Study the ways in which genealogy and history contribute to anthropology with a project on family trees. Ask students to talk to their parents or grandparents to construct a family tree. Encourage them to include as many family members as possible and to map the tree as far back into family history as living relatives can remember. Ask students to include a brief synopsis of each person in their family tree, including years of birth and death, birthplace, other places where they lived, reasons for relocation and occupation. Study the motives that drive people to relocate to a new area. Examine how the family tree has changed over the years (number of children, diversity). Discuss how the environment, politics or social factors influence reasons for change.
Immigration is an issue at the forefront of today's political and global stage and a pillar of study in anthropology. Ask students to examine this issue by interviewing someone who has immigrated to a new place. Encourage students to ask objective questions about the motivation for moving and the adjustment to living in the new place. Compare and contrast where the person lived before to where they live now (urban, rural, diverse). Students could interview an international student, or someone who has moved from one region of the country to another.
Introduce a topic in anthropology by asking students to first examine the views and ideas that they already have. There are online quizzes that students can take to affirm their views on gender roles, race and people from different cultures. For example, a quiz on gender roles may ask the student indirectly if the male should be the highest earner in the household. Students may surprise themselves with their own answers. Discuss how their upbringing and education influenced their current views. Talk about the importance of examining issues in anthropology from a non-biased standpoint.
Some anthropologists study the way in which media moves and presents information. Ask students to conduct their own study of the media. Students can use magazines, newspapers, websites, billboards and television to study a particular social issue, for example. Have students research how the media sends messages about gender roles, race, politics, the environment, sports or beauty. Ask students to make a collage by cutting out pictures or headlines that address the social issue. Students should draw conclusions about what the message says about the issue, and look for consistent and/or contradictory media messages.