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Term Abroad Requirement
In keeping with our philosophy of comparative studies and commitment to understanding human societies other than the one we live in, we require majors to complete a term abroad. We cannot emphasize too strongly how important it is that every student majoring in anthropology have a deep integrated understanding of another culture and, through this experience,
an awareness of the practical and philosophical obstacles that make achieving such understanding difficult. Going on a term abroad does not guarantee that you will actually understand another culture, but if you don't make that effort, you will miss out on two crucial and distinctive aspects of anthropology: 1) the fight against ethnocentrism through both empathic and intellectual understanding of another culture and 2) the practice of techniques for achieving such understanding, or at least some measure of it. Another important reason for gaining such in-depth knowledge of another culture is that you are then in a much better position to understand and critique theory and method in anthropology. You will be able to relate material from your anthropology courses to your own experiences abroad, in the culture that you have developed some intimacy with.
We prefer that majors participate in one of the department field programs in
Fiji or Tasmania. Here you will live with local families, carry out
independent research, and practice actual anthropological research techniques.
Besides requiring a term abroad, we also encourage you to take at least one of the "Peoples and Cultures" courses that we or others in the college offer (e.g., courses on Japan, the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Brazil, Latin America).
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The Observance of Ramadan: An
Examination of the Muslim Community at Union College |
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Swifter, Higher, Stronger But Ignored: Media Representation of Women's
Sports as Seen in Sports Illustrated |
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Eastern Perspective and Western Medicine: An Inquiry into the
Traditional Chinese Medicine and US PET Healthcare |
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The
Tasmanian Thylacine: From Co-Existence to Extinction to Cultural Icon |
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Women in Uniform: The Debate Over Women in the U.S. Military |
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Ecotourism in Tasmania: The Role of Guides in Tasmania |
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Unheard Voices: Wildlife Rehabilitators in Tasmania (Australia) and
New York |
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Fractured Memory:
Tasmanian Aboriginals and the Interpretability of History in Tasmanian
Society |
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The Impact of the Internet on
Indigenous Peoples |
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• | Homeopathy: An Alternative Theory of Disease |
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The Terms Abroad Program at Union College: A Cross Cultural Learning
Experience |
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• | The Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act of 1971: Unrealized Native
Expectations |
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• | The Creation and Affirmation
of an Ethnic Ideality Among Xin Jiang's Turkic Muslim Minorities as
Represented in Food |
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• | A Sense of Passion:
Environmental Activism in Tasmania |
