UQ's first social anthropology course launches on edX

Do you have a burning urge to learn more about the world around you and the people who inhabit it?

Now you can as The University of Queensland is taking registrations for its first, free social anthropology Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on edX, a major MOOC provider.

World101x: Anthropology of Current World Issues is one of four new UQ MOOCs being offered via the edX platform.

Led by Dr Gerhard Hoffstaedter from UQ’s School of Social Science and produced by UQ alumnus Emma MacKenzie, World 101x aims to challenge people to reflect on topics such as migration, what it means to be Indigenous and how we all engage with difference and sameness on a daily basis.

“This course appeals to a broad international audience with an interest in world issues,” Dr Hoffstaedter said.

Social anthropology has been described as the study of how modern humans behave in social groups.

Students enrolling will examine a range of themes in anthropology, including:

•    environmental anthropology
•    Aboriginal Australia, mining and land use
•    refugees and migration movements
•    social movements such as Occupy
•    material culture and preserving heritage

Dr Hoffstaedter and Ms MacKenzie will interview notable anthropologists and will follow anthropologists from UQ into the field to explore these issues.

Dr Hoffstaedter said students would have the opportunity to see the world in a different way.

“It is our overall aim that through doing this, students will learn about the way in which anthropology as a discipline can shed new perspectives on current world issues,” he said.

The course is open to anyone in the world and will launch on September 1, 2014.

Click here to register for World101x or visit Facebook or Twitter for more information.

Media Enquiries: Emma MacKenzie, 0408 025 251, emmakatherinemackenzie@gmail.com

Gerhard Hoffstaedter, 3365 1211, g.hoffstaedter@uq.edu.au