Cultural Anthropology

I liked this class a lot, but there were a lot of readings each week and usually a movie/podcast. A lot of fieldwork assignments which are essentially short essays. Midterm was a 5 page essay and our final is a group presentation. I really enjoyed Mike's teaching style, he is super friendly and welcoming, his lectures are super interesting and engaging. He is a tough grader but he does give helpful feedback. Overall, would 100% take this class again, it was difficult at times, but ultimately really interesting and a great way to introduce yourself to Anthropology.

I liked this class a lot, but there were a lot of readings each week and usually a movie/podcast. A lot of fieldwork assignments which are essentially short essays. Midterm was a 5 page essay and our final is a group presentation. I really enjoyed Mike's teaching style, he is super friendly and welcoming, his lectures are super inter …Read more

I hadn't read any of the reviews before taking this course... and honestly, for the better! I highly recommend everyone to give this course a chance. I've come out of this course with a lifelong appreciation for anthropologists and their fieldwork, and have gathered methods and lessons on how to analyze my own personal communities. Professor Stoll is extremely knowledgable on the discipline of anthropology and assigned some of the most fascinating readings to date. Of course, this class is challenging -- but challenging in the sense that there's heavy readings and lots of notes. Professor Stoll spells out the information and takeaway you need to know for exams during lectures and discussions in addition to crafting extremely fair quizzes and exams. As long as you pay attention and have a passion for the subject, Stoll will ensure that you know all the information by heart.

I hadn't read any of the reviews before taking this course... and honestly, for the better! I highly recommend everyone to give this course a chance. I've come out of this course with a lifelong appreciation for anthropologists and their fieldwork, and have gathered methods and lessons on how to analyze my own personal communities. P …Read more

In all honesty, I've taken a college cultural anthropology course before and feel like I gained more from that than from this class. Professor Sheridan is very enthusiastic about his field studies in Papua New Guinea and lets that bleed into nearly every lecture. He is a very harsh grader as I've never gotten a B on my writing until this class and it makes me question myself as a student. No matter how hard I've tried I can't manage to fully satisfy him. The documentaries are interesting for the most part and the discussions are my favorite part.

In all honesty, I've taken a college cultural anthropology course before and feel like I gained more from that than from this class. Professor Sheridan is very enthusiastic about his field studies in Papua New Guinea and lets that bleed into nearly every lecture. He is a very harsh grader as I've never gotten a B on my writing until …Read more

David Stoll's style of teaching is tricky: he clearly loves the subject of cultural anthropology, but his lectures were seldom engaging and the readings were dense and hard to relate. It was around 150 pages of reading for each class, and sometimes movies (all outdated). The quizzes in class were challenging even if you did the reading since he expects specific recall from the large amount of reading assigned. Some topics were interesting/engaging, and it was a decent way to learn the way an anthropology course works, but I would recommend either taking this class with a different professor or looking for a different intro level anthro course.

David Stoll's style of teaching is tricky: he clearly loves the subject of cultural anthropology, but his lectures were seldom engaging and the readings were dense and hard to relate. It was around 150 pages of reading for each class, and sometimes movies (all outdated). The quizzes in class were challenging even if you did the readi …Read more

I found this course to be an interesting mixture of weekly, reading-intensive homework, and extremely interesting content. The prof is very passionate, but he is very harsh with grading fieldworks and assigns 8 hours of readings per week alongside a film. It has gotten to a point, more than once, where I have wondered just how important the readings actually are since we tend to only utilize the information from readings for fieldworks and our weekly discussions.

I found this course to be an interesting mixture of weekly, reading-intensive homework, and extremely interesting content. The prof is very passionate, but he is very harsh with grading fieldworks and assigns 8 hours of readings per week alongside a film. It has gotten to a point, more than once, where I have wondered just how import …Read more

This class is pretty difficult. It is incredibly interesting, but super difficult. He grades very tough. The content is super interesting. If you are interested in this topic then I would recommend taking it, but if you do not feel passionate about anthropology then I wouldn't.

The class material was highly interesting and I feel like the things I learned shifted my perspective on the way I view everyday life. I did feel like the grading was especially harsh and it felt like I always needed to go above and beyond just to get a decent grade which is tiring.

Professor Sheridan speaks quickly during his lectures, so it's important to know which parts are important to pick up. The workload is pretty intense as there are multiple readings, bi-weekly fieldwork's, and weekly films. A's are not easily given out, it's important to know the specifics of what he's looking for in your writing.

There is a ton of reading and homework for this class, usually 100 pages of reading and an hour long film along with a media journal and a longer writing assignment every 2 weeks. The lectures and topics are interesting, but the amount of work made the class too tiring for me as someone who was taking this class out of interest and not to major/minor.

Sheridan is very passionate about anthropology and is overall a great guy. He is very smart and sometimes over complicates things but easy to ask questions to. He has no homework except for preparing for the discussions on Friday. You most likely will have to watch a movie and read a bunch of chapters for each week but it isn't graded. He also has fieldworks every 2 weeks which can be interesting but take up a lot of time.

