A New Anthropology Curriculum, Designed for the Future
4 - The Anthropological I/Eye
At this point, we’ve explored a lot of big ideas that are important in the discipline. You may be thinking, okay but how am I going to be an anthropologist?
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This week, we unpack how stereotypes developed throughout the years, and representations in media, literature, and photos, shape our understanding of what it means to be an ‘anthropologist’. In a sense, we’re taking a closer look at whose boots, or khakis, we’re filling and whether we even like the style of those khakis or boots at all. This is important to consider if we’re preparing to meld our own identity to that of an ‘anthropologist of the future’ – what kind of figure do we become when assuming this role? Ultimately, the focus is on the ‘reflexive turn’ in anthropology, with a more critical awareness of constructions of ‘self’ and ‘Other’.
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In addition, we look at how these visual techniques – photos, illustrations, and media – that represent anthropologists, are also methods anthropologists mobilize to document their work and field site. Contemporarily, there has been an embrace of visual methods, heightening our capacity to be collaborative and creative in research. In class, you will analyse a photomap with prompts to guide you and complete a photo-taking activity.
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For this week’s tutorial, complete the two required readings and consider the following to get you thinking: Why have you been drawn to studying anthropology?
Tutorial Questions
< The resource you'll be using for an in-class activity, asking:
Who is featured in the photo? Â
Where is our attention drawn?Â
Why might this photo have been framed in this way, or why was this photo taken at all?Â
What does this photo tell us about the anthropologist, or the people in the field?
