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Rethinking the Family: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Course #: ANTH 243L

Description:
This course analyzes the ways in which culture shapes perceptions of family. It explores narratives about how human family structures evolved, examines the increasing medicalization of reproduction and the body, and takes stock of the ways in which race, class, gender, and sexual orientation affect commonly held and frequently subscribed-to beliefs about what constitutes family. It illustrates the diversity of kinship definitions with ethnographic examples from the Iban of Indonesian Borneo, the Nyakyusa of East Africa, and other societies from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the pacific Islands. Through an exploration of the pressures to which African American families have been subjected in the United States, it probes the ways in which the legacy of slavery shapes the possibilities and perceptions of contemporary families.

Notes:
ANTH 243L and WGS 243L are the same course.

Pre Requisites:

Offered in:

2026 Spring

Section Class Number Schedule/Time Instructor Location
01 4177 MW
4:00 - 5:15 pm
Reiches,Meredith Wheatley-Peters W01-0042
Session: Regular
Class Dates: 01/26/2026 - 05/13/2026
Capacity: 25
Enrolled: 15
Status: Open
Credits: 3/3
Class Notes: This course uses course material available through the Healey Library and other sources. There is no cost for the course material for this course. For more information about no-cost course material, please visit open.umb.edu.
Pre Requisites:
Course Attributes: International, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Library and other resources, no cost materials

2025 Fall

Section Class Number Schedule/Time Instructor Location
02 14688 TuTh
4:00 - 5:15 pm
Reiches,Meredith M03-0612
Session: Regular
Class Dates: 09/02/2025 - 12/12/2025
Capacity: 15
Enrolled: 15
Status: Closed
Credits: 3/3
Class Notes:
Pre Requisites:
Course Attributes: International, Social & Behavioral Sciences