Sheridan is very passionate about anthropology and is overall a great guy. He is very smart and sometimes over complicates things but easy to ask questions to. He has no homework except for preparing for the discussions on Friday. You most likely will have to watch a movie and read a bunch of chapters for each week but it isn't grade …Read more

I had a great time in this class. It felt almost like a freshman-year seminar because it was so easy. Although there were a lot of readings that you can get away with not doing during lectures till the discussion sections because you'll need them there. As long as you don't put it off, the homework is easy. Mike is very kind and willing to give you a small extension. It's a good class overall, albeit the reading and movies do become a little boring at times.

I had a great time in this class. It felt almost like a freshman-year seminar because it was so easy. Although there were a lot of readings that you can get away with not doing during lectures till the discussion sections because you'll need them there. As long as you don't put it off, the homework is easy. Mike is very kind and wil …Read more

I personally enjoyed this course as a freshmen student who had never studied Anthropology before. I would say it provides strong foundations and basic knowledge about socio-cultural Anthropology, especially thanks to Michael Sheridan who is an extremely enthusiastic teacher and a kind human being, ready to help his students as long as we show motivation and curiosity. The assignments are not so difficult and they are all take-home. However I would say that the grading is a bit harsh.

I personally enjoyed this course as a freshmen student who had never studied Anthropology before. I would say it provides strong foundations and basic knowledge about socio-cultural Anthropology, especially thanks to Michael Sheridan who is an extremely enthusiastic teacher and a kind human being, ready to help his students as long a …Read more

I thought this course was interesting and a helpful introduction into anthropology, as many topics were briefly covered over the course of the semester. I will say it's easy to procrastinate in terms of homework since there isn't anything due until Friday discussions, and some assignments that require watching films each week aren't due until the end of the semester. Grading isn't terrible, but you do need to know what he's looking for.

I thought this course was interesting and a helpful introduction into anthropology, as many topics were briefly covered over the course of the semester. I will say it's easy to procrastinate in terms of homework since there isn't anything due until Friday discussions, and some assignments that require watching films each week aren't …Read more

Fascinating class and Mike is a great instructor. His stories are captivating and he is so relaxed. He can be a difficult grader at times so I recommend discussing your fieldwork ideas with him outside of class. Otherwise I 100% recommend this class.

Professor Stoll's instruction style is not for everyone. It's not very engaging, but he's quite enthusiastic. The readings are quite long. Quizzes every other week, but if you do the readings and go to class they're not bad.

This is my favorite class I have ever taken. Professor Sheridan is excited for class everyday and keeps his enthusiasm throughout the class. The material itself is extremely interesting, so it does not feel like work. He is definitely a hard grader, but the class itself if not difficult. Definitely take this course with Sheridan!

Prof. Sheridan includes a lot of his own research in this course, which makes the lectures engaging. It’s clear that he’s passionate about these subjects and teaching about them. The grading is a little tough and there are a lot of readings and a good amount of writing, but it’s pretty easy to keep up. I would definitely recommend, the topic is really interesting and all around a great prof.

Prof. Sheridan includes a lot of his own research in this course, which makes the lectures engaging. It’s clear that he’s passionate about these subjects and teaching about them. The grading is a little tough and there are a lot of readings and a good amount of writing, but it’s pretty easy to keep up. I would definitely recommend, t …Read more

This class felt like a bit of a slog. Expect to read a book + watch a movie per week, with no course materials newer than 2005. Speaking of things that haven't been updated since the naughts, lectures are done with a whiteboard and marker in lieu of slides. Quizzes and tests ask pretty hyperspecific questions from lectures, but if you're savvy while studying, you can predict what he's going to ask pretty easily. All in all, not the most difficult class but definitely time intensive, and the idiosyncracies in lectures, readings, and tests kind of cloud how cool the material is.

This class felt like a bit of a slog. Expect to read a book + watch a movie per week, with no course materials newer than 2005. Speaking of things that haven't been updated since the naughts, lectures are done with a whiteboard and marker in lieu of slides. Quizzes and tests ask pretty hyperspecific questions from lectures, but if yo …Read more

If you have a more relaxed schedule you will be fine with this class, but I already had a heavy workload and this class topped it off. It is a LOT of reading I was almost never able to complete it all when also working with my other classes. To give an example we recently read somewhere upwards of 300 pages this past week plus watched an hour and a half film and had a discussion post (every Thursday night before discussion friday). So again if you’re really into anthro or have the time to spare then go for it but it’s not gonna be a easy class unless you can commit to the time necessary. Also I’m not really sure how to estimate the hours I spend per week so that could be way off it really depends on your reading speed too.

If you have a more relaxed schedule you will be fine with this class, but I already had a heavy workload and this class topped it off. It is a LOT of reading I was almost never able to complete it all when also working with my other classes. To give an example we recently read somewhere upwards of 300 pages this past week plus watche …Read more

Lots of reading, would be manageable with a light schedule. Expect >300 pages per week with a discussion post and sometimes movies and videos to watch. Lectures were boring and just came from a slide deck. Not very engaging and she didn't ever learn anyones name in the class.

