Anthropology and Contemporary World Issues

This course provides a broad-ranging examination of current world issues, events, problems, and conflicts viewed through the perspectives of cultural and social anthropology. Drawing upon traditional human concerns from a wide range of societies and cultures, this course provides new understandings of ethnic conflict and nationalism, population dynamics, migration, human rights, resource utilization and competition, cultural imperialism, and natural and social disasters, and will consider traditional human means of resolving these. Particular focus is placed on interpreting news accounts.