First-Year Courses

Anthropology is unique among disciplines in how we approach the human experience in the broad, holistic way that we do, focusing on how humans are simultaneously biological, social, cultural, and language-using beings. An introductory course in Anthropology will challenge you (in a good way!) to think differently about what makes us human and how we have come to be this way.

Student evaluation statistics consistently reveal that even students who enter our introductory courses with a relatively low “initial level of enthusiasm” come out of them with a profound appreciation for what they have learned. Put another way: if you are not sure whether you will get something out of an introductory Anthropology course, rest assured that you will!

We often hear two kinds of stories from students who have discovered Anthropology through an introductory course at Western. The first, commonly told by students who continue in one of our modules, is that experiences in first year Anthropology are what ignited a passion for the discipline. The second, commonly told by students who only took an introductory course with us, is that Anthropology was a favorite first year course, offering insights on humanity that have proven memorable and relevant beyond their time with us.

Not all students who take introductory courses in Anthropology will end up pursuing modules with us, and we don’t see this as a bad thing. In fact, we anticipate it by ensuring that our introductory courses will broaden and enrich students’ understandings of humanity in ways that will serve them well no matter what their particular interests or goals. Given the breadth of our discipline, an introductory Anthropology course is an excellent choice for students planning on pursuing modules in Arts and Humanities, Psychology, Sociology, Geography, History, Political Science, Economics, Biology, Health Sciences, Women’s Studies, and other areas that focus on different aspects of the human experience.

Interested in taking other popular Anthropology courses? Learn More

Our introductory courses consistently receive great evaluations from the students who take them. Here is a selection of comments taken from student evaluations of our introductory courses:

• "It is nice how for every type of anthropology you get an expert on that field so you get the best learning experience."
• "Interesting Course! Highly recommend to first year students"
• "I LOVED it!"
• "One of my favourite courses this semester"
• "It is organized so well, it's easy to know what is required for each lecture and the study guides help a lot when it comes to retaining information."
• "Anthropology is an organized course and I appreciate having four different sections with different professors to keep it fresh and interesting."
• "I really appreciate that we are taught, albeit briefly, in all four areas of anthropology; this is extremely useful as we decide on our majors and have to make decisions pertaining to course selection."
• "Very interesting. As a Health Science Student, I came into the course with minimal background and a lack of interest. This course was mind-opening and kept me engaged throughout."
• "I really like the labs we do in the tutorials. I feel like they help give a good understanding of the course, and they're fun."
• “I am in the science faculty (biology) and anthropology has always interested me; specifically biological anthropology. Although I am pretty much only taking this course to fulfill my essay requirement, it has brought such a great interest to me. It has made me reconsider my potential major of choice and I am now thinking of majoring in biological anthropology whether or not it be a double major with biology. It is definitely something I am considering. Thank you!”
• “Very enjoyable and would recommend to any first years coming in, or second years like myself that need to make up a credit, was unsure going into the course but I am glad I continued with it.”
• “Lots of group work and peer discussion made the concepts of the course easier to understand”
• “I thoroughly enjoyed this course! This course so far has made me want to pursue anthropology next school year.”
• “This course is thorough and well organized. I appreciate that we have different professors for different topics in anthropology.”
• “This is a really interesting course. I do not major in anthropology and I could still understand and enjoy the course.”
• “This course is definitely not what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised by the content we were taught. The labs were also super helpful and interesting.”
• “I believe the evaluations for the course are very fair, and enjoy the layout of it.”
• “Great learning experience. Helps you grow as a person.”