Prof. Sheridan is so enthusiastic about the topics and always has good stories about his own research and fieldwork, for an intro level class it really gets you interested in anthropology. The workload is pretty light, about 2 readings + a film to watch every week and a fieldwork assignment about every other week which is about as much work as an essay. He is accommodating and cares about students. The class is genuinely engaging and so worth taking.

Prof. Sheridan is so enthusiastic about the topics and always has good stories about his own research and fieldwork, for an intro level class it really gets you interested in anthropology. The workload is pretty light, about 2 readings + a film to watch every week and a fieldwork assignment about every other week which is about as mu …Read more

Professor Oxfeld is very passionate about what she teaches, but you may find her teaching dry at some point. This course requires constant readings since you have to read around 5 books or so and need to do comparative essays about them. Her grading is quite easy if your essays captured the essence of the readings well. Essay prompts are really open to interpretations.

I'm sure profs don't enjoy teaching massive intro classes filled with students just there for the distribution credit, but this class was very nonremarkable. Lectures were very dull and felt prepackaged, there were so many of us in the room and no effort was ever made to build community among the students. Exam and paper grading was difficult, requiring specific detail, even though the concepts were taught very abstractly. That's not to say there wasn't some interesting material, especially the sections on political economy and hunter-gatherer societies, but it was presented with no enthusiasm in such an uninteresting manner that it prevented me from learning too much or enjoying it.

I'm sure profs don't enjoy teaching massive intro classes filled with students just there for the distribution credit, but this class was very nonremarkable. Lectures were very dull and felt prepackaged, there were so many of us in the room and no effort was ever made to build community among the students. Exam and paper grading was …Read more

Professor Stoll was awesome. He clearly has had a fascinating career as a professional anthropologist and he does a great job transferring his vast wealth of knowledge over to his students. Some of the material can be very dry at times and extremely interesting at others. Lots of videos to watch and reading all the time.

I could never keep up with the readings and the films were overkill. There were times where I had to skip the readings entirely to feel some sort of happiness. The discussion section was dreadful, but I think this depends on the group you're a part of. I only had to write three papers for the class, but they were based on the readings so I had a hard time. Although Oxfeld could be monotone at times, her passion for anthropology always shines through. If you want to major in anthropology, I definitely think you should take the class. If not, stay away.

I could never keep up with the readings and the films were overkill. There were times where I had to skip the readings entirely to feel some sort of happiness. The discussion section was dreadful, but I think this depends on the group you're a part of. I only had to write three papers for the class, but they were based on the reading …Read more

This course was very interesting content wise and the instructor was very passionate and used a lot of real life examples form his own fieldwork. That being said each week entailed a large amount of reading and the discussions weren't helpful in clearing up my questions about content.

Excellent and engaging lectures, though very fast-paced. Difficult to keep up with in class and readings are an absolute grind. So much on anthropological history, methodology, and really interesting ethnographies. Exams are based heavily on lectures and readings. Documentaries are interesting and grading is fair. Accommodating professor as long as you communicate. Would recommend despite the challenge.

Excellent and engaging lectures, though very fast-paced. Difficult to keep up with in class and readings are an absolute grind. So much on anthropological history, methodology, and really interesting ethnographies. Exams are based heavily on lectures and readings. Documentaries are interesting and grading is fair. Accommodating profe …Read more

This class required a lot of reading. There was only a final and a midterm that were both take home essays. There was also an additional pape, besides that the class only had weekly discussion posts. The teacher was also very understanding and did not take attendance for class.

The class comprised of two lectures and a discussion. His lectures were pretty fast-paced and often people asked him to repeat words and phrases. After the first quiz, we were quick to realize that they relied heavily on his lecture and less on specific details about the readings. He'd ask for definitions and some of the things we noticed about the reading/videos assigned. Discussion would go by fast as he usually guided us well through the reading for the week. Sometimes we'd go around the class to answer one of his questions or opinions of certain topics. We had a final paper which was not bad at all. His exams not too bad if you are fine with memorizing a lot of stuff.

The class comprised of two lectures and a discussion. His lectures were pretty fast-paced and often people asked him to repeat words and phrases. After the first quiz, we were quick to realize that they relied heavily on his lecture and less on specific details about the readings. He'd ask for definitions and some of the things we no …Read more

Michael Sheridan is a great professor and very dedicated to his work, but he is a really hard grader, expect a lot of Bs on your papers. There is also a lot of reading assignments needed to be done and the papers take forever to do

Solid course but a lot of reading and pretty tough grading. Homework is manageable, but if you didnt keep up, really easy to get behind. His lectures were intresting and a lot of cool thought prevoking content.

David Stoll is a good lecturer, but the exam based nature of the class was challenging. The questions required incredibly precise answers, and you had to study a ton if you wanted to have a chance of doing well. The material was somewhat interesting, but not incredibly.

This course was not very engaging. Tons of readings to keep up with and classes were very fast paced lectures. Exams expected you to memorize everything Stoll said in class. They weren't too hard to do well on, but required lots of boring memorization for prep.

Definitely a course that takes up a lot of time reading. She's an interesting person and you can tell she's passionate about what she's teaching but the work load made the class sort of a turn off.