This course is a three-unit course that introduces students to the field of sociocultural anthropology. Sociocultural anthropology will familiarize students with the basic ideas, issues, concepts and principles of anthropology that deals with kinship, political economy and other social dimensions of human societies. The course also allows the students to describe the meaning, scopes, methods, history and uses of anthropology, and its relations to other disciplines. This will help them learn how to “think like an anthropologist” through the critical examination of other cultures and more importantly through the examination of their own Filipino culture.
The material selected for this course presents information about cultural worlds that may be very different from the students’ own, as well as information about cultural worlds that are very close to Filipino society. The juxtaposing of different types of culture will challenge the students to critically think outside of their own cultural assumptions. Through the use of critical tools used by anthropologist, students will begin to examine their own common sense assumptions about society and human nature and in turn come to approach cultural diversity with thoughtfulness and sensitivity.
- Teacher: Raymundo Canizares