ARH (0111) 295 - Research Methods in Anthropology and Art History

Credits: 3.00

Students will study material artifacts and texts, connecting each to its social, cultural, and historical origins. Students will study and practice anthropology and art history methods for observing, analyzing, and interpreting artifacts and texts and situating these in appropriate intellectual histories and cultural contexts.

Repeatable: No Grade Type: Regular
Free Note: Recommended preparation for this course includes: ANT 111 Cultural Anthropology; or, ANT 113 Archaeology; or, ARH 196 Art and the World I; or ARH 197 Art and the World II; and any course in the Certificate for Museum Studies program.

Note: This class requires occasional independent trips to museums, historic houses, and art galleries. It is students’ responsibility to pay for travel and admission costs.

Course Learning Goals: In this seminar style class, students will: lead discussions of the course readings, engage in interactive laboratory-type activities individually and in teams, and conduct their own research project.

Students will articulate the importance of participant-observation and demonstrate this in their classwork.
Students will practice approaching objects through cultural, historical, and art historical contexts, formulate the questions for designing a research project connected to some dimension of the object, and complete a short research project on an object and cultural context of their choosing.
Students will critically evaluate concepts of authenticity and cultural patrimony.
Students will critique cultural essentialism and reification of “culture.”
Students will examine issues of ethics of artifact repatriation, consultation, and interpreting the past.
Students will develop and practice basic research skills, including gaining knowledge of data resources, conducting bibliography research, and cataloging materials.