objects do not passively reflect or stand for meaning, but (when coupled with human agency) become integrated into the construction of identity, meaning, and culture itself. Because of the extensive diversity of African expressive arts, we must limit ourselves to the study of only a few forms. Still, the course attempts to balance depth with breadth through a class format that encourages peer-to-peer teaching and focuses simultaneously on art forms broadly and specific ethnographic examples. The course address art forms that are iconic and obscure, and as they are engaged in both ritual and quotidian settings. The course also considers problems and themes in the study, collection, and display of African art forms. 
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