ANT 285 - Anthropology, Violence, and Human Rights

4 credits (Fall or Spring)

This course is designed to address anthropological engagement with enduring forms of violence and efforts to intervene in them in a variety of cross-cultural contexts. The class begins by considering relationships among scholarly knowledge, history, and inequality to establish a foundation for thinking about research in post-Enlightenment sociopolitical contexts. It moves to examine tensions between cultural relativism and universal rights advocacy within Western intellectual thought. Next, it examines the concept of “legitimate” violence relative to state formation and power.

Prerequisite: ANT 104 and one 200-level Anthropology, Political Science, or Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies course.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: French