For Love and Money: Rethinking the Family
An MIT OpenCourseWare offering that examines family, gender, and sexuality through the lens of cultural anthropology. Drawing on case studies from societies around the world, the course looks at how households form, how kinship is defined beyond blood ties, and how economic and emotional obligations shape domestic life. Readings and discussion topics cover marriage practices, reproduction, adoption, and non-normative family structures, asking students to question assumptions about what counts as a 'normal' family. Materials include the full syllabus, weekly readings drawn from ethnographic literature, and discussion questions used in the original MIT course. There are no videos, but the reading list and assignments give a complete self-study structure for anyone wanting a grounded introduction to the anthropology of kinship and gender. Free to access through MIT OpenCourseWare, with no certificate offered.