Anthropology

This course examines the history and development of cultural studies in different social contexts. Cultural studies examine how we have become who we are; how the rules governing our cultures are constructed; and how we, as social beings, live in society. This course outlines the historical formation of cultural studies and introduces key concerns and theoretical perspectives in the field. Specifically, the course focuses on the way in which popular culture and media are associated with these issues. 

This course introduces basic references and debates of cultural studies and helps students to consider how the social world and our everyday lives are associated with key concerns of cultural studies. The main (but not exclusive) topics include: 

- What Culture and cultural studies are about
- The emergence of cultural studies as a discipline (in the UK, the US and Japan)

- Mass culture vs. popular culture

- The Frankfurt School and the culture industry

- The politics of popular culture

- Why class, race, and gender matter

- Celebrity culture in the mediated world

- Fandom and identity

This course introduces and challenges the ways in which contemporary gender, sexuality, and heteronormativity are interpreted through ethnographic case studies. While many modern Western societies debate openly the concepts of gender, sexuality, and LGBTQIA, a range of non-Western anthropological studies from around the world demonstrate the knowledge and concepts that reshape the notion of queerness and gender fluidity in global societies. With a comparative outlook towards Western societies, the course explores and discusses the change of gender roles in the 21st century, transgenderism and vulnerabilities, post-colonial queer cultures and discrimination, masculinity and femininity, power of beauty and aesthetics, and other critical topics such as LGBTQ sex work, non-conformity, and transgender inmates in prisons, as well as their connection to gender identity formation in contemporary society.

Music is a fascinating medium through which to study many aspects of Israeli life and politics. This course explores many genres of music, including art, folk, pop/rock, religious genres, as well as genres canonized by the mainstream and others on the peripheries. Among the social and political issues that emerge from music in Israel, students discuss music's role in the development of “Hebrew culture;” the invention of tradition; the politics of race, ethnicity, and nationality; spirituality and engagement with religion; peace and conflict; the problematics of coexistence; and the musical expression of place. No musical training is necessary to be successful in this course, though students with musical skills and training are welcome to contribute their expertise and may choose to augment their projects with performance or theoretical analysis.

Anthropology, at its core, is the study of humans and humanity in various times and places, and the ways that they make sense of and engage with their world. This course introduces students to anthropology as a discipline, specifically socio-cultural anthropology, through an exploration of various peoples and cultures and the similarities and differences that make us who we are. The course addresses what it means to be human and how to think anthropologically through the study of different cultures ranging from indigenous peoples across Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific, to modern cultures in Europe, North America, and Japan.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Develop and demonstrate a basic understanding of anthropology as a discipline, diverse cultures throughout the world, and some key anthropological concepts and methods.
2) Learn to critically read, interpret, and summarize anthropological texts.

3)  Learn how to investigate cultures, including their own, and interpret and analyze them using anthropological concepts.
4) Develop and practice core academic skills, such as critical reading, thought, and analysis, academic writing, and verbal communication.

This course focuses on the deep cultural learning and personal growth that can result from adjusting to life in another country. It addresses the psychology of adjusting to foreign experiences, including but not exclusive to, how experiences abroad can be either deep or shallow. The course also discusses the impact of living abroad on one’s values and identity. 

The course requires students to conduct an interview with someone about their intercultural experiences, then analyzing and presenting their findings to the group. The course aims to have students garner the most benefit from their intercultural experiences.