Strategies in Teaching Anthropology

The book gives great ideas for teaching cultural anthropology that getthe students more involved with the material. There are ideas for assignments as well as in-class activities. I am currently trying out one of the assignments, which seems to be very good. All in all, if the last thing you want to do is hear the sound of your own voice for 2 or 3 hours a week, buy this. You can't lose. It's especially good for new teachers.

I work in various communities delivering community-based anthropology courses in a very short period of time from one week to a month. The activities and teaching strategies offered in this book are very practical and respond to a change in the field of education. The activities described in the book are easy to prepare and implement (and are fun to do). Most of the authors describe various in-class problems with which they were trying to address. Some authors also provide ideas to modify the activities according to the side of the class or the availability of resources. If you want to go beyond the straight lecture style of teaching this book certainly provides many ideas for creative teaching to stimulate consciousness-raising and encourage student participation. Two activities that stand out are "The Penny Game: An Exercise in Non-Industrial Economics" which examined the importance of reciprocity, and "The Trouble with the 'Race' Concept: It's All in the Cards" which enacts the problems in trying to classify "races". Other essays provide very practical strategies for preparing students for critical thinking, writing essays, critiquing films, participating in field visits to museums, and doing field research (excavating and interviews).