ANTHRO 97Z - Sophomore Tutorial: Anthropology as Social Theory and the Social Theory of Anthropology

Prof. Malavika Reddy
T Th 10:30-11:45am

This course is designed to introduce undergraduate students to social/cultural theory in light of anthropological methods, arguments, concerns, and writing. As a discipline, anthropology is rooted in conveying and theorizing the particularities of lived social realities—which are often messy, complex, and unruly. On the other hand, social theory tends to provide a more abstract, though still empirically grounded, analytical framework, concepts, and theories about the nature of social life, the body, power, the economy, etc. While this class will introduce students to bodies of theory that have been particularly influential in anthropology, this course does not offer a general survey of social theory. The course seeks primarily to train students to learn how to read and write about theory in light of anthropological concerns, writing, and ethnography that you will come across in your concentration.