ANTHRO 1906 - Care in Critical Times

Prof. Andrea Wright
Th 12:00-2:45pm

What is care? How do individuals and communities mobilize care as a form of social intervention, political resistance, and a foundation for intimacy, healing, and hope? In an era marked by profound social upheaval and global uncertainty, the imperative to care—for ourselves and for one another—has never been more urgent. Yet, care is not a neutral or purely personal practice; it is embedded in social structures, shot through with inequalities, and profoundly shaped by systems of power. This course adopts a feminist anthropological lens and an engaged, participatory approach to critically examine care as a cultural practice, ethical demand, and site of contestation. Through ethnographic readings, cross-cultural case studies, and public scholarship, students will explore how care is constructed, distributed, and experienced across diverse contexts. Topics include the politics of care, caregiving labor, community healing, and the intersections of care with race, gender, class, and citizenship. Students will be challenged to rethink their own understandings of care and will design and implement a community-based project that brings anthropological insights to bear on locally rooted practices of care. By interrogating the who, how, and why of care, we will illuminate its centrality to social life, collective wellbeing, and transformative possibility.