Learning Goals in the Anthropology Major

Anthropology is dedicated to studying the biological, cultural, linguistic, and archaeological aspects of what it means to be human. The Anthropology Department at Connecticut College actively designs and curates a collection of courses that serve learning objectives and outcomes at three scales of theoretical specificity, applied methods training, and student workload: Foundation courses; Topical courses; and, Methods-Intensive seminars.

FOUNDATION COURSES

Foundation courses in Anthropology offer students the conceptual and methodological building blocks required for delving deeper into the discipline. In the liberal arts tradition, these courses also outline the scope, goals, and relevance of anthropology to students seeking to meld the basic optics of an anthropological lens with the concepts and analytical tools offered by other disciplines. Participants in these courses develop a common vocabulary, acquire a foundational knowledge of methods unique to anthropology, cultivate an appreciation for cultural diversity, and learn key concepts that inform anthropological inquiry, such as cultural relativism.

Learning Objectives in Foundation Courses

Develop a common vocabulary of anthropological terms;
Introduce the concepts that guide and inform anthropological inquiry, such as cultural relativism, holism, materiality, diverse expressions of culture, long-term cultural evolutionary change, and site formation processes;
Establish a foundational knowledge of methods unique to anthropology, including person-centered interviewing, participant observation, and basic archaeological data collection techniques (e.g., excavation, survey, and stratigraphic analysis);
Produce written and oral analyses of current national and world events through an anthropological lens;
Learn and reinforce key library research skills, including identifying and searching databases and locating primary and secondary sources;
Learn and reinforce key digital literacies in the context of research.

Assessable Learning Outcomes

On completing all Foundation courses, students should be able to do the following:

List and define key anthropological terms;
Identify and outline several anthropological research methods;
Define key concepts, such as cultural relativism, holism, and materiality;
Describe some of the broader trends in the hominin evolutionary history;
Recognize (and respect) diverse perspectives and voices, and acknowledge other ways of being human;
Compare how power and inequality structure and/or organize social relationships in different contexts;
Describe how different social mechanisms such as gender, kinship, and political structure are used to create power imbalances in different ethnographic contexts
Define the Anthropocene, and identify several material, behavioral, and ecological markers of this still-emergent epoch;
Demonstrate basic library research skills;
Demonstrate a basic understanding of some ways that data can be visualized, analyzed, and presented using digital tools;
Demonstrate effective oral presentation skills.

TOPICAL COURSES

Topical courses in Anthropology offer students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of anthropological concepts with scholarship addressing contemporary behavioral and ecological phenomena in specific world areas. In these courses, students critically read and discuss original scholarship, familiarize themselves with the methods and theories of particular topical areas of anthropological investigation, and are introduced to ethical social science research practices. Written, oral, and other assignments allow students to demonstrate comprehension of the relevance of key anthropological concepts to understandings of contemporary issues, mastery of basic library research skills, and ability to critically read and analyze peer-reviewed scholarship and primary sources.

Learning Objectives in Topical Courses

Implement a common vocabulary of anthropological terms in classroom discussions;
Deepen understandings of concepts that guide and inform anthropological inquiry, such as cultural relativism, holism, materiality, diverse expressions of culture, and long-term cultural evolutionary change;
Cultivate an awareness and more nuanced understanding of unique cultural expressions in specific geographic regions and time periods;
Examine social and cultural constructions of race, class, gender, and other identity constructs;
Explore how intersectionality shapes meaning in social life;
Introduce the philosophies, practices, and historical basis of ethical research in the social sciences;
Reinforce and deepen key library research skills, including the use of databases and other digital resources for locating scholarship and datasets;
Learn and reinforce key digital literacies in the context of research.

Assessable Learning Outcomes

On completing three or four Topical courses, students should be able to do the following:

Define and discuss key anthropological terms and concepts;
Discuss the relevance of an anthropological lens to the study of present-day challenges and phenomena;
Compare a specific organizational or activity domain (e.g., food production, religious expression) across two or more cultural and/or temporal settings;
Recognize the social construction of institutions;
Analyze the cultural construction of identity with reference to socially and historically situated notions of race, ethnicity, class, and gender;
Locate and integrate intersectionality into analyses of social situations;
Recognize ethical social science research practices;
Demonstrate intermediate library research skills;
Demonstrate effective oral presentation skills.

METHODS-INTENSIVE SEMINARS

Methods-Intensive seminars allow students to engage scholarship at an even deeper level. These courses are often also designed around original faculty research projects, affording students an applied and more meaningful exposure to particular anthropological methods, including ethnographic interviewing, video ethnography, mapping, and archaeological survey, among others. In addition to data collection and analysis, students are trained to engage in ethical research practices. Seminars culminate in a presentation and dissemination of research products through various formats, including papers, films, exhibitions, posters, and presentations.

Learning Objectives in Methods-Intensive Seminars

Implement and reinforce a common vocabulary of anthropological terms in seminar discussions;
Further deepen understandings of concepts that guide and inform an anthropological approach to seminar-based research;
Deepen knowledge concerning the philosophies, practices, and historical basis of ethical research in the social sciences;
Learn and apply ethnographic and/or archaeological data collection methods;
Reinforce and deepen key library research skills, including the use of databases and other digital resources for locating scholarship and datasets;
Learn and reinforce key digital literacies in the context of methods-intensive, field-based research.

Assessable Learning Outcomes

On completing two Methods-Intensive seminars, students should be able to do the following:

Discuss the ethics of research with human subjects in relation to historical events;
Demonstrate ethical research conduct;
Discuss the significance of reciprocal collaborations with participating communities in which research is conducted;
Explain two or more ethnographic and/or archaeological data collection methods;
Compare the strengths and limitations of two or more data collection methods;
Demonstrate comprehension of how research methods articulate with driving questions, the kinds of data collected, and interpretations;
Develop a defensible research design;
Discuss the relevance of an anthropological lens to research addressed in the seminar;
Demonstrate intermediate competencies in analyzing and visualizing data using digital tools;
Demonstrate intermediate library research skills;
Demonstrate effective oral presentation skills.