GCS105

This course provides a broad introduction to the comparative study of peoples, cultures, and languages from major regions of the world. Topical themes may include health, the environment, language, religion, ritual, class, inequality, power, race, and racism, gender and sexuality, internal and transnational migration, ethnicity and (trans)nationalism, and kinship, family, and marriage. Students will explore varied ways of learning about cultural similarities and differences, as well as local, regional, national, and international interconnections and power dynamics among groups. They will examine how divergent sources of popular and academic literature, news, film, and ethnographic works represent cultures and provide-or do not provide-political-economic context. Through mini field assignments, students will be introduced to basic theoretical foundations and methods of field research used to collect and analyze cultural data, including observational practices, interviews, and surveys.

All Years

Fall and Spring