Caveat Academy course · Grades 9 to 12

Cultural Anthropology

How anthropologists study human ways of life, and what they found: culture and fieldwork, language and identity, how people make a living and exchange gifts, kinship and marriage, power, ritual and belief, and cultural change in a connected world. You learn to describe the unfamiliar fairly and the familiar freshly, and you finish by designing a small ethnography of your own.

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$19one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the High school electives library, $119 for 66 items.

6 modules · 18 lessonsabout 13 hours$19

Six modules, eighteen lessons

Each module ends with a practice set that tracks mastery, an explain-it-back prompt, a short written response and a module exam. The final opens when every module is proficient; passing it earns a certificate with a verification code.

  1. Module 1: Culture and how anthropologists study it

    Explain the culture concept, cultural relativism and participant observation, and distinguish emic from etic perspectives in a description.

    • What anthropology is
    • The culture concept
    • Fieldwork and ethnography
    about 2.1 h

  2. Module 2: Language, communication and identity

    Analyze how language, nonverbal communication and social categories such as ethnicity and race shape identity and interaction.

    • Language and culture
    • Communication beyond words
    • Ethnicity, race and identity
    about 2.1 h

  3. Module 3: Making a living and sharing goods

    Compare subsistence strategies and classify exchanges as reciprocity, redistribution or market exchange, including along a commodity chain.

    • Subsistence strategies
    • Exchange: gifts, sharing and markets
    • Economic life in a global world
    about 2.1 h

  4. Module 4: Kinship, family and marriage

    Apply descent, marriage and residence rules to read kinship relationships and explain marriage practices in their social setting.

    • Kinship and descent
    • Marriage across cultures
    • Households and residence
    about 2.1 h

  5. Module 5: Power, ritual and belief

    Classify political organization and analyze rituals, symbols and myths with van Gennep's phases and thick description.

    • Political organization and social control
    • Religion, ritual and rites of passage
    • Symbols, myth and worldview
    about 2.1 h

  6. Module 6: Anthropology in a changing world

    Evaluate cultural change and applied anthropology cases, and design an ethical small ethnography with field notes and interviews.

    • Globalization, migration and cultural change
    • Applied anthropology
    • Doing a small ethnography
    about 2.1 h

Try it before you start

This is how every lesson works: step through a worked example at your own pace, then answer a check and get the reason right away. Nothing here is saved; the course keeps your progress.

Module 5 · Religion, ritual and rites of passage

Worked example: analyzing a wedding as a rite of passage

  1. Separation: the couple prepare apart, often with friends of the same sex, and arrive separately.

A lesson check from each module

The checks need JavaScript turned on. The course itself works the same way.

What you get

Academics · High School$19 · included with the Academy pass and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A finished course in cultural anthropology: you can explain the culture concept and use cultural relativism as a method, write field notes that separate observation from interpretation, tell emic from etic, explain linguistic relativity and why race is a social category with real effects, compare subsistence strategies and classify exchanges from the Kula ring to a commodity chain, read kinship diagrams and descent rules, explain marriage practices in their setting, classify political organization, analyze a ritual with van Gennep's phases and thick description, and design an ethical small ethnography. Passing the final earns a Caveat certificate of completion.
Who it is for
Students in grades 9 to 12 taking or preparing for an anthropology, sociology or world cultures course, students considering social science in college, and homeschool families who want a complete course on how people live around the world. It describes religious and family practices accurately and respectfully, without judging or endorsing them.
Format
An online self-paced course: 6 modules and 18 lessons with worked examples you reveal step by step, 144 practice and exam items (multiple choice, numeric, fill-in and ordering), an explain-it-back prompt and a rubric-checked short response in every module, module exams with one retake, a 24-question final and a certificate with a verification code. About 13 hours in all; works on a phone or a computer.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the course opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the High school electives library ($119) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Progress is saved in this browser on this device, and the certificate page lets you download your record.
Where it lives
The High School space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Access, a receipt, a refund or a correction to the course: team@caveatacademic.com.

How it works

  1. Open the course and start Module 1. Each lesson takes about 25 to 35 minutes; two or three a week finishes the course in about a semester.
  2. Answer the checks as you read. Every answer shows the reason, and a miss links you back to the lesson that covers it.
  3. Finish each module with its practice set and exam. Proficient on every module opens the final; 70 percent passes it.
  4. Print or download your certificate and record from the certificate page.

Start the course

Sources and accuracy

The lessons are original writing by Caveat Academic Services. Facts were checked against these free, open references, which are also good places to read further.

  1. American Anthropological Association, what anthropology is, the code of ethics and the 1998 statement on race: americananthro.org
  2. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology: naturalhistory.si.edu
  3. National Park Service, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act: nps.gov/subjects/nagpra
  4. World Health Organization, guidance on safe and dignified burials during the Ebola outbreak: who.int
  5. U.S. Census Bureau, the history of race questions on the census: census.gov
  6. Ethnologue and the Endangered Languages Project, counts and status of the world's languages: endangeredlanguages.com

Cultural Anthropology is a self-paced course from Caveat Academic Services. Ethnographic cases are summarized in original writing from published studies and named with the time of the research; ways of life described for one period may have changed since. Dollar figures in exchange examples are labeled examples. It does not replace a school course and awards no credit. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.