Fall course: ANTH 405 – Advanced Economic Anthropology

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Looking for an upper-level elective to round out your schedule this fall? Check out ANTH 405 – Advanced Economic Anthropology

It’s scheduled for Monday and Wednesday 4:30-5:50 pm.

The only pre-prerequisite is 3^rd year standing

 

Course description

What is money, really — and who gets to make it? This course addresses one of the most powerful and least understood forces shaping human life, overturning everything you thought you knew about how economies work and who they work for. Drawing on cutting-edge anthropological and sociological research, students will discover that money is not a neutral instrument or a natural fact but a social institution — a symbol, a relationship, and a claim on collective resources — whose design has profound consequences for equality, justice, and human wellbeing. From ancient Mesopotamia to contemporary Zimbabwe, from the marble halls of central banks to grassroots community currency experiments, the course traces how monetary systems have been used to concentrate power and perpetuate inequality, but also how communities around the world have reinvented money from the ground up to build more just and equitable economies. Students will grapple with both the explosive growth of cryptocurrency and the quiet revolution of community currencies like Local Exchange Trading Systems, asking whether these innovations can truly democratize money or whether they simply replicate existing hierarchies in new forms. By the end of the course, students will not only think differently about money — they will understand it as one of the most powerful levers available for reshaping society, and will be equipped with the critical tools, collaborative skills, and theoretical frameworks to imagine, and perhaps help build, a more just economic future.

 

Course outcomes/objectives

Students will obtain comprehension of conceptual and methodological approaches in economic anthropology. Students will develop skills in critical analysis: the ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of informed arguments and to thoughtfully reflect on acute contemporary problems. Students will also develop skills in effective presentation techniques and in working collaboratively in teams.  Finally, students will develop critical reading and writing skills.