Anthropology and a Liberal Education
The Anthropology department embraces the goals of a liberal education. We incorporate
this commitment not only in "conversations" but in our assignments as well. Below is aa
representative list of assignments from a variety of our courses to illustrate how we locate
anthropology in the large community- local and international.
Examples of Liberal Education Assignments/conversations:
Assi
g
nment for ANT 355 Mi
g
ration in Latin America (Professor Russell Rhoads):
"Grand Rapids and Beyond" - Diaspora is the movement of people from their homelands
to other lands. In the Americas, this landscape of movement over the past 500 years has
seen populations from around the world immigrating into the region, brought by
exploration, colonialism, slavery, economic hardship, and political violence. In this
assignment, the student's task is to examine how population groups came to the America
and to Grand Rapids in particular, by researching the history of population movement and
tracing the "diaspora" of the group over time and space over the past 500 years. Students
generate a 5 page report, highlight the forces of migration, and including a timeline and
oral class presentation.
Assi
g
nment for ANT 315: Comparative Reli
g
ions
(Professor Deana Weibel):
"Fieldwork" Project and Presentations - The students' fieldwork project requires them to
engage in the "participant-observation" technique used by anthropologists to collect
original data that will serve as the basis of a research paper. They do this by attending two
religious services of their own choosing, as long as the religions represented are not sects
or denominations with which they are already familiar. A Baptist student could attend a
Methodist service and a Buddhist service, for example. The students write a comparative
essay based on this experience, taking into account what they observed first had, issues we
have discussed in class and through class readings, and additional text
b
ased research they
conduct outside of class. The resulting essay gives them an opportunity to both undertake a
first-person analysis of a two religious services and demonstrate their acquisition of the
concepts and issues that have been presented in the readings and discussed in class.
Approximately two weeks before the paper itself is due, students informally present the
results of their initial research to the class and can get advice, if they like (from mysel
f
and/or other students), about how to proceed with their essays, helpful texts, etc.
