Enroll in Introduction to Anthropology  with Dolphin STEM Academy

Course Overview

This one-semester elective course is intended as a practical guide to introduce you to the field
of anthropology. You will explore the evolution of anthropology as a distinct discipline, learn
about anthropological terms, concepts and theories, and discuss the evolution of humans and
human society and culture. Students will also learn about social institutions, such as marriage,
economy, religion, and polity. The target audience for this course is high school students.

This course is structured into lessons and Course Activities as follows:
• The first lesson introduces students to the field of anthropology and its development as a
distinct discipline. You’ll learn some key ideas and methods in anthropology in the second
lesson. The third lesson describes different branches of anthropology.
• In the fourth lesson, you’ll learn about human origin and evolution.
• The next five lessons discuss important anthropological topics, such as culture, language
and communication, art and aesthetics, subsistence and economy, and social groups.
• In lesson 9, you will learn about kinship and descent, and in lesson 13, you’ll explore the
concepts of race, caste, and ethnicity.
• Lessons 10, 12, and 14 delve into various social institutions—marriage and family, religion
and belief systems, and political institutions respectively.

You will submit the Course Activity documents to your teacher, and you will grade your work in
the Lesson Activities by comparing them with sample responses. Each lesson also has a
multiple-choice mastery test. A multiple-choice end-of-semester test completes the course.

The Course Activities (submitted to the teacher) and the Lesson Activities (self-checked) are
major components of this course. They will guide your learning as you work through this course.

Course Goals

This course will help you meet the following goals:
• Trace the growth of anthropology as a distinct discipline.
• Describe the contributions of pioneering anthropologists.
• Describe various anthropological terms, concepts, and theories.
• Discuss important topics in anthropology, such as culture, art, aesthetics, social groups,
race, and ethnicity.
• Analyze the roles and functions of various socio-cultural institutions, such as marriage,
religion, and polity.