Professor: Brown Course format: Lecture w/section Number of respondents: 56 Total Enrollment: 75 Class Composition: Froshs: 7 Sophs: 25 Jrs: 24 Srs: 12 Concs: 7 Non-Concs: 43 Don't Know: 5

Instructor Average: 2.08 Course Average: 2.00

Anthropology 133, titled “Political Anthropology,” is a lecture course whose goal is to examine the role and organization of power and authority in different cultures. It provides an anthropological perspective on politics, especially by looking at the uses of symbols and rituals. There are no stated prerequisites for this course, although many students felt that some background in anthropology would have been helpful.

Many of the reviewers found Professor Brown’s lectures to be somewhat dry, but they felt that his power-point presentations were very helpful. Several students noted that the online (webct) part of the class needed improvement, suggesting that it was a poor substitute for discussions in person. Most of them would have preferred to interact more with the professor; they did not feel particularly engaged in the class, partly because of its large size.

The assignments for this class, aside from reading and posting online, consisted of five 500-word papers and a final exam. Many reviewers stated that they found the word limit too restrictive to explore the topics in any depth.

The average amount of time students reported spending on out-of class preparation was four to six hours per week, which was about what most of them had expected. They did comment on the large number of readings. Most of the reviewers found elements of this class that could be improved. If you are interested in anthropology and politics, though, this could be a very good course for you.

View AN/0133 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.