Noted anthropologist Wade Davis joins the Department of Anthropology in 2014 and will be teaching the introductory course in anthropology in the Fall.
This course will explore the central revelation of cultural anthropology; the idea that the social world in which we live does not exist in some absolute sense, but rather is just one model of reality, the consequence of one set of intellectual and spiritual choices that our particular cultural lineage made, however successfully, many generations ago.
The other peoples of the world are not failed attempts to be us, failed attempts to be modern. Each culture is a unique answer to a fundamental question. What does it mean to be human and alive? Through case studies and narratives drawn from throughout the world, the bones of the theoretical body of anthropology will be assembled. There is a fire burning over the Earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills and visionary wisdom. Quelling this flame and reinventing the poetry of diversity is among the most important challenges of our times.
This course will fill your eyes with wonder, but also your hearts with passion and your minds with the tools that will allow you to play an active role in the reinvention of our world.
