This Anthropology course aims to help us uncover the question: What makes us human? We'll explore the four main subfields of anthropology—cultural, biological, linguistic, and archaeological—as lenses through which to better understand human experience across time, geography, and culture. As we navigate this inquiry, we’ll also examine key themes of identity, social justice, privilege, and power—uncovering how different societies organize themselves, express meaning, and pass knowledge from generation to generation.

Class sessions will include lectures, discussions, and collaborative projects that promote critical thinking and deep engagement with global human stories. You’ll work with texts, films, and artifacts, and draw connections between the past and present, between faraway cultures and your own lived experience.

This course supports:

• Effective Research
  Students will formulate relevant questions, assess credible sources, and synthesize information across media. They’ll practice structuring arguments, documenting evidence, and revising for clarity—building a research practice that’s purposeful and persuasive.

• Social Justice Concepts
  Learners will explore systems of inequality and resistance across cultures, developing language to discuss identity, privilege, and oppression with care and nuance. Students will be asked to examine their own perspectives and biases, and to reflect on the impacts of power across societies.

• Global Thinking
  Students will gain insight into how culture shapes worldview, behavior, and values. Through the study of diverse belief systems and cultural practices, they’ll develop empathy, curiosity, and an appreciation for the complexity of global human experiences.

Cell Phone Policy
The teacher and students will agree upon and regularly review a class norm for cell phone use for this class.