🔍 Anthropology: the Social Science of Human Success 📈
How does culture contribute to our success as a species? How does culture drive human evolution, and human evolution drive culture?
in anthropology you will:
Gain a deeper understanding of how culture shapes human behavior and success
Discover how anthropology can help us determine what’s universal and what’s culturally specific—and why this matters for building a more just world
Learn to use anthropological techniques to deeply understand individual groups and compare tendencies across groups—for example, the prevalence of social hierarches
Write your own ethnography, a case study of a group based on close observation
“Before this, I barely knew anything about anthropology. But now I see the great importance in discussing what culture is and how ours compares to others.”
How it’s Structured:
You’ll start by gaining a substantive introduction to anthropology: the key questions, concepts, and research techniques that drive the discipline, and what is uniquely powerful about it.
You’ll learn how culture evolves to determine who we learn from, who belongs, and who is excluded, which will be relevant to your ethnography project.
You’ll take a deep dive into the anthropological research method of ethnography—learning how the method can be harnessed to understand the lived experiences of individual communities, and how it can be combined with other anthropological techniques to reach broader conclusions about humanity.
For your project, you will write an ethnography about a group you belong to or can easily observe—your chamber music group, your soccer team, your family—to investigate how group norms, belonging, and culture operate within it.
Top projects are designated as 🌟 starred projects 🌟, a designation that you can add to your resume and that may lead to your project being featured on our website!
Have a question? Contact us.
Logistics
Tech: Live online instruction on Zoom, cameras on and discussion-based
Materials: The Secret of Our Success, Joseph Henrich
College-like course structure: Seminar with minimum of 4 & maximum of 15 for engaging discussion
Dates & times: Term 2: July 17 - July 28, 1-3pm ET (full schedule)
Tuition: $1,000 with need-based financial aid available, part of the application
About the developer & Instructor
Edie Abraham-Macht is a teacher & curriculum developer with Kaleidoscope and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, where she majored in American Studies. Her writing has been published in Yale and professional publications including the Yale Daily News Magazine, Yale Literary Magazine, Aerie International, and Hanging Loose Magazine. Edie grew up in Brooklyn and lives in Washington, DC.