5 Best Anthropology Courses For Beginners in 2024

Best online courses in Anthropology: Forensic Anthropology - Skeletal analysis, Osteoarcheology: The Truth in Our Bones, Anthropology of Religion, Anthropology: Understanding Societies and Cultures, Exploring The Arts Through Cultural Anthropology

5 Best Anthropology Courses For Beginners in 2024

What is Anthropology?

Anthropology is a wide-ranging, scientific examination of the biology and culture of humans. Anthropology is the scientific study of humankind, concerned with human behavior, human biology, culture, and society, in the present as well as in antiquity, including the human species in antiquity.

Anthropology is a broad concept involving examining the factors and elements that make us humans. Anthropologists examine the concept of culture and how it is related to human life at various times and places. An extremely dynamic and multidisciplinary field, anthropology focuses on the physical, biological, cultural, social, political, and economic characteristics of human life.

A good aspect of this field is that it can help you in many ways and develop a more well-rounded, evolved, and intelligent outlook on life.

Why is Anthropology important?

Through comparative studies of humankind's long and complex development from origins to now, the devotion to becoming conscious of our place in nature--who we are, where we came from, how we come to understand the variety and also the similarities of being human--anthropology aims to understand the full range of dimensions of human experience.

Like other fields in anthropology, archaeologists are concerned to explain the differences and similarities in human societies over space and time. Anthropology may be defined as the comparative study of humans, their societies, and their cultural worlds. Anthropology is the study of various human cultures in the world, from the beginning of history to the present.

Best Anthropology Courses List

  1. Forensic Anthropology - Skeletal analysis
  2. Osteoarchaeology: The Truth in Our Bones
  3. Anthropology of Religion
  4. Anthropology: Understanding Societies and Cultures
  5. Exploring The Arts Through Cultural Anthropology

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Best Anthropology Classes For Beginners Online

1. Forensic Anthropology - Skeletal Analysis

What can you really tell about that skeleton in your closet?

Students will study forensic anthropology in this course. This course defines the field as a branch of anthropology. After that, it will discuss the techniques used by forensic anthropologists to analyze human skeletal remains, including estimating sex, age at death, stature, and identifying traumatic lesions.

In this Anthropology course, you will:

  • Learn the scope of the field of anthropology and forensic anthropology.
  • Focus on the major bones of the human skeleton.
  • Differentiate human bones from animal bones.
  • Estimate an individual's gender from skeletal elements.
  • Determine the individual's age at death from skeletal elements.
  • Calculate the height and weight of the deceased.
  • Determine the minimum number of individuals in a skeletal assemblage.
  • Identify ancestry from skeletal remains.
  • Determine traumatic lesions on human skeletal remains.
  • Identify the components of a professional report based on the results.
  • Learn about the ethical issues that affect physical anthropologists and forensic anthropologists.

Additionally, the role of forensic anthropologists in the medicolegal system is discussed. The course is accessible to anyone who wishes to pursue a career in forensic science, biology, forensic medicine, medicine, osteology, human anatomy, bioarchaeology, or archaeology.

Course rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (172 Ratings total)
Duration: 38m
Certificate: Certificate on completion

Forensic Anthropology - Skeletal analysis
What can you really tell about that skeleton in your closet?

2. Osteoarchaeology: The Truth in Our Bones

Offered by Universiteit Leiden.

In this course, we learn what we can learn from studying human skeletons and how we can use this knowledge to reconstruct the lives of people who lived in the past. Skeletal remains are an important component in archaeology and anthropology; they offer unique insights into the past and present that cannot be gained from any other means.

Topics in this Anthropology course include:

  • Bones to Biography & Demography
  • Bones to Disease and Trauma
  • Bones to Diet
  • Bones to Activity
  • Bones to Mobility and Migration

Course rating: 4.9 out of 5.0 (417 Ratings total)
Duration: 27h
Certificate: Certificate on completion

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3. Anthropology of Religion

Learn about the role religion plays for people in their day-to-day life through a critical and social scientific lens.

Through Anthropology of Religion, you will develop critical thinking skills related to religion and learn how it affects every aspect of our lives. Throughout this course, you will learn how anthropologists approach topics covering religion, such as belief, as well as how religion impacts many other areas of our lives, such as politics, even if you are not religious.

In this Anthropology course, you will learn:

  • Approaches taken by anthropologists to study religion.
  • How to think about religion critically.
  • How to approach religion with a social scientific lens.

As a result of this course, you will learn how to think critically about the world around you, including how people perceive religious belief, participate in it, and develop their own opinions. In this course, you will learn that religion impacts the development of the world around us even if you aren't religious, by examining the impact on politics and gender.

Course rating: 4.3 out of 5.0
Duration: 1h 45m
Certificate: Certificate on completion

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4. Anthropology: Understanding Societies and Cultures

Get an introduction to anthropology and learn more about society and culture, by joining this online anthropology course from the University of Newcastle.

The course will take you to different places and times. The purpose of this course is to educate you about diverse cultures and examine cultural differences and similarities.

In this course, you will learn

  • Understand what anthropology is and how it relates to cultural and social concepts.
  • Explain the historical evolution of anthropology from its beginnings to today.
  • Create ethnographic field notes related to a fieldwork assignment.
  • Identify the important theorists and theories that inform anthropology.

This course introduces anthropological theories while also providing insights into how studying other cultures and societies can offer solutions to many of the urgent issues facing modern societies.

Course rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (111 Ratings total)
Duration: 6h
Certificate: Certificate on completion

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5. Exploring The Arts Through Cultural Anthropology

Do you have a passion for art? Tattoos? Graffiti? How about ancient cave drawings? Discover more about the arts around the world with this course.

In this course, you will focus on the arts. First, you will learn about the field of Anthropology in general, how to comprehend other cultures and the importance of art. Second, you will learn about what art is, art and culture, and the functions of art. Third, you will learn about the visual arts, rock art, body art, and graffiti.

In this Anthropology course, you will learn:

  • examples of the use of visual art in other cultures.
  • how to distinguish between myths, legends, and tales.
  • examples of the functions of music and dance in society.
  • different ways to describe theater around the world.

Fourth, you will explore verbal arts such as myths, legends, and tales. The fifth lesson covers music, including the importance of music, the creation of music, and the purpose of music. Additionally, you will learn about dance, dance in culture, and the functions of dance. In the sixth unit, you'll look at theater, performers, content, and audience roles. At the end of the course, you will receive a summary of all the information you learned about The Arts.

Course rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (10 Ratings total)
Duration: 2h 40m
Certificate: Certificate on completion

Exploring The Arts Through Cultural Anthropology
Anthropology 4U

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