ANT4002 Contemporary Issues and Debates in Anthropology (FOART)

Units 1.0 (Anthropology) Band 1

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in the following Program: BAHN

Synopsis

This course examines central themes in contemporary anthropology today including key debates such as the issues of whether anthropology is primarily an explanatory or interpretive enterprise, positivism and relativism; the nature of culture; and the relationship between anthropologists and the people they study. Case studies of important issues that have resulted in debate within the discipline will be examined in detail. Examples of topics to be examined include the Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy, the Chagnon/Tierney Yanomami issue and the Sahlins/Obeysekere debate about Lono and the meaning of the death of Captain Cook in Hawaii.