Anthropology

Focusing on food domestication as a major influence on human societies and cultural beliefs, this course also considers how different forms of farming have historically and continue to contribute to ecological changes around the world.

Small-scale gardening is also considered in conjunction with service-learning, primarily using our campus gardens. Additional topics include food sovereignty and food insecurity, pollinators and plants, and Indigenous contributions to food domestication in the Americas.

Cultural anthropology invites students to reflect on a variety of cultural phenomena through a purposefully global perspective. At Cottey, this course delves even more into the topics of gender identity and gender relations than your average introductory cultural anthropology course.

A wider expectation is for students to relate the course material to their own experiences, while also challenging their own assumptions on diversity and humanity. Students will also learn how anthropologists have approached the issue of difference and inequality within and across cultures—focusing on race and gender as well as considering diversity in global varieties of economies, political structures, and kinship.

This course examines the unique perspectives of those who identify as Indigenous.  While it covers some historical issues, our focus is more on the contemporary Indigenous experience.

Topics include gender identities, food ways and food sovereignty, language revitalization and cultural reclamation, media representation and Indigenous media, material culture and contemporary expressive culture. The course also includes at least one excursion or field trip with a focus on the Osage Nation.