The course introduces anthropology approaches to some of the central problems humans face around the world, including environmental degradation and cultures of consumption, hunger and affluence, war, racial division and other forms of inequality. The goal is to challenge our beliefs about some taken for granted assumptions about human behavior and psyche by examining cultures with different conceptions of personality, self and cognition. Will examine the issues of the role of nature and nurture in development, the nature of intelligence, coming of age, the association of psychological characteristics with gender and the naturalness of emotions.
