Learning Goals

1. Develop an awareness of the diversity of the human condition and human understanding through a global, cross-cultural perspective.
   This occurs in all of the Anthropology and cross-listed courses. You will read about and sometimes watch films about an array of different cultural practices around the world and be asked to reflect upon and analyze why people do and say what they do. Where appropriate to your interests, you will be encouraged to take advantage of one of Trinity’s many study abroad programs, either for a summer, a semester, or a full year.
2. Learn to work both independently and collaboratively.
   Independent work and collaborative work will often be done in the same course. For example, in Anthropology 101, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, you will be asked to conduct independent research for your own paper but you may also be asked to work with a team of classmates to present to the class one side of a current debate. In upper level classes such as Anth 301 Ethnographic Methods and Writing, you may work as part of a research team, but you will be asked to write your own research proposal for future research.
3. Develop critical thinking through textual, visual, and aural data analysis.
   Since Anthropology as a field uniquely combines approaches from the social sciences, humanities, and even the sciences (especially in areas like Medical Anthropology), you will be asked to work with and analyze a wide range of primary and secondary sources. For example, in Anth 215 Medical Anthropology, you may be asked to analyze interviews you have conducted with students on campus alongside national data on prescription drug use in the U.S. In a course like Anth 228 Anthropology from the Margins: South Asia, you may be asked to analyze 19th century British colonial reports on India as well as last week’s online news clip about Pakistan. In Anth 207 Anthropological Perspectives on Women and Gender, you may be asked to analyze images of femininity and masculinity in the mainstream media. When you reach an upper level seminar like Anth 308 Anthropology of Place, you will be expected to choose your own research site to analyze the place and the complexity of people’s actions within it.
4. Acquire ethnographic research skills.
   As part of the major, you will be required to take Anth 301 Ethnographic Methods and Writing. In this course you will practice a range of research methods that will include interviewing, surveying, mapping, data collection and participant-observation. You will later be able to apply these methods to an independent study or thesis if you so choose. These research skills are applicable not only to careers in Anthropology per se, but also to careers in the fields of, for example, medicine, market research, education, and government and non-government organizations.
5. Develop descriptive and analytic writing skills.
   Developing descriptive and analytic writing skills will occur in all Anthropology and cross-listed courses. However, as the courses increase in difficulty, faculty will work with you to further refine these skills. By the time you reach the required Anth 401 Advanced Seminar in Contemporary Anthropological Issues, you will be expected to write accurately and fluidly.
   A thesis is not required for the Anthropology major, however we encourage students who are interested in writing a thesis to consult with Anthropology faculty and develop a research proposal by the spring of junior year. This will allow you to conduct research the summer preceding senior year, begin to analyze that research in the fall of your senior year as an independent study with a faculty advisor, and then write a thesis in the spring of your senior year.
6. Develop public speaking skills.
   In several courses in the major you will be asked to speak in front of a group of people. Sometimes you will be speaking to your classmates, and sometimes to the larger College or Hartford community. For example, in Anth 101, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, you may be asked, as part of a team, to debate a current issue in front of the rest of the class. In Anth 238 Economic Anthropology you will be asked to present your research on a particular material object to the class in the form of a poster presentation. In Anth 301 Ethnographic Methods and Writing you may be asked to present team research findings to the larger community.