Course Description:
In this introductory study, students will examine, share, and expand their individual understandings of and interests in culture. Broadly defined for this study, "culture" refers to the diversely basic beliefs and activities by which groups of human beings understand, make meaningful, and sustain common experiences. Every student will begin with a common reading taken from anthropology (an academic discipline devoted to the study of cultures): Paul Rabinow’s Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco. Then, students will investigate their own themes and questions about culture by using items from pertinent reading lists representing a variety of endeavors and academic disciplines (anthropology, sociology, and social psychology, as well as history, philosophy, and literature). This study is meant to be individualized, in collaboration with the mentor, so that all students can follow their own curiosity. It is also organized as an "online seminar" so that all participants can learn from each other. Thus, combining individual inquiry and common discussion, the participants can create a diverse learning community, a "culture," of their own.
Note: each student will be responsible for obtaining some of the additional individualized reading materials from a library, local bookstore, or other source. The Rabinow text is available at the Empire State College Bookstore.
This course fully meets the General Education requirement in Humanities.
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