ANTH 263 - Metaphors of Blood: Cultural Constructions of Race, Kinship, and Genetics

FC SSCI CD

4 credits
This course will introduce students to anthropological approaches to the ways in which people conceive of their relatedness to one another historically and cross-culturally. Although in the West we often think of biological relationships as objective and self-evident, people in all places (including the West) imbue these relationships with meanings that are drawn in broader cultural and religious contexts. For example, it is common to talk about family relationships using the metaphor of blood. The recent advancements of genetic science do not replace pre-existing notions of relatedness but rather they are both embedded in them and interact with them in emergent ways. Field trip(s) required.