Introduction to Anthropology
MIT OpenCourseWare's introductory anthropology course examines how culture shapes human societies and institutions, from small Pacific island communities to large Asian cities, from scientific laboratories to Christian mega-churches. Lectures and readings build a framework for analyzing gender, ethnicity, language, politics, economics, and art through cross-cultural comparison. Materials include the syllabus, readings list, and assignments as published by MIT, offered free under a Creative Commons license with no certificate attached. The course draws on ethnographic case studies to show how anthropologists study belief, kinship, and social organization across radically different settings, giving students tools to question assumptions about what counts as normal human behavior.