The Anthropology of Global Supply Chains

This upper-division undergraduate seminar focuses on recent studies by anthropologists and scholars in related disciplines on global supply chains and consumption practices.The goal of the course is to assess concepts and methods for integrating a cultural analysis of transnational production with a cultural analysis of transnational consumption. We will review ethnographic studies of the production and consumption of commodities linked by transnational and global networks. The class will thenpursue collaborative research on the global production, distribution, and consumption of a selected commodity. Prerequisite: junior or senior standing and previous coursework in cultural anthropology or permission of instructor.