The Focus in the Anthropology of Politics, Policy, and Law introduces students to anthropological perspectives on global challenges such as armed conflict, surveillance, border enforcement, the refugee crisis, energy politics, social justice, and climate change among others. Anthropology’s ethnographic approach, grounded in long-term engagement with lived experiences, uniquely captures the complexity of these issues across multiple scales. This Focus draws on diverse ethnographic research, offering a comparative lens on law, policy, and politics. Courses in this focus equip students with analytical tools to critically examine global governance, power, and resistance through an anthropological framework. The Focus will be of interest to students who plan to pursue graduate/professional training and careers in law, public policy, rights advocacy, journalism, and beyond.
The Focus in the Anthropology of Politics, Policy, and Law (Major) (Arts) is open to all students enrolled in the Anthropology - Major (Arts) at UTM.
3.0 credits are required.
1. ANT223H5: Anthropology of Global Challenges
The required gateway course will introduce anthropological approaches to the study of pressing global challenges, providing a strong foundation in political and legal anthropology through key anthropological works on the state, bureaucracy, policy, and law. As a gateway to the Focus in the Anthropology of Politics, Policy, and Law, it is recommended to be completed within the first two years of study.
2. ANT468H5: Anthropology of Troubled Times
This required capstone seminar will enable students to survey a range of pressing contemporary concerns from an anthropological perspective, while consolidating skills and knowledge from previous courses in the Focus in the Anthropology of Politics, Policy, and Law.
Additional 2.0 credits from ANT social science courses listed below:
- ANT207H5: Being Human: Classic Thought on Self and Society
- ANT209H5: War, Trade and Aid: The Anthropology of Global Intervention
- ANT216H5: Racketeers, Smugglers and Pirates: Anthropology of Illegality
- ANT310H5: Political Anthropology of Ancient States
- ANT350H5: Globalization and the Changing World of Work
- ANT351H5: Money, Markets, Gifts: Topics in Economic Anthropology
- ANT352H5: Protest, Power and Authority: Topics in Political Anthropology
- ANT354H5: Capitalism and its Rebels
- ANT356H5: War, Peace, and Revolution in the Middle East: Anthropological Perspectives on Political Conflicts
- ANT357H5: Nature, People and Power: Topics in Environmental Anthropology
- ANT358H5: Field Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology
- ANT359H5: Sovereignty Matters: Indigenous North America in the 21st Century
- ANT366H5: Anthropology of Law
- ANT368H5: Ecological Worldviews: A Cultural Approach
- ANT370H5: Environment, Culture and Film
- ANT371H5: The Natural City: Cultural Approaches to Urban Sustainability
- ANT450H5: Apocalypse: Anthropologies of Hope, Fear, and Survival
- ANT455H5: Toxicity and Environmental Injustice
- ANT463H5: Anthropologies of Water: On Meaning, Value, and Futures
- ANT467H5: Are Media Turning Humans into Cyborgs?
Required credits also contribute to fulfilling part of the Anthropology - Major (Arts) requirements.