SOAN 191 - Anthropological Inquiry

Anthropology is a comparative science that examines all societies, ancient and modern, simple and complex. Anthropological Inquiry introduces students to anthropology’s four main subdisciplines (sociocultural, archaeological, biological, and linguistic anthropology) as well as a fifth, more recent addition, applied anthropology. It presents anthropology as a social science mode of inquiry, introducing anthropology’s major investigative methods and approaches, important anthropological concepts and principles, and anthropology’s ongoing self-critique and professional development. With its ethnographic breadth and concern with cultural processes over time and within and between human societies, this course also teaches cross-cultural and intercultural perspectives that go beyond simple observation of cultural difference to more complex understandings of cultural diversity and interaction among the world’s peoples.

Credits: 3 hours
NOTE: This course fulfills the Social Scientific Mode of Inquiry and Intercultural Interconnecting Perspective of the Liberal Studies Program.
NOTE: This course counts toward the 63-hour Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) graduation requirement.