Anthropological Issues & Ideas

No force is as plastic and adaptable as human culture. The 21st century has challenged this adaptability as technological, environmental, demographic, and economic dynamics have dramatically changed the scale and reshaped the mechanics of behavioral interconnectivity.

Sociology and anthropology are the primary fields of study for understanding the restructuring of the relationship of humanity with science, nature, and itself and this course examines the current intellectual tools and trends these fields are bringing to bear on these challenges.

This course will apply anthropological and sociological theory to the development of prime structural elements of society: Law, Ideology, Socio-political organization, and Economy. These elements of society will be examined from an evolutionary and systemics perspective to explore why these institutions are shaped the way they are in the modern age.

Students will be divided into groups to study and model one topic of reform from the areas of Socio-political Organization, Religion and Ideology, Economy, and Legal Systems. The students will then generate an essay based on class material and outside research to design an ideal society that would address issues threatening individual and collective wellbeing.