Tag Archives: University of Texas at San Antonio

Proposing a Harry Potter and Anthropology Course

My discussion last month centred on the emerging trend for developing disciplinary courses in concert with popular culture themes. The possibilities for relevant and insightful connections are as endless as the imaginations of fiction authors, screenwriters, musicians, and other artists. In this post, I want to delve deeply into a course at the intersection of popular culture and anthropology that certainly would have held my attention as an undergraduate. Here, I propose a Harry Potter and Anthropology course that uses Harry Potter as a gateway to discussions of the important themes of four-field anthropology. read more…

  • dateApril 20, 2016
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  • posted byLeah McCurdy
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Popular Culture Courses for Anthropology

There are some important distinctions to make regarding popular culture and/or imaginative literature as an aspect of a course. First, what is the primary focal point of the course: popular culture or the academic discipline as a whole? There are many courses in media studies, sociology, or anthropology departments that focus on popular culture or media as a subject of inquiry and critical analysis. Here, I highlight courses in which introductory disciplinary understanding is the primary goal and popular culture serves as a lens through which to focus student attention and the development of their disciplinary knowledge. read more…

  • dateMarch 15, 2016
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  • posted byLeah McCurdy
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Engaging Large Classes with Professor Deborah Moon

This is the second in a series of blog postings by the Anthropology Teaching Forum (ATF) at the University of Texas, San Antonio. The first post introduced the ATF and its goal of building a strong teaching culture to match the research focus of the graduate program. This post offers a summary of a recent ATF meeting in which guest speaker Deb Moon provided creative ideas for teaching in large classroom environments. read more…

  • dateNovember 25, 2014
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  • posted byLeah McCurdy
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Teaching Philosophies

This is the second in a new series of blog postings by the Anthropology Teaching Forum (ATF) at the University of Texas, San Antonio. This post offers a recap of a recent discussion on teaching philosophies—what they are, how they are defined, and how they inform different teaching styles—hosted by the ATF. read more…

  • dateOctober 30, 2014
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  • posted byLeah McCurdy
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The Anthropology Teaching Forum (ATF)

This post marks the beginning of a collaboration with the Anthropology Teaching Forum (ATF) at the University of Texas, San Antonio. Here, graduate student Leah McCurdy describes how the ATF was born and outlines its lofty goals. For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to have such an engaged teaching culture in your department, the ATF has been kind enough to share summaries of past talks in this post and future talks in future posts. read more…

  • dateOctober 24, 2014
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  • posted byLeah McCurdy